Somerset Reinsurance has appointed Steve Belcher (pictured above, left) as chief financial officer and Joelina Redden (pictured above, right) as chief legal officer as the Bermuda-based asset-intensive reinsurer scales up leadership amid a booming offshore annuity market.
Belcher will oversee financial and capital management, along with accounting, tax, and financial reporting functions. Redden assumes responsibility for legal oversight of the firm's operations.
The appointments follow what the company described as a record year for deal volume and one of its strongest periods of premium growth. Somerset Re completed its second-largest US in-force reinsurance transaction in 2025, a multi-billion-dollar deferred annuity deal. The company also finalized two other reinsurance transactions and has three additional deals in progress.
Somerset Re operates under Aquarian, which has over $21.8 billion in assets under management.
Belcher joins with more than 34 years of experience in life and annuity insurance. He spent 15 years at MetLife, most recently as senior vice president, global controller, and reinsurance CFO. Prior roles included US controller and global head of accounting policy. He also held positions at AIG, including chief accounting officer at American Life Insurance Company.
Belcher chaired the American Council of Life Insurers' Accounting Committee from 2017 to 2021 and the AICPA's Insurance Experts Panel from 2017 to 2019. He is a CPA and holds a master's degree in accounting from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Redden brings more than 23 years of experience in the Bermuda reinsurance industry. She previously served as general counsel, chief compliance officer, and corporate secretary at Athora Life Re Ltd. She has been a member of the Bermuda Bar Association since 2002.
The leadership changes come as the Bermuda reinsurance market experiences significant expansion.
According to Moody's Ratings, US life insurance annuity reserves ceded offshore have surged to $1 trillion since 2017, with Bermuda the primary destination. AM Best noted that Bermuda accounted for over 40% of total ceded reserves for US life-annuity writers in 2024.
Total US annuity sales reached $223 billion in the first half of 2025, according to industry data, with the second quarter setting the highest quarterly total ever recorded.
"This is an important moment for Somerset Re," said Danish Iqbal, chief executive officer. He noted that the hires reflect business growth and the company's focus on building leadership to support its next phase.
Iqbal added that both executives bring expertise suited to the "increasingly complex, multi-jurisdictional nature of the transactions we are executing today."
Looking ahead, Iqbal said the company enters 2026 positioned to support current clients and pursue new partnerships. "We are excited to carry this momentum forward into 2026," he said.
