Ep256 Steve Arora: You need to have sizzle

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Jun 3, 2025

Steve Arora, co-founder of Alpine Re, shares his deep insights into the unique reinsurance landscape after an intense 20-month venture. He discusses what today's investors seek, emphasizing the impact of high interest rates on capital investment. Steve explores the optimal design for a modern reinsurer, including strategic domiciles and underwriting decisions. The conversation also navigates the importance of technology in reshaping the industry, alongside lessons learned from his entrepreneurial journey and the challenges of raising capital.

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ANECDOTE

Steve's Alpine Re Journey

Steve Arora co-founded Alpine Re to tap into a disrupted reinsurance market in 2023.
They pursued a billion-dollar capital raise for an A-rated Bermuda balance sheet but the venture did not materialize.

INSIGHT

Operator vs. Investor Mindset

Operators and investors have fundamentally different mindsets in insurance.
Success requires combining operational skills with understanding value creation for investors.

ADVICE

Add "Sizzle" to Business Plans

In a competitive fundraising environment, presenting "sizzle" or a forward-looking hook attracts investors.
Over-promising with compelling elements can win interest, even if fundamentals are strong.

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Today’s Episode is special and completely out of the ordinary.

Regular listeners will know that in most episodes I will talk to senior insurance and reinsurance executives and focus on what they have just done and what are about to do.

Today’s no different in that respect, but it’s a far richer encounter because of who my guest is and what he has been doing since the summer of 2023.

Until very recently Steve Arora was the co-founder of Alpine Re, a new balance sheet reinsurer looking to tap into a disrupted reinsurance market.

Alpine Re didn’t end up materialising, but only after an intense 20-month period of activity in which investors of all shapes and sizes were contacted and canvassed.

All this means that Steve is currently better qualified than even the best investment banker to talk about what investors want from the reinsurance industry.

Once you have left no stone unturned you get to see the real layout of the bedrock below and in our interview Steve goes really deeply into the appetites, hopes and fears of each investor type.

We also examine in great detail the optimal design of the model reinsurer of today.

If you had a blank piece of paper and could start a new reinsurer from scratch, where would you be domiciled and how many underwriting locations would you have?

And what would you be looking to write? Would you be a specialist or a generalist and what would your relationship with technology be?

Understandably Steve has been thinking very hard about all of these questions and his insights are highly valuable.

This episode is a great illustration of how no experience ever goes to waste. Steve is on excellent form and the interview has great pace and intensity.

In our world very few people try something genuinely entrepreneurial more than once in their careers and in this meeting you’ll learn all of the lessons that Steve has learnt from time out spent a long way out of his comfort zone.

It’s clear to me that the next role or venture that Steve becomes involved with will benefit immeasurably from this recent intense experience.

In the meantime I can highly recommend a listen.

NOTES:
During our conversation I couldn’t remember when Steve was first on the podcast. It was on Episode 8, way back in 2020 when he was CEO of Axis Re: https://thevoiceofinsurance.podbean.com/e/ep8-japan-florida-and-casualty-renewals-preview-steve-arora-axis-re/

LINKS:
We thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:
https://www.advantagego.com