Global reinsurance company Fortitude Re and US investment firm Carlyle have launched Fortitude Carlyle Asia Reinsurance (FCA Re), a reinsurance sidecar with more than $700 million in deployable capital.
FCA Re, licensed as a Class E reinsurer, will initially assume a share of Fortitude Re’s existing liabilities and reinsure portions of future transactions in Asia, the companies said.
Fortitude Re will act as the insurance sponsor, while Carlyle will serve as the asset management sponsor of the vehicle that seeks to accelerate growth in Asia’s life and annuity market, per the announcement.
Sidecars allow third-party investors to take on a portion of an insurer or reinsurer’s risk and return, typically on a quota-share basis.
While common in property catastrophe reinsurance, life and annuity sidecars have gained traction as insurers look to match liabilities with private credit and alternative assets.
Carlyle said FCA Re, once fully deployed, is expected to add about $10 billion of fee-earning assets under management.
Fortitude Re, on the other hand, said it has already reinsured about $15 billion of reserves for clients in Asia and plans to deepen its presence as regional insurers seek capital relief and risk transfer solutions for long-duration liabilities.
The partners said aging demographics and solvency requirements are supporting demand for reinsurance in Asia’s life sector.
“Through FCA Re, we are further demonstrating that the most sophisticated insurance investors globally are choosing to access the Asian market,” said Brian Schreiber, partner at Carlyle and head of Carlyle Insurance Solutions.
Fortitude Re, backed by Carlyle and T&D Insurance Group, reported total assets of $105 billion as of December 31, 2024. Carlyle managed $465 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2025.
DealStreetAsia reported in June that Carlyle was nearing the final close of its latest Asia flagship fund after previously trimming the initial target.
Carlyle’s sixth regional buyout vehicle has gathered about $3.5 billion in commitments from investors, sources said.
The new 2024-vintage fund would be slightly over half the fund size of its predecessor, Carlyle Asia Partners V, which closed at $6.5 billion at a hard cap about seven years ago.
