The Berkley Insurance Company IFSC Branch, part of Berkley Insurance Asia, received approval from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) in December 2024 to establish its office in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), Gujarat. The licence permits the branch to write direct insurance as well as reinsurance business within the IFSC regime.
Under the current framework, the branch may issue policies where the underlying insured is located in GIFT City or in a special economic zone (SEZ), in addition to participating in reinsurance placements for Indian and cross-border risks. “We are both an insurance and reinsurance company. We can operate as an insurance company and issue a policy if the underlying insured has a GIFT City address or is in a special economic zone. But at the moment, we are focused on the reinsurance business – specialty lines,” said Shasi Nair, CEO Asia, Berkley Insurance Asia, as reported by Business Standard.
Berkley Insurance Asia is orienting the IFSC branch toward specialty classes, with an initial emphasis on facultative reinsurance for commercial and corporate clients. The operation is expected to work with cedants that require additional capacity and expertise on higher-severity or non-standard risks.
For the current financial year, the branch plans to focus on specialty insurance and reinsurance lines, including financial lines, cyber, casualty, professional indemnity, specie, and marine. The company aims to expand its activity in these segments through the end of financial year 2026 as it develops relationships with domestic insurers and intermediaries. “We have a natural inclination towards specialty products – financial lines (directors & officers, crime), cyber, casualty, professional indemnity, species insurance, and marine insurance. These will be the areas of product focus in the first few years of operations,” said Unnati Bajpai (pictured), CEO & principal officer India, Berkley Insurance Company, IFSC Branch.
Company representatives note that Berkley already writes specialty and facultative business elsewhere in Asia and intends to offer comparable products out of GIFT City, considering local regulatory requirements and demand from Indian cedants for financial and professional lines capacity.
With the IFSCA approval in place, Berkley Insurance Company’s GIFT City branch moves into Tier II in India’s order of preference for reinsurance placements, from Tier IV previously. In practice, this positions the branch ahead of reinsurers without an Indian or IFSC presence when insurers design their reinsurance panels, subject to regulations on cessions and security.
According to the company, operating from within India enables the branch to engage more directly with insurers, brokers, and supervisors while using the IFSC structure for cross-border transactions. Berkley describes India as a fast-growing insurance market and says an onshore base supports closer monitoring of risk, regulatory, and portfolio developments relevant to both domestic and regional programmes.
The GIFT City operation is part of W. R. Berkley Corporation’s strategy to expand its specialty property and casualty activities in Asia through selected local branches and niche offerings. Bajpai has been appointed chief executive officer and principal officer of the IFSC branch and joins the Berkley Insurance Asia leadership team alongside Nair. She is responsible for staffing the local unit and overseeing its engagement with Indian insurers and brokers as the branch progresses toward a broader rollout of operations in and after 2025.
Founded in 1967, W. R. Berkley Corporation is an insurance holding company that writes commercial lines business globally and operates in two main property-casualty segments: insurance, and reinsurance and monoline excess. The GIFT City branch provides an India-based point of access for these activities, with an initial concentration on specialty and facultative business for cedants and brokers across Asia.
