ITEM 1.    BUSINESS

Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this Form 10-K to “RenaissanceRe” refer to RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (the parent company) and to the “Company” refers to RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. and its subsidiaries, which include Renaissance Reinsurance, RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S. Ltd. (“RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S.”), Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. Inc., formerly known as Platinum Underwriters Reinsurance, Inc. (“Renaissance Reinsurance U.S.”), Renaissance Reinsurance of Europe Unlimited Company (“Renaissance Reinsurance of Europe”) and the Company’s Lloyd’s syndicate, RenaissanceRe Syndicate 1458 (“Syndicate 1458”).

We also underwrite reinsurance on behalf of joint ventures, including Top Layer Reinsurance Ltd. (“Top Layer Re”), recorded under the equity method of accounting, Upsilon RFO Re Ltd. (“Upsilon RFO”), a consolidated variable interest entity, Fibonacci Reinsurance Ltd. ("Fibonacci Re"), an unconsolidated variable interest entity, and DaVinci Reinsurance Ltd. (“DaVinci”). In addition, through RenaissanceRe Medici Fund Ltd. (“Medici”), we invest in various insurance based investment instruments that have returns primarily tied to property catastrophe risk. The financial results of Medici, and DaVinci and DaVinci’s parent company, DaVinciRe Holdings Ltd. (“DaVinciRe”), are consolidated in our financial statements.

For your convenience, we have included a “Glossary of Selected Insurance and Reinsurance Terms” at the end of “Part I, Item 1. Business” of this Form 10-K. All dollar amounts referred to in this Form 10-K are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated. Any discrepancies in the tables included herein between the amounts listed and the totals thereof are due to rounding.

OVERVIEW

RenaissanceRe is a global provider of reinsurance and insurance. We aspire to be the world’s best underwriter by matching well-structured risks with efficient sources of capital and our mission is to produce superior returns for our shareholders over the long term. We seek to accomplish these goals by being a trusted, long-term partner to our customers for assessing and managing risk, delivering responsive and innovative solutions, leveraging our core capabilities of risk assessment and information management, investing in these core capabilities in order to serve our customers across the cycles that have historically characterized our markets and keeping our promises. Our strategy focuses on superior risk selection, superior customer relationships and superior capital management. We provide value to our customers and joint venture partners in the form of financial security, innovative products, and responsive service. We are known as a leader in paying valid claims promptly. We principally measure our financial success through long-term growth in tangible book value per common share plus the change in accumulated dividends, which we believe is the most appropriate measure of our financial performance and in respect of which we believe we have delivered superior performance over time.

Our core products include property, casualty and specialty reinsurance and certain insurance products principally distributed through intermediaries, with whom we seek to cultivate strong long-term relationships. We believe we have been one of the world’s leading providers of property reinsurance since our founding. In recent years, through the strategic execution of a number of initiatives, including organic growth and our acquisition of Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd. (“Platinum”) on March 2, 2015, we have expanded our casualty and specialty platform and products and believe we are a leader in certain casualty and specialty lines of business. We have determined our business consists of the following reportable segments: (1) Property, which is comprised of catastrophe and other property reinsurance and insurance written on behalf of our operating subsidiaries and certain joint ventures managed by our ventures unit, and (2) Casualty and Specialty, which is comprised of casualty and specialty reinsurance and insurance written on behalf of our operating subsidiaries and certain joint ventures managed by our ventures unit.

To best serve our clients in the places they do business, we have operating subsidiaries, joint ventures and underwriting platforms around the world, including DaVinci, Renaissance Reinsurance, Top Layer Re, Fibonacci Re and Upsilon RFO in Bermuda, Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. in the U.S., and Syndicate 1458 in the United Kingdom (the “U.K.”). In addition, we have a presence in Ireland and Singapore and from time to time explore opportunities in other jurisdictions. We write property and casualty and specialty reinsurance through our wholly owned operating subsidiaries, joint ventures and Syndicate 1458 and certain insurance products primarily through Syndicate 1458. Although each underwriting platform may write

any or all of our classes of business, our Bermuda platform has traditionally written, and continues to write, the preponderance of our property business and our U.S. platform and Syndicate 1458 write a significant portion of our casualty and specialty business. Syndicate 1458 provides us with access to Lloyd’s extensive distribution network and worldwide licenses and also writes business through delegated authority arrangements. The underwriting results of our operating subsidiaries and underwriting platforms are included in our Property and Casualty and Specialty segment results as appropriate.

Since a meaningful portion of the reinsurance and insurance we write provides protection from damages relating to natural and man-made catastrophes, our results depend to a large extent on the frequency and severity of such catastrophic events, and the coverages we offer to customers affected by these events. We are exposed to significant losses from these catastrophic events and other exposures we cover. Accordingly, we expect a significant degree of volatility in our financial results and our financial results may vary significantly from quarter-to-quarter and from year-to-year, based on the level of insured catastrophic losses occurring around the world. We view our increased exposure to casualty and specialty lines of business as an efficient use of capital given these risks are generally less correlated with our property lines of business. This has allowed us to bring additional capacity to our clients, across a wider range of product offerings, while continuing to be good stewards of our shareholders’ capital. In the future, our casualty and specialty lines of business may represent a greater proportion of our premiums and claims and claim expenses.

We continually explore appropriate and efficient ways to address the risk needs of our clients. We have created and managed, and continue to manage, multiple capital vehicles and may create additional risk bearing vehicles in the future. As our product and geographical diversity increases, we may be exposed to new risks, uncertainties and sources of volatility.

Our revenues are principally derived from three sources: (1) net premiums earned from the reinsurance and insurance policies we sell; (2) net investment income and realized and unrealized gains from the investment of our capital funds and the investment of the cash we receive on the policies which we sell; and (3) fees and other income received from our joint ventures, advisory services and various other items.

Our expenses primarily consist of: (1) net claims and claim expenses incurred on the policies of reinsurance and insurance we sell; (2) acquisition costs which typically represent a percentage of the premiums we write; (3) operating expenses which primarily consist of personnel expenses, rent and other operating expenses; (4) corporate expenses which include certain executive, legal and consulting expenses, costs for research and development, transaction and integration-related expenses, and other miscellaneous costs, including those associated with operating as a publicly traded company; (5) redeemable noncontrolling interests, which represent the interests of third parties with respect to the net income of DaVinciRe and Medici; and (6) interest and dividend costs related to our debt and preference shares. We are also subject to taxes in certain jurisdictions in which we operate. Since the majority of our income is currently earned in Bermuda, which does not have a corporate income tax, the tax impact to our operations has historically been minimal, however, in the future, our net tax exposure may increase as our operations expand geographically, or as a result of adverse tax developments.

The underwriting results of an insurance or reinsurance company are discussed frequently by reference to its net claims and claim expense ratio, underwriting expense ratio, and combined ratio. The net claims and claim expense ratio is calculated by dividing net claims and claim expenses incurred by net premiums earned. The underwriting expense ratio is calculated by dividing underwriting expenses (acquisition expenses and operational expenses) by net premiums earned. The combined ratio is the sum of the net claims and claim expense ratio and the underwriting expense ratio. A combined ratio below 100% indicates profitable underwriting prior to the consideration of investment income. A combined ratio over 100% indicates unprofitable underwriting prior to the consideration of investment income. We also discuss our net claims and claim expense ratio on a current accident year basis and a prior accident years basis. The current accident year net claims and claim expense ratio is calculated by taking current accident year net claims and claim expenses incurred, divided by net premiums earned. The prior accident years net claims and claim expense ratio is calculated by taking prior accident years net claims and claim expenses incurred, divided by net premiums earned.

CORPORATE STRATEGY

We aspire to be the world’s best underwriter by matching well-structured risks with efficient sources of capital and our mission is to produce superior returns for our shareholders over the long term. Our strategy for achieving these objectives, which is supported by our core values, our principles and our culture, is to operate an integrated system of what we believe are our three competitive advantages: superior customer relationships, superior risk selection and superior capital management. We believe all three competitive advantages are required to achieve our objectives, and we aim to seamlessly coordinate the delivery of these competitive advantages for the benefit of our ceding insurers, brokers, investors in our joint ventures and shareholders.

Superior Customer Relationships.  We seek to be a trusted long-term partner to our customers for assessing and managing risk and delivering responsive solutions . We believe our modeling and technical expertise, our risk management products and our track record of keeping our promises have made us a provider of first choice in many lines of business to our customers worldwide. We seek to offer stable, predictable and consistent risk-based pricing and a prompt turnaround on claims.

Superior Risk Selection . We seek to build a portfolio of risks that produces an attractive risk-adjusted return on utilized capital. We develop a perspective of each risk using both our underwriters’ expertise and sophisticated risk selection techniques, including computer models and databases such as Renaissance Exposure Management System (“REMS©”). We pursue a disciplined approach to underwriting and seek to select only those risks that we believe will produce a portfolio with an attractive return, subject to prudent risk constraints. We manage our portfolio of risks dynamically, both within sub-portfolios and across the Company.

Superior Capital Management.  We seek to write as much attractively priced business as is available to us and then manage our capital accordingly. We generally seek to raise capital when we forecast increased demand in the market, at times by accessing capital through joint ventures or other structures, and seek to return capital to our shareholders or joint venture investors when the demand for our coverages appears to decline and when we believe a return of capital would be beneficial to our shareholders or joint venture investors. In using joint ventures, we aim to leverage our access to business and our underwriting capabilities on an efficient capital base, develop fee income, generate profit commissions, diversify our portfolio and provide attractive risk-adjusted returns to our capital providers. We routinely evaluate and review potential joint venture opportunities and strategic investments.

We believe we are well positioned to fulfill our objectives by virtue of the experience and skill of our management team, our integrated underwriting and operating platform, our significant financial strength, our strong relationships with brokers and customers, our commitment to superior service and our proprietary modeling technology. In particular, we believe our strategy, high performance culture, and commitment to our customers and joint venture partners help us to differentiate ourselves by offering specialized services and products at times and in markets where capacity and alternatives may be limited.

SEGMENTS

We continually monitor and review our segment reporting structure in accordance with authoritative accounting guidance to determine whether any changes have occurred that would impact our reportable segments. As a result of the evolution of the Company following our acquisition of Platinum, the integration of Platinum’s activities within the Company, the growth of our casualty and specialty lines of business, our current management structure including recent management changes and our current underwriting platforms, we have changed our reportable segments to “Property” and “Casualty and Specialty”. The change in reportable segments had no impact on our historical consolidated financial positions, results of operations or cash flows, as previously reported.

Our reportable segments are defined as follows: (1) Property, which is comprised of catastrophe and other property reinsurance and insurance written on behalf of our operating subsidiaries and certain joint ventures managed by our ventures unit, and (2) Casualty and Specialty, which is comprised of casualty and specialty reinsurance and insurance written on behalf of our operating subsidiaries and certain joint ventures managed by our ventures unit. In addition to our two reportable segments, we have an Other category, which primarily includes our strategic investments, investments unit, corporate expenses, capital servicing

costs, noncontrolling interests, certain expenses related to the acquisition of Platinum and the remnants of our former Bermuda-based insurance operations.

For the year ended December 31, 2016 , our Property and Casualty and Specialty segments accounted for 46.8% and 53.2% , respectively, of our gross premiums written. Operating results relating to our segments are included in “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

The following table shows gross premiums written allocated between our segments:

	Year ended December 31,	2016				2015				2014
	(in thousands)
	Property	$	1,111,263			$	1,072,159			$	1,074,890
	Casualty and Specialty	1,263,313				939,241				475,373
	Other category	—				(90		)		309
	Total gross premiums written	$	2,374,576			$	2,011,310			$	1,550,572

We write proportional business as well as excess of loss business. In addition, we maintain delegated authority arrangements through Syndicate 1458, which are included in our Property and Casualty and Specialty segments, as appropriate. Our relative mix of business between proportional business and excess of loss business has fluctuated in the past and will likely vary in the future. In recent periods, due to an increased contribution from our Casualty and Specialty segment, a relatively larger portion of our gross premiums written have come from proportional business than in many of our comparative periods. Proportional and delegated authority business typically have relatively higher premiums per unit of expected underwriting income, together with a higher acquisition expense ratio and combined ratio, than traditional excess of loss reinsurance. In addition, these coverages tend to be exposed to relatively more attritional, and frequent, losses while being subject to less expected severity.

The following table shows gross premiums written allocated between excess of loss, proportional and delegated authority for each of our segments:

Our Property segment includes our catastrophe class of business, principally comprised of excess of loss reinsurance and excess of loss retrocessional reinsurance to insure insurance and reinsurance companies against natural and man-made catastrophes, and our other property class of business, primarily comprised of proportional reinsurance, property per risk, property (re)insurance, binding facilities and regional U.S. multi-line reinsurance. We write catastrophe reinsurance and insurance coverage protecting against large natural catastrophes, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis, as well as claims arising from other natural and man-made catastrophes such as winter storms, freezes, floods, fires, windstorms, tornadoes, explosions and acts of terrorism. We offer this coverage to insurance companies and other reinsurers primarily on an excess of loss basis. This means we begin paying when our customers’ claims from a catastrophe exceed a certain retained amount. We also offer proportional coverages and other structures on a catastrophe-exposed basis and may increase these offerings on an absolute or relative basis in the future.

Our excess of loss property contracts generally cover all natural perils, as outlined above. Our predominant exposure under such coverage is to property damage. However, other risks, including business interruption and other non-property losses, may also be covered under our property reinsurance contracts when arising from a covered peril. We offer our coverages on a worldwide basis. Because of the wide range of possible catastrophic events to which we are exposed, including the size of such events and the potential for multiple events to occur in the same time period, our property business is volatile and our financial condition and results of operations reflect this volatility.

To moderate the volatility of our risk portfolio, we may increase or decrease our presence in the property business based on market conditions and our assessment of risk-adjusted pricing adequacy. We frequently purchase reinsurance or other protection for our own account for a number of reasons, including, to optimize the expected outcome of our underwriting portfolio, to manage capital requirements for regulated entities and to reduce the financial impact that a large catastrophe or a series of catastrophes could have on our results.

Casualty and Specialty Segment

We write casualty and specialty reinsurance and insurance covering primarily targeted classes of business where we believe we have a sound basis for underwriting and pricing the risk we assume. The following table shows gross premiums written in our Casualty and Specialty segment allocated by class of business:

	Year ended December 31,	2016				2015				2014
	(in thousands)
	Financial lines (1)	$	413,068			$	265,170			$	148,461
	General liability	204,337				189,439				90,387
	Professional liability	323,144				244,930				135,791
	Other	322,764				239,702				100,734
	Total Casualty and Specialty segment gross premiums written	$	1,263,313			$	939,241			$	475,373

Included in the other category within our Casualty and Specialty segment is accident and health, agriculture, automobile liability, aviation, casualty clash, workers’ compensation, cyber, employers’ liability, energy, environmental liability, marine, medical malpractice, satellite, terrorism and umbrella or excess casualty. Lines of business such as regional multi-line and whole account may have characteristics of various other classes of business, and are allocated accordingly. Principally all of the business is reinsurance, however our book of direct insurance business has been increasing in recent periods, and may continue to do so.

In recent years, we have expanded our Casualty and Specialty segment operations through organic growth initiatives and the acquisition of Platinum, and we plan to continue to expand these operations over time if market conditions are appropriate.

Our Casualty and Specialty segment gross premiums written may be subject to significant volatility as certain lines of business in this segment can be influenced by a small number of relatively large transactions. Our team of experienced professionals seeks to underwrite these lines using a disciplined underwriting approach and sophisticated analytical tools. We generally target lines of business where we believe we can adequately quantify the risks assumed and provide coverage where we believe our underwriting is robust and the market is attractive. We also seek to identify market dislocations and write new lines of business whose risk and return characteristics are estimated to exceed our hurdle rates. Furthermore, we also seek to manage the correlations of this business with our overall portfolio. We believe that our underwriting and analytical capabilities have positioned us well to manage our casualty and specialty business.

We offer our casualty and specialty reinsurance products principally on a proportional basis, and we also provide excess of loss coverage. We expect to grow our proportional coverage on an absolute or relative basis within this segment in the future. These products frequently include tailored features such as limits or sub-limits which we believe help us manage our exposures. Any liability exceeding, or otherwise not subject to, such limits reverts to the cedant. Our Casualty and Specialty segment frequently provides coverage for relatively large limits or exposures, and thus we are subject to potential significant claims volatility.

Our Casualty and Specialty segment offers certain casualty insurance products through Syndicate 1458 including, but not limited to, general liability, medical malpractice and professional liability. Syndicate 1458 also writes business through delegated authority arrangements.

As a result of our financial strength, we have the ability to offer significant capacity and, for select risks, we have made available significant limits. We believe these capabilities, the strength of our casualty and specialty reinsurance underwriting team, and our demonstrated ability and willingness to pay valid claims are competitive advantages of our casualty and specialty reinsurance business. While we believe that these and other initiatives will support growth in our Casualty and Specialty segment, we intend to continue to apply our disciplined underwriting approach which, together with current and forecasted market conditions, is likely to temper such growth in current and near-term periods.

Other

Our Other category primarily includes the results of: (1) our share of strategic investments in certain markets we believe offer attractive risk-adjusted returns or where we believe our investment adds value, and where, rather than assuming exclusive management responsibilities ourselves, we partner with other market participants; (2) our investment unit which manages and invests the funds generated by our consolidated operations; (3) corporate expenses, certain expenses related to the acquisition of Platinum, capital servicing costs and noncontrolling interests; and (4) the remnants of our former Bermuda-based insurance operations.

VENTURES

We pursue a number of other opportunities through our ventures unit, which has responsibility for creating and managing our joint ventures, executing customized reinsurance transactions to assume or cede risk and managing certain investments directed at classes of risk other than catastrophe reinsurance.

Property Catastrophe Managed Joint Ventures

We actively manage property catastrophe-oriented joint ventures, which provide us with an additional presence in the market, enhance our client relationships and generate fee income and profit commissions. These joint ventures allow us to leverage our access to business and our underwriting capabilities on a larger capital base. Currently, our principal joint ventures include DaVinci, Top Layer Re, Medici, Upsilon RFO and Fibonacci Re. Renaissance Underwriting Managers, Ltd. (“RUM”), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, acts as the exclusive underwriting manager for each of these joint ventures except Medici.

DaVinci

DaVinci was established in 2001 and principally writes property catastrophe reinsurance and certain low frequency, high severity specialty reinsurance lines of business on a global basis. In general, we seek to construct for DaVinci a portfolio with risk characteristics similar to those of Renaissance Reinsurance’s property catastrophe reinsurance portfolio, and from time to time, certain lines of specialty reinsurance written by Renaissance Reinsurance such as terrorism and workers’ compensation. In accordance with DaVinci’s underwriting guidelines, it can only participate in business also underwritten by Renaissance Reinsurance. We maintain majority voting control of DaVinci’s holding company, DaVinciRe, and accordingly, consolidate the results of DaVinciRe into our consolidated results of operations and financial position. The underwriting results of DaVinciRe are principally included in our Property segment. We seek to manage DaVinci’s capital efficiently over time in light of the market opportunities and needs we perceive and believe we are able to serve. Our noncontrolling economic ownership in DaVinciRe was 24.0% at December 31, 2016 ( 2015 - 26.3% ).

We expect our noncontrolling economic ownership in DaVinciRe to fluctuate over time. See “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, Capital Resources” for additional information with respect of DaVinci.

Top Layer Re

Top Layer Re was established in 1999 and writes high excess non-U.S. property catastrophe reinsurance. Top Layer Re is owned 50% by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (“State Farm”) and 50% by Renaissance Reinsurance. State Farm provides $3.9 billion of stop loss reinsurance coverage to Top Layer Re. We account for our equity ownership in Top Layer Re under the equity method of accounting and our proportionate share of its results is reflected in equity in earnings of other ventures in our consolidated statements of operations.

Medici

Medici is an exempted fund, incorporated under the laws of Bermuda. Medici’s objective is to invest substantially all of its assets in various insurance-based investment instruments that have returns primarily correlated to property catastrophe risk. Third-party investors subscribe for the majority of the participating, non-voting common shares of Medici. We maintain majority voting control of Medici’s parent, RenaissanceRe Fund Holdings Ltd. (“Fund Holdings”), therefore the results of Medici and Fund Holdings are consolidated in our financial statements. Our economic ownership in Medici was 36.5% at December 31, 2016 ( 2015 - 46.1% ).

Upsilon RFO

Effective January 1, 2013, we formed and launched a managed joint venture, Upsilon RFO, a Bermuda domiciled special purpose insurer (“SPI”), to provide additional capacity to the worldwide aggregate and per-occurrence primary and retrocessional property catastrophe excess of loss market. Upsilon RFO’s creation further enhances our efforts to match desirable reinsurance risk with efficient capital through a strategic capital structure. Original business is written directly by Upsilon RFO under fully-collateralized reinsurance contracts capitalized through the sale of non-voting shares to us and Upsilon Fund. Upsilon

RFO is considered a VIE as it has insufficient equity capital to finance its activities without additional financial support and we are the primary beneficiary. As a result, we consolidate Upsilon RFO and all significant inter-company transactions have been eliminated. Other than our equity investment, we have not provided any financial or other support to Upsilon RFO we were not contractually required to provide.

Upsilon Fund

Effective November 13, 2014, we incorporated Upsilon Fund, an exempted Bermuda limited segregated accounts company. Upsilon Fund was formed to provide a fund structure through which third party investors can invest in property reinsurance risk managed by us. As a segregated accounts company, Upsilon Fund is permitted to establish segregated accounts to invest in and hold identified pools of assets and liabilities. Each pool of assets and liabilities in each segregated account is ring-fenced from any claims from the creditors of Upsilon Fund’s general account and from the creditors of other segregated accounts within Upsilon Fund. Third party investors purchase redeemable, non-voting preference shares linked to specific segregated accounts of Upsilon Fund and own 100% of these shares. Upsilon Fund is managed by RenaissanceRe Fund Management Ltd. in return for a management fee and performance based incentive fee. We have not provided any financial or other support to Upsilon Fund we were not contractually required to provide. Currently, Upsilon Fund is invested in Upsilon RFO and Medici.

Fibonacci Re

Effective November 7, 2016 , Fibonacci Re, a Bermuda-domiciled SPI, was formed to provide collateralized capacity to Renaissance Reinsurance and its affiliates. Fibonacci Re raised capital from third party investors and us via a private placement of participating notes that are listed on the Bermuda Stock Exchange. This arrangement enables Renaissance Reinsurance to support its clients with additional property catastrophe reinsurance capacity and we believe it provides attractive risk-adjusted returns to our capital partners. We concluded that Fibonacci Re meets the definition of a VIE as it does not have sufficient equity capital to finance its activities. Therefore, we evaluated our relationship with Fibonacci Re and concluded we are not the primary beneficiary of Fibonacci Re as we do not have power over the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of Fibonacci. As a result, we do not consolidate the financial position and results of operations of Fibonacci. Other than our investment in the participating notes of Fibonacci Re, we have not provided financial or other support to Fibonacci Re that we were not contractually required to provide.

Strategic Investments

Ventures also pursues strategic investments where, rather than assuming exclusive management responsibilities ourselves, we partner with other market participants. These investments are directed at classes of risk other than catastrophe reinsurance, and at times may also be directed at non-insurance risks. We find these investments attractive because of their expected returns, and because they provide us with diversification benefits and information and exposure to other aspects of the market. Examples of these investments include our investments in Tower Hill Insurance Group, LLC. (“THIG”), Tower Hill Holdings, Inc. (“Tower Hill”),Tower Hill Signature Insurance Holdings, Inc. (“Tower Hill Signature”) and Tower Hill Re (collectively, the “Tower Hill Companies”), Essent Group Ltd. (“Essent”) and Trupanion Inc. (“Trupanion”). The carrying value of these investments on our consolidated balance sheet, individually or in the aggregate, may differ from the realized value we may ultimately attain, perhaps significantly so. For example, we believe that our investment in the Tower Hill Companies, which is recorded under the equity method of accounting in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. (“GAAP”), would attract a significantly higher valuation than what is currently recognized in our consolidated financial statements. However, under GAAP, we are prohibited from recording this investment at fair value. In addition, there is no liquid market for this investment.

Other Transactions

Ventures works on a range of other customized reinsurance and financing transactions. For example, we have participated in and continuously analyze other attractive opportunities in the market for insurance-linked securities and derivatives. We believe our products contain a number of customized features designed to fit the needs of our partners, as well as our risk management objectives.

Our ventures unit business activities that appear in our consolidated underwriting results, such as DaVinci and certain reinsurance transactions, are included in our Property and Casualty and Specialty segment results as appropriate; the results of our equity method investments, such as Top Layer Re, and other ventures are included in the Other category of our segment results.

NEW BUSINESS

From time to time we consider diversification into new ventures, either through organic growth, the formation of new joint ventures, or the acquisition of or the investment in other companies or books of business of other companies. This potential diversification includes opportunities to write targeted, additional classes of risk-exposed business, both directly for our own account and through new joint venture opportunities. We also regularly evaluate potential strategic opportunities we believe might utilize our skills, capabilities, proprietary technology and relationships to support possible expansion into further risk-related coverages, services and products. Generally, we focus on underwriting or trading risks where we believe reasonably sufficient data is available and our analytical abilities provide us with a competitive advantage, in order for us to seek to model estimated probabilities of losses and returns in respect of our then current portfolio of risks.

We regularly review potential strategic transactions that might improve our portfolio of business, enhance or focus our strategies, expand our distribution or capabilities, or provide other benefits. In evaluating potential new ventures or investments, we generally seek an attractive estimated return on equity, the ability to develop or capitalize on a competitive advantage, and opportunities which we believe will not detract from our core operations. We believe that our ability to attract investment and operational opportunities is supported by our strong reputation and financial resources, and by the capabilities and track record of our ventures unit.

COMPETITION

The markets in which we operate are highly competitive, and we believe that competition is, in general, increasing and becoming more robust. Our competitors include independent reinsurance and insurance companies, subsidiaries and/or affiliates of globally recognized insurance companies, reinsurance divisions of certain insurance companies, domestic and international underwriting operations, and a range of entities offering forms of risk transfer protection on a collateralized or other non-traditional basis. As our business evolves, we expect our competitors to change as well.

We believe that our principal competitors include other companies active in the Bermuda market, currently including Allied World Assurance Company, AG, Arch Capital Group Ltd., Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited, Axis Capital Holdings Limited, Chubb Limited, Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd., Everest Re Group, Ltd., Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited (“Fidelis”), Hamilton Re Ltd. (“Hamilton Re”), PartnerRe Ltd., Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. (“Third Point”), Validus Holdings, Ltd., White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. and XL Group plc, as well as a growing number of private, unrated reinsurers offering predominately collateralized reinsurance. We also compete with certain Lloyd’s syndicates active in the London market, as well as with a number of other industry participants, such as American International Group, Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Hannover Rückversicherung AG (“Hannover Re”), Ironshore Inc., Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft Aktiengesellschaft in München (“Munich Re”) and Swiss Re Ltd.

Hedge funds, pension funds and endowments, investment banks, investment managers (such as Nephila Capital Ltd.), exchanges and other capital market participants are increasingly active in the reinsurance market and the market for related risk, either through the formation of reinsurance companies (such as Greenlight Reinsurance Ltd., Aeolus Re Ltd., Fidelis, Hamilton Re, and Third Point) or through the use of other financial products, such as catastrophe bonds, other insurance-linked securities and collateralized reinsurance investment funds. We expect competition from these sources to continue to increase. In addition, we continue to anticipate growth in financial products offered to the insurance market that are intended to compete with traditional reinsurance, such as exchange traded catastrophe options, insurance-linked securities, unrated privately held reinsurance companies providing collateralized or other non-traditional reinsurance, catastrophe-linked derivative agreements and other financial products.

The tax policies of the countries where our customers operate, as well as government sponsored or backed catastrophe funds, also affect demand for reinsurance, sometimes significantly. Moreover, government-backed entities increasingly represent competition for the coverages we provide directly or for the business of our customers, reducing the potential amount of third party private protection our clients might need or desire.

UNDERWRITING AND ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT

Underwriting

Our primary underwriting goal is to construct a portfolio of reinsurance and insurance contracts and other financial risks that maximizes our return on shareholders’ equity, subject to prudent risk constraints, and to generate long-term growth in tangible book value per common share plus the change in accumulated dividends. We assess each new (re)insurance contract on the basis of the expected incremental return relative to the incremental contribution to portfolio risk.

We have developed a proprietary, computer-based pricing and exposure management system, REMS©, which has analytic and modeling capabilities that help us to assess the risk and return of each incremental (re)insurance contract in relation to our overall portfolio of (re)insurance contracts. We believe that REMS© is a robust underwriting and risk management system that has been successfully integrated into our business processes and culture. The REMS© framework encompasses and facilitates risk capture,

analysis, correlation, portfolio aggregation and capital allocation within a single system for all of our natural hazards and non-natural hazards (re)insurance contracts. We continue to invest in and improve REMS©, incorporating our underwriting and modeling experience and adding proprietary software and a significant amount of new industry data. We continually strive to improve our analytical techniques for both natural hazard and non-natural hazard models in REMS© and while our experience is most developed for analyzing natural hazard catastrophe risks, we continue to invest in and evolve our capabilities for assessing non-natural hazard catastrophe risks. With the acquisition of Platinum and our recent growth in our casualty and specialty lines of business, we have increased our modeling and underwriting resources and associated capabilities with respect to our casualty and specialty lines of business.

We generally utilize a multiple model approach when evaluating a proposed program, combining both probabilistic and deterministic techniques. We combine the analyses generated by REMS© with other information available to us, including our own knowledge of the client submitting the proposed program, to assess the premium offered against the risk of loss and the cost of utilized capital which the program presents. The underlying risk models integrated into our underwriting and REMS© framework are a combination of internally constructed and commercially available models. We use commercially available natural hazard catastrophe models to assist with validating and stress testing our base model and REMS© results.

Before we bind a (re)insurance risk, exposure data, historical loss information and other risk data is gathered from customers. Using a combination of proprietary software, underwriting experience, actuarial techniques and engineering expertise, as we deem appropriate, the exposure data is reviewed and augmented. We use this data as primary inputs into the REMS© modeling system as a base to create risk distributions to represent the risk being evaluated. We believe that the REMS© modeling system helps us to analyze each policy on a consistent basis, assisting our determination of what we believe to be an appropriate price to charge for each policy based upon the risk to be assumed. In part, through the process described above and the utilization of REMS©, we seek to compare our estimate of the expected returns in respect of a contract with the amount of capital we notionally allocate to the contract based on our estimate of its marginal impact on our portfolio of risks. A key advantage of our REMS© framework is our ability to include additional perils, risks and geographic areas that may not be captured in commercially available natural hazards risk models.

We periodically review the estimates and assumptions that are reflected in REMS© and our other tools. For example, the 2011 and 2010 New Zealand Earthquakes and the Tohoku Earthquake provided new insight on certain aspects of hazard and vulnerability to the global earthquake science community. Utilizing internal research capabilities from our team of scientists at Weather Predict Consulting Inc. (“Weather Predict”) and new research from the global earthquake science community, we updated several of our internal regional representations of earthquake risk in advance of the commercially available models. In late 2012, Storm Sandy gave rise to new data relating to storm surge, flood persistence and mid-Atlantic tropical storm meteorology. We subsequently updated our North Atlantic storm surge model to reflect this new data.

Our underwriters use the combination of our risk assessment and underwriting process, REMS© and other tools in their pricing decisions, which we believe provides them with several competitive advantages. These include the ability to:

As part of our risk management process, we also use REMS© to assist us, as a retrocedant, with the purchase of reinsurance coverage for our own account.

Our underwriting and risk management process, in conjunction with REMS©, quantifies and manages our exposure to claims from single events and the exposure to losses from a series of events. As part of our pricing and underwriting process, we also assess a variety of other factors, including:

In order to estimate the risk profile of each line of non-natural hazard reinsurance (i.e., our casualty and specialty lines of business), we establish probability distributions and assess the correlations with the rest of our portfolio. In lines with catastrophe risk, such as excess workers’ compensation and terrorism, we seek to directly leverage our skill in modeling property reinsurance risks, and seek to appropriately estimate and manage the correlations between these casualty and specialty lines and our property reinsurance portfolio. For other classes of business, in which we believe we have little or no natural catastrophe exposure, and therefore less correlation with our property reinsurance coverages, we derive probability distributions from a variety of underlying information sources, including recent historical experience, and the application of judgment as appropriate. The nature of some of these businesses lends itself less to the analysis we use for our property reinsurance coverages, reflecting both the nature of available exposure information, and the impact of human factors such as tort exposure. We produce probability distributions to represent our estimates of the related underlying risks which our products cover, which we believe helps us to make consistent underwriting decisions and to manage our total risk portfolio.

In addition, we also produce, utilize and report on models which measure our utilization of capital in light of regulatory capital considerations and constraints. Our position in respect of these regulatory capital models is reviewed by our risk management professional staff and periodically reported to and reviewed by senior underwriting personnel and executive management with responsibility for our regulated operating entities.

Enterprise Risk Management (“ERM”)

We believe that high-quality and effective ERM is best achieved when it is a shared cultural value throughout the organization and consider ERM to be a key process which is the responsibility of every individual within the Company. We have developed and utilize tools and processes we believe support a culture of risk management and create a robust framework of ERM within our organization. We believe that our ERM processes and practices help us to identify potential events that may affect us, quantify, evaluate and manage the risks to which we are exposed, and provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of our objectives. We believe that effective ERM can provide us with a significant competitive advantage. We also believe that effective ERM assists our efforts to minimize the likelihood of suffering financial outcomes in excess of the ranges which we have estimated in respect of specific investments, underwriting decisions, or other operating or business activities, although we do not believe this risk can be eliminated. We believe that our risk management tools support our strategy of pursuing opportunities and help us to identify opportunities we believe to be the most attractive. In particular, we utilize our risk management tools to support our efforts to monitor our capital position, on a consolidated basis and for each of our major operating subsidiaries, and to allocate an appropriate amount of capital to support the risks we have assumed in the aggregate and for each of our major operating subsidiaries. We believe that our risk management efforts are essential to our corporate strategy and our goal of achieving long-term growth in tangible book value per share plus the change in accumulated dividends for our shareholders.

Our Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing enterprise-wide risk management and is actively involved in the monitoring of risks that could affect us. The members of the Board have regular, direct access to the senior executives and other officers responsible for identifying and monitoring our risks and coordinating our ERM, including our Group Chief Risk Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Group General

Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, each of whom reports directly to our Chief Executive Officer, as well as other senior personnel such as our Chief Accounting Officer, Global Corporate Controller and Head of Internal Audit. The Board also receives regular reports from the Controls and Compliance Committee.

Our ERM framework operates via a three lines of defense model. The first line of defense consists of individual functions that deliberately assume risks on our behalf and own and manage risk within the Company on a day-to-day and business operational basis. The second line of defense is responsible for risk oversight and also supports the first line to understand and manage risk. A dedicated risk team led by the Group Chief Risk Officer is responsible for this second line and reports to the Board of Director’s Investment and Risk Management Committee and the Chief Executive Officer. The third line of defense, our Internal Audit team, reports to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors and provides independent, objective assurance as to the assessment of the adequacy and effectiveness of our internal control systems and also coordinates risk-based audits and compliance reviews and other specific initiatives to evaluate and address risk within targeted areas of our business.

The principal risk areas that make up our ERM framework are assumed risk (including reserve risk), business environment risk and operational risk:

Reserve Risk. Reserve risk is a subcomponent of assumed risk. We define reserve risk as the risks related to our reserve for net claims and claim expenses, including the amount, both absolute and relative, of our outstanding reserve for net claims and claim expenses, and the impact of economic, social, legal and regulatory matters. Our reserve for net claims and claim expenses is subject to significant uncertainty and has the potential to develop adversely in future periods. While reserve risk may increase in both absolute terms and relative to its overall consideration in our ERM framework, we employ robust resources, procedures and technology to identify, understand, quantify and manage this risk. Our reserving methodologies and sensitivities for each respective line of business described in “Part II. Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, Summary of Critical Accounting Estimates, Claims and Claim Expense Reserves.”

Controls and Compliance Committee.   We believe that a key component of our current operational risk management platform is our Controls and Compliance Committee. The Controls and Compliance Committee is comprised of our Chief Financial Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Accounting Officer, Global Corporate Controller, Group Chief Risk Officer, Head of Internal Audit, staff compliance professionals and representatives from our business units. The purpose of the Controls and Compliance Committee is to establish, assess the effectiveness of, and enforce policies, procedures and practices relating to accounting, financial reporting, internal controls, regulatory, legal, compliance and related matters, and to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, our Code of Ethics and Conduct (the “Code of Ethics”), and other relevant standards. In addition, the Controls and Compliance Committee is charged with reviewing certain transactions that potentially raise complex and/or significant tax, legal, accounting, regulatory, financial reporting, reputational or compliance issues.

In addition, we address other areas of operational risk through our disaster recovery program, human resource practices such as motivating and retaining top talent, our strict tax protocols and our legal and regulatory policies and procedures.

Ongoing Development and Enhancement.   We seek to reflect and categorize risks we monitor in part through quantitative risk distributions, even where we believe that such quantitative analysis is not as robust or well developed as our tools and models for measuring and evaluating other risks, such as catastrophe and market risks. We also seek to improve the methods by which we measure risks and believe effective risk management is a continual process that requires ongoing improvement and development. We seek from time to time to identify effective new practices or additional developments both from within our industry and from other sectors. We believe that our ongoing efforts to embed ERM throughout our organization help us produce and maintain a competitive advantage and achieve our corporate goals.

RATINGS

Financial strength ratings are an important factor in evaluating and establishing the competitive position of reinsurance and insurance companies. Rating organizations continually review the financial positions of our reinsurers and insurers. We have received high claims-paying and financial strength ratings from A.M. Best Company, Inc. (“A.M. Best”), Standard and Poor’s Rating Services (“S&P”), Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) and Fitch Ratings Ltd. (“Fitch”). These ratings represent independent opinions of an insurer’s financial strength, operating performance and ability to meet policyholder obligations, and are not an evaluation directed toward the protection of investors or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any of our securities. See “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, Capital Resources, Ratings” for the ratings of our principal operating subsidiaries and joint ventures by segment, and details of recent ratings actions.

In addition, S&P assesses companies’ ERM practices, which is an opinion on the many critical dimensions of risk that determine overall creditworthiness. RenaissanceRe has been assigned an ERM rating of “Very Strong”, which is the highest rating assigned by S&P, and indicates that S&P believes RenaissanceRe has very strong capabilities to consistently identify, measure, and manage risk exposures and losses within RenaissanceRe’s predetermined tolerance guidelines.

RESERVES FOR CLAIMS AND CLAIM EXPENSES

We believe the most significant accounting judgment made by management is our estimate of claims and claim expense reserves. Claims and claim expense reserves represent estimates, including actuarial and statistical projections at a given point in time, of the ultimate settlement and administration costs for unpaid

claims and claim expenses arising from the insurance and reinsurance contracts we sell. We establish our claims and claim expense reserves by taking claims reported to us by insureds and ceding companies, but which have not yet been paid (“case reserves”), adding estimates for the anticipated cost of claims incurred but not yet reported to us, or incurred but not enough reported to us (collectively referred to as “IBNR”) and, if deemed necessary, adding costs for additional case reserves which represent our estimates for claims related to specific contracts previously reported to us which we believe may not be adequately estimated by the client as of that date, or adequately covered in the application of IBNR.

Our reserving techniques, assumptions and processes differ among our Property and Casualty and Specialty segments. Refer to “Note 8 . Reserve for Claims and Claim Expenses in our Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements” for more information on the risks we insure and reinsure, the reserving techniques, assumptions and processes we follow to estimate our claims and claim expense reserves, prior year development of the reserve for claims and claim expenses, analysis of our incurred and paid claims development and claims duration information for each of our Property and Casualty and Specialty segments. In addition, refer to “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, Summary of Critical Accounting Estimates, Claims and Claim Expense Reserves” for more information on our current estimates versus our initial estimates of our claims reserves, and sensitivity analysis for each of our Property and Casualty and Specialty segments.

INVESTMENTS

Our investment guidelines stress preservation of capital, market liquidity, and diversification of risk. The majority of our investments consist of highly rated fixed income securities. We also hold a significant amount of short term investments which are managed as part of our investment portfolio and have a maturity of one year or less when purchased. In addition, we have an allocation to other investments including private equity partnerships, catastrophe bonds, senior secured bank loan funds, and hedge funds, and to certain equity securities. We may from time to time re-evaluate our investment guidelines and explore investment allocations to other asset classes. Our investments are subject to market-wide risks and fluctuations, as well as to risks inherent in particular securities.

For additional information regarding our investment portfolio, refer to “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, Liquidity and Capital Resources, Investments” and “Note 5 . Investments in our Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements”.

MARKETING

We believe that our modeling and technical expertise, the risk management products we provide to our customers, and our reputation for paying claims promptly has enabled us to become a provider of first choice in many lines of business to our customers worldwide. We market our products primarily through reinsurance brokers and we focus our marketing efforts on targeted brokers and partners. We believe that our existing portfolio of business is a valuable asset and, therefore, we attempt to continually strengthen relationships with our existing brokers and customers. We believe that by maintaining close relationships with brokers, we are able to obtain access to a broad range of potential reinsureds. We target prospects that are capable of supplying detailed and accurate underwriting data and that potentially add further diversification to our book of business.

We believe that primary insurers’ and brokers’ willingness to use a particular reinsurer is based not just on pricing, but also on the financial security of the reinsurer, its claim paying ability ratings and demonstrated willingness to promptly pay valid claims, the quality of a reinsurer’s service, the reinsurer’s willingness and ability to design customized programs, its long-term stability and its commitment to provide stable reinsurance capacity across market cycles. We believe we have established a reputation with our brokers and customers for prompt response on underwriting submissions, for fast payments on valid claims and for providing creative solutions to our customers’ needs.

Our portfolio of business continues to be characterized by relatively large transactions with ceding companies with whom we do business, although no current relationship exceeds 10% of our gross premiums written. Accordingly, our gross premiums written are subject to significant fluctuations depending on our success in maintaining or expanding our relationships with these customers. We believe that our willingness and ability to design customized programs and to provide bespoke risk management products has helped us to develop long-term relationships with brokers and customers.

Our brokers assess client needs and also perform data collection, contract preparation and other administrative tasks, enabling us to market our products cost effectively by maintaining a smaller staff. In recent years, our distribution has become increasingly reliant on a small and relatively decreasing number of broker relationships reflecting consolidation in the broker sector. We expect this concentration to continue and perhaps increase. In 2016 , three brokerage firms accounted for 80.8% of our gross premiums written.

The following table shows the percentage of our Property and Casualty and Specialty segments’ gross premiums written generated through subsidiaries and affiliates of our largest brokers:

The following table shows the number of brokers for which we issued authorization for coverage on programs, the number of program submissions received and the number and percent of authorizations issued, allocated between our Property and Casualty and Specialty segments:

	Year ended December 31, 2016	Property			Casualty and Specialty
	Number of brokers	33			50
	Program submissions	4,138			3,068
	Programs authorized	1,423			1,024
	Programs authorized as a percentage of program submissions	34.4	%		33.4	%

EMPLOYEES

At February 17, 2017 , we employed 376 people worldwide (February 18, 2016 - 376, February 18, 2015 - 281). None of our employees are subject to collective bargaining agreements and we are not aware of any current efforts to implement such agreements at any of our subsidiaries.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Our information technology platform and services are critical in supporting our operational capabilities. We have an integrated team of professionals who manage and support our communication platforms, transaction-management systems, and analytics and reporting capabilities, including the development of proprietary solutions like REMS©. In addition, we have secure, off-site data centers in North America and Europe to support our global operational needs. While most of our core applications are currently housed on our own infrastructure, our use of cloud-based services is increasing as the security and cost-effectiveness of these services improves.

Our business and support functions utilize information systems that provide critical services to both our employees and our customers. Information security and privacy are important concerns, with an increasing cyber-threat environment and evolving regulatory requirements driving continued investment in this area. Computer viruses, hackers, employee misuse or misconduct and other external hazards could expose our data systems to security breaches, cyber attacks or other disruptions.

We protect our information systems with physical and electronic safeguards as well as backup systems considered appropriate by management. In addition, we perform regular security penetration test scenarios and provide regular security risk staff education awareness sessions, to evaluate our preparedness and enhance both our system and user ability to detect, alert and respond to such an incident. We have implemented disaster recovery and business continuity plans for our operations which are tested at least annually with respect to our business-critical infrastructure and systems. We employ data backup

procedures that seek to ensure that our key business systems and data are regularly backed up, and can be restored promptly if and as needed. In addition, we generally store backup information at off-site locations, in order to seek to minimize our risk of loss of key data in the event of a disaster. Our recovery plans involve arrangements with our off-site, secure data centers. We believe we will be able to access our systems from these facilities in the event that our primary systems are unavailable due to various scenarios, such as natural disasters.

REGULATION

The business of insurance and reinsurance is regulated in most countries and all states in the U.S., although the degree and type of regulation varies significantly from one jurisdiction to another.  Currently, we operate primarily in Bermuda, the U.S. and the U.K. We also have operations in Singapore and Ireland. Although principally regulated by the regulatory authorities of their respective jurisdictions, our operating subsidiaries may also be subject to regulation in the jurisdictions of their ceding companies. In addition, expansion into additional insurance markets could expose us or our subsidiaries to increasing regulatory oversight. However, we intend to continue to conduct our operations so as to minimize the likelihood that Renaissance Reinsurance, DaVinci, Top Layer Re, RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S., Upsilon RFO, or any of our other Bermudian subsidiaries will become subject to direct U.S. regulation.

Bermuda Regulation

All Bermuda companies must comply with the provisions of the Companies Act 1981. In addition, the Insurance Act 1978 and related regulations (collectively, the “Insurance Act”), regulate the business of our Bermuda insurance, reinsurance and management company subsidiaries.

As a holding company, RenaissanceRe is not currently subject to the Insurance Act. However, the Insurance Act regulates the insurance and reinsurance business of our Bermuda-licensed operating insurance companies. RenaissanceRe’s Bermuda-licensed operating insurance subsidiaries and joint ventures include Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci, which are registered as Class 4 general business insurers, and RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S., which is registered as a Class 3B general business insurer, and Top Layer Re, which is registered as a Class 3A general business insurer under the Insurance Act. RenaissanceRe also has operating subsidiaries registered as SPIs under the Insurance Act, including Upsilon RFO. RUM and RenaissanceRe Underwriting Management Ltd. are each registered as insurance managers under the Insurance Act.

The Insurance Act imposes solvency and liquidity standards as well as auditing and reporting requirements and confers on the Bermuda Monetary Authority (the “BMA”) powers to supervise, investigate and intervene in the affairs of insurance companies.

On March 24, 2016, the BMA was recognized by the European Parliament as fully equivalent under Solvency II for its commercial (re)insurers, retroactive to January 1, 2016. To achieve this status, the BMA made certain changes to the filing requirements and public disclosure requirements applicable to commercial (re)insurers and insurance groups, including amendments to the statutory financial reporting regime, aligning it with GAAP, International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) or other acceptable accounting standards, and the introduction of an economic balance sheet (“EBS”) framework. Amendments were made to the Insurance Act to meet these changing requirements.

General Purpose Financial Statements. All Class 3A, Class 3B and Class 4 insurers must prepare financial statements in respect of their insurance business in accordance with GAAP, IFRS or other acceptable accounting standards, which are published on the BMA website.

Statutory Financial Statements. Each Class 3A, Class 3B and Class 4 general business insurer is required to submit annual statutory financial statements as part of its statutory financial return no later than four months after the insurer’s financial year end (unless specifically extended). The GAAP or IFRS financial statements are the basis on which statutory financial statements are prepared, subject to the application of certain prudential filters as outlined in the Insurance Accounts Rules 2016. The statutory financial statements contain statements both on a consolidated and unconsolidated basis. The unconsolidated information forms the basis for assessing the insurer’s liquidity position, minimum solvency margin and class of registration.

Capital and Solvency Return . Class 3A, 3B and 4 insurers are also required to file a capital and solvency return in respect of their general business, which includes, among other items, the EBS, a schedule of governance and risk management, a catastrophe risk return, a schedule of loss triangles or reconciliation of net loss reserves, a schedule of eligible capital and the Enhanced Capital Requirement (“ECR”) as calculated by the Bermuda Solvency and Capital Requirement (“BSCR”) model. The consolidated information within the statutory financial statements form the starting basis for the preparation of the EBS. The EBS is, in turn, used as the basis to calculate the insurer’s ECR.

Financial Condition Report . Class 3A, 3B and 4 insurers and insurance groups are required to prepare and publish a financial condition report (“FCR”), which was introduced to the regulatory regime in 2016 as part of the measures undertaken to achieve Solvency II equivalence. The FCR provides, among other things, details of measures governing the business operations, corporate governance framework and solvency and financial performance of the insurer/insurance group.

Minimum Solvency Margin. A general business insurer’s statutory assets must exceed its statutory liabilities by an amount, equal to or greater than the prescribed minimum solvency margin (“Minimum Solvency Margin”), which varies with the category of its registration. The Minimum Solvency Margin that must be maintained by a Class 4 insurer is the greater of (i) $100.0 million, (ii) 50% of net premiums written (with a credit for reinsurance ceded not exceeding 25% of gross premiums), (iii) 15% of net aggregate loss and loss expense provisions and other insurance reserves, or (iv) 25% of the ECR, which is established by reference to the BSCR model. The Minimum Solvency Margin for a Class 3A or Class 3B insurer is the greater of (i) $1.0 million, (ii) 20% of the first $6.0 million of net premiums written; if in excess of $6.0 million, the figure is $1.2 million plus 15% of net premiums written in excess of $6.0 million, (iii) 15% of net aggregate loss and loss expense provisions and other insurance reserves, or (iv) 25% of the insurer’s ECR.

Enhanced Capital Requirement. Each Class 3A, Class 3B and Class 4 insurer is required to maintain its capital at a level at least equal to its ECR which is established by reference to either the BSCR or an approved internal capital model. In either case, the ECR shall at all times equal or exceed the respective Class 3A, Class 3B and Class 4 insurer’s Minimum Solvency Margin and may be adjusted in circumstances where the BMA concludes that the insurer’s risk profile deviates significantly from the assumptions underlying its ECR or the insurer’s assessment of its risk management policies and practices used to calculate the ECR applicable to it. While not specifically referred to in the Insurance Act, the BMA has also established a target capital level (“TCL”) for each Class 3A, Class 3B and Class 4 insurer equal to 120% of the respective ECR. While a Class 3A, Class 3B and Class 4 insurer is not currently required to maintain its statutory capital and surplus at this level, the TCL serves as an early warning tool for the BMA and failure to maintain statutory capital at least equal to the TCL will likely result in increased BMA regulatory oversight.

Minimum Liquidity Ratio. An insurer engaged in general business is required to maintain the value of its relevant assets at not less than 75% of the amount of its relevant liabilities (“Minimum Liquidity Ratio”).

Eligible Capital. To enable the BMA to better assess the quality of an insurer’s capital resources, Class 3A, Class 3B and Class 4 insurers must maintain available capital in accordance with a “three tiered capital regime”. All capital instruments are classified as either basic or ancillary capital, which in turn are classified into one of three tiers (Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3) based on their "loss absorbency" characteristics (the "Tiered Capital Requirements"). Eligibility limits are then applied to each tier in determining the amounts eligible to cover regulatory capital requirement levels. The highest capital is classified as Tier 1 capital and lesser quality capital is classified as either Tier 2 capital or Tier 3 capital. Under this regime, not more than certain specified percentages of Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 capital may be used to satisfy the Class 3A, 3B and 4 insurers' Minimum Solvency Margin and ECR requirements.

Restrictions on Dividends, Distributions and Reductions of Capital. Class 3A, Class 3B and Class 4 insurers are prohibited from declaring or paying any dividends if in breach of the required Minimum Solvency Margin or Minimum Liquidity Ratio (the “Relevant Margins”) or if the declaration or payment of such dividend would cause the insurer to fail to meet the Relevant Margins. Further, Class 3A, 3B and Class 4 insurers are prohibited from declaring or paying in any financial year dividends of more than 25% of its total statutory capital and surplus (as shown on its previous financial year’s statutory balance sheet) unless it files (at least seven days before payment of such dividends) with the BMA an affidavit stating that it will continue to meet its Relevant Margins. Class 3A, Class 3B and Class 4 insurers must obtain the BMA’s prior approval for a reduction by 15% or more of the total statutory capital as set forth in its previous year’s financial statements.

These restrictions on declaring or paying dividends and distributions under the Insurance Act are in addition to the solvency requirements under the Companies Act which apply to all Bermuda companies.

Fit and Proper Controllers. The BMA maintains supervision over the controllers (as defined herein) of all Bermuda registered insurers. Currently, the Insurance Act states that no person shall become a controller of any description of a registered insurer unless the BMA has been served notice in writing stating that the person intends to become such a controller. A controller includes the managing director and chief executive of the registered insurer or its parent company; a 10%, 20%, 33% or 50% shareholder controller; and any person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of the registered insurer or of its parent company are accustomed to act. In addition, all Bermuda insurers are also required to give the BMA written notice of the fact that a person has become, or ceased to be, a controller or officer of the registered insurer within 45 days of becoming aware of such fact. An officer in relation to a registered insurer includes a director, secretary, chief executive or senior executive by whatever name called.

Material Change. All registered insurers are required to give the BMA 30 days’ notice of certain matters that are likely to be of material significance to the BMA in carrying out its supervisory function under the Insurance Act. The Insurance Act prescribes which matters require advance notice.

Insurance Code of Conduct. All Bermuda insurers are required to comply with the BMA’s Insurance Code of Conduct, which establishes duties, requirements and standards to be complied with to ensure each insurer implements sound corporate governance, risk management and internal controls. Failure to comply with these requirements will be a factor taken into account by the BMA in determining whether an insurer is conducting its business in a sound and prudent manner under the Insurance Act.

Special Purpose Insurer Reporting Requirements . Unlike other (re)insurers, SPIs are fully funded to meet their (re)insurance obligations; therefore the application and supervision processes are streamlined to facilitate the transparent structure. Further, the BMA has the discretion to modify such insurer’s accounting requirements under the Insurance Act. Like other (re)insurers, the principal representative of an SPI has a duty to inform the BMA in relation to solvency matters, where applicable. During 2016, new legislative requirements were introduced requiring SPIs to file annual statutory or modified financial returns via an electronic filing system. Under these requirements, SPIs are required to map GAAP financial statements to the electronic statutory forms and are required to provide information around ownership structure, assessment of risks, analyses of premium and details of segregated cells.

Insurance Manager Reporting Requirements . During 2016, the BMA undertook to enhance its oversight of insurance managers as part of the development of Bermuda’s insurance regulatory framework. As part of this, the BMA introduced the Insurance Manager Code of Conduct and required insurance managers to file specific details via an Insurance Manager’s Return. The Insurance Manager’s Return requires, among other things, details around directors and officers of the insurance manager, the services provided by the entity, and details of the insurers managed by the insurance manager.

Group Supervision. Pursuant to the Insurance Act, the BMA acts as the group supervisor of the RenaissanceRe group of companies (the “RenaissanceRe Group”) and it has designated Renaissance Reinsurance to be the “designated insurer” in respect of the RenaissanceRe Group. The designated insurer is required to ensure that the RenaissanceRe Group complies with the provisions of the Insurance Act pertaining to groups and all related group solvency and group supervision rules (together, the “Group Rules”). Under the Group Rules, the RenaissanceRe Group is required to annually prepare and submit to the BMA group GAAP financial statements, group statutory financial statements, a group capital and solvency return (including an EBS) and an FCR. An insurance group must ensure that the value of the insurance group's assets exceeds the amount of the insurance group's liabilities by the aggregate of: (i) the individual Minimum Solvency Margin of each qualifying member of the group controlled by the parent company; and (ii) the parent company’s percentage shareholding in the member multiplied by the member’s Minimum Solvency Margin, where the parent company exercises significant influence over a member of the group but does not control the member (the "Group Minimum Solvency Margin"). A member is a qualified member of the insurance group if it is subject to solvency requirements in the jurisdiction in which it is registered. Every insurance group is also required to submit an annual group actuarial opinion when filing its group capital and solvency return. The group is required to appoint an individual approved by the BMA to be the group actuary. The group actuary must provide an opinion on the RenaissanceRe Group’s technical provisions as recorded in the RenaissanceRe Group statutory EBS. Insurance groups are required to maintain available economic statutory capital and surplus to an amount that is equal to or exceeds the value

of its group ECR, which is calculated at the end of its relevant year by reference to the BSCR model of the group (the “Group BSCR”) or an approved internal capital model provided that the group ECR shall at all times be an amount equal to or exceeding the Group Minimum Solvency Margin. The group ECR is being phased in over a period of six years, which commenced with the 2013 financial year end. For the 2016 financial year end the applicable group ECR is equivalent to 80% of the amount determined by the Group BSCR or an approved internal capital model. This requirement will increase by increments of 10% in each of the following two years until 100% of the amount determined by the Group BSCR or an approved internal capital model for the ECR is required for the 2018 financial year end. The BMA expects insurance groups to operate at or above a group TCL, which exceeds the group ECR. The TCL for insurance groups is set at 120% of its group ECR. In addition, under the Tiered Capital Requirements described above, not more than certain specified percentages of Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 capital may be used by an insurance group to satisfy the Group's Minimum Solvency Margin and group ECR requirements. Further, our Board of Directors has established solvency self assessment procedures for the RenaissanceRe Group that factor in all foreseeable material risks; Renaissance Reinsurance must ensure that the RenaissanceRe Group’s assets exceed the amount of the RenaissanceRe Group’s liabilities by the aggregate minimum margin of solvency of each qualifying member; and our Board of Directors has established and implements corporate governance policies and procedures designed to ensure they support the overall organizational strategy of the RenaissanceRe Group. In addition, the RenaissanceRe Group is required to prepare and submit to the BMA a quarterly financial return comprising unaudited consolidated group financial statements, a schedule of intra-group transactions and a schedule of risk concentrations.

The BMA has certain powers of investigation and intervention relating to insurers and their holding companies, subsidiaries and other affiliates, which it may exercise in the interest of such insurer’s policyholders or if there is any risk of insolvency or of a breach of the Insurance Act or the insurer’s license conditions. The BMA may cancel an insurer’s registration on certain grounds specified in the Insurance Act.

Under the provisions of the Insurance Act, the BMA may, from time to time, conduct “on site” visits at the offices of insurers it regulates. Over the past several years, the BMA has conducted “on site” reviews in respect of our Bermuda-domiciled operating insurers.

Income Taxes. Currently, neither we nor our shareholders are required to pay Bermuda income or profits tax, withholding tax, capital gains tax, capital transfer tax, estate duty or inheritance tax in respect of our shares.  We have obtained an assurance from the Minister of Finance of Bermuda under the Exempted Undertakings Tax Protection Act 1966 that, if Bermuda enacts legislation imposing any tax on profits, income, capital asset, gain or appreciation or any tax in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax, such tax shall not be applicable to us, our operations or our shares, debentures or other obligations until March 31, 2035, except insofar as such tax applies to persons ordinarily resident in Bermuda or is payable by us in respect of real property owned or leased by us in Bermuda.

U.S. Regulation

Admitted Company Regulation . Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. is a Maryland domiciled insurer licensed in 26 states and the District of Columbia and qualified or certified as a reinsurer in 24 states. As a U.S. licensed and authorized insurer, Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. is subject to considerable regulation and supervision by state insurance regulators. The extent of regulation varies but generally has its source in statutes that delegate regulatory, supervisory and administrative authority to a department of insurance in each state. Among other things, state insurance departments regulate insurer solvency, authorized investments, loss and loss expense reserves and provisions for unearned premiums, and deposits of securities for the benefit of policyholders. State insurance departments also conduct periodic examinations of the affairs of authorized insurance companies and require the filing of annual and other reports relating to the financial condition of companies and other matters. The Maryland Insurance Administration, as Renaissance Reinsurance U.S.’s domestic regulator, is the primary financial regulator of Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. We are pursuing growth in many of lines of business written by Renaissance Reinsurance U.S., which may increase the impact of U.S. regulation on our business as a whole.

Holding Company Regulation . We are subject to the insurance holding company laws of Maryland, the domestic state of Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. These laws generally require Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. to file certain reports concerning its capital structure, ownership, financial condition and general business operations with the Maryland Insurance Administration. Generally, all affiliate transactions

involving Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. must be fair and, if material or of specified types, require prior notice and approval or non-disapproval by the Maryland Insurance Administration. Further, Maryland law places limitations on the amounts of dividends or distributions payable by Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. Payment of ordinary dividends by Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. requires notice to the Maryland Insurance Administration. Declaration of an extraordinary dividend, which must be paid out of earned surplus, generally requires thirty days’ prior notice to and approval or non-disapproval of the Maryland Insurance Administration. An extraordinary dividend includes any dividend whose fair market value together with that of other dividends or distributions made within the preceding twelve months exceeds the lesser of (1) ten percent of the insurer’s surplus as regards policyholders as of December 31 of the preceding year or (2) the insurer’s net investment income, excluding realized capital gains (as determined under statutory accounting principles), for the twelve month period ending December 31 of the preceding year and pro rata distributions of any class of the insurer’s own securities, plus any amounts of net investment income (subject to the foregoing exclusions), in the three calendar years prior to the preceding year which have not been distributed.

Maryland law also requires prior notice and Maryland Insurance Administration approval of acquisitions of control of a Maryland-domestic insurer or an entity directly or indirectly controlling a Maryland-domestic insurer, including its holding company. Any purchaser of 10% or more of the outstanding voting securities of an insurance company, its holding company or any other entity directly or indirectly controlling the insurance company is presumed to have acquired control, unless the presumption is rebutted. Therefore, any investor who intends to acquire 10% or more of RenaissanceRe’s outstanding voting securities may need to comply with these laws and would be required to file notices and reports with the Maryland Insurance Administration before such acquisition.

Effective for 2014, Maryland adopted enterprise risk management and reporting obligations applicable to insurance holding company systems that are meant to protect the licensed companies from enterprise risk. These obligations include requiring an annual enterprise risk report by the ultimate controlling person identifying the material risks within the insurance holding company system that could pose enterprise risk to the licensed companies. We timely filed our enterprise risk reports with the Maryland Insurance Administration for 2015 and 2016 .

Reinsurance Regulation . The insurance laws of each U.S. state regulate the sale of reinsurance to licensed ceding insurers by non-admitted alien reinsurers acting from locations outside the state. With some exceptions, the sale of insurance or reinsurance within a jurisdiction where the insurer is not admitted to do business is prohibited. Our Bermuda-domiciled insurance operations and joint ventures (principally Renaissance Reinsurance, DaVinci, Top Layer Re, RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S. and Upsilon RFO) are all admitted to transact insurance business in Bermuda and do not maintain an office or solicit, advertise, settle claims or conduct other insurance activities in any other jurisdiction where the conduct of such activities would require that any company be so admitted.

RenaissanceRe Underwriting Managers U.S. LLC is licensed by the Connecticut Department of Insurance as a reinsurance intermediary broker and is required to maintain its reinsurance intermediary broker license in force in order to conduct its reinsurance operations in Connecticut.

Although reinsurance contract terms and rates are generally not subject to regulation by state insurance authorities, a primary U.S. insurer ordinarily will enter into a reinsurance agreement only if it can obtain credit on its statutory financial statements for the reinsurance ceded. State insurance regulators permit U.S. ceding insurers to take credit for reinsurance ceded to non-admitted, non-U.S. (alien) reinsurers if the reinsurance contract contains certain minimum provisions and if the reinsurance obligations of the non-U.S. reinsurer are appropriately collateralized. Qualifying collateral may be established by an alien reinsurer exclusively for a single U.S. ceding company. Alternatively, an alien reinsurer that is accredited by a state may establish a multi-beneficiary trust with qualifying assets equal to its reinsurance obligations to all U.S. ceding insurers, plus a trusteed surplus amount. Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci are each an accredited reinsurer in New York and Florida and have established multi-beneficiary trusts with a qualifying financial institution in New York for the benefit of their U.S. cedants.

States generally require alien reinsurers to provide collateral equal to one hundred percent of their reinsurance obligations to U.S. ceding insurers. However, thirty-two states have credit for reinsurance laws that permit U.S. ceding insurers to take full credit for reinsurance when a “certified” reinsurer posts reduced collateral amounts. Under these credit for reinsurance laws, qualifying alien reinsurers may reduce their

collateral for future reinsurance agreements based on a secure rating assigned by the U.S. insurance regulator. The secure rating is assigned by the state upon an assessment of the reinsurer’s financial condition, financial strength ratings and other factors. In addition, the alien reinsurer must be domiciled in a jurisdiction that is “qualified” under state law. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (the “NAIC”) granted conditional qualified jurisdiction status to Bermuda effective January 1, 2014. Effective January 1, 2015, the NAIC approved its initial list of qualified jurisdictions, including Bermuda, and states that have these credit for reinsurance laws may accept such qualification in assessing reinsurers for certification. Florida has approved Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci for collateral reduction.

The Dodd-Frank Act also addresses states’ extraterritorial regulation of credit for reinsurance and the solvency regulation of U.S. reinsurers. The Dodd-Frank Act prohibits a state in which a U.S. ceding insurer is licensed, but not domiciled, from denying credit for reinsurance if the ceding insurer’s domestic state recognizes credit for reinsurance for the insurer’s ceded risk and is a state accredited by the NAIC (or has substantially similar financial solvency requirements).

NAIC Ratios . The NAIC has established 13 financial ratios to assist state insurance departments in their oversight of the financial condition of licensed property and casualty insurance companies operating in their respective states. The NAIC’s Insurance Regulatory Information System (“IRIS”) calculates these ratios based on information submitted by insurers on an annual basis and shares the information with the applicable state insurance departments. Each ratio has an established “usual range” of results and assists state insurance departments in executing their statutory mandate to oversee the financial condition of insurance companies. A ratio result falling outside the usual range of IRIS ratios is not considered a failing result; rather unusual values are viewed as part of the regulatory early monitoring system. Furthermore, in some years, it may not be unusual for financially sound companies to have several ratios with results outside the usual ranges. An insurance company may fall outside of the usual range for one or more ratios because of specific transactions that are themselves immaterial.

Federal Oversight and Other Government Intervention . Government intervention in the insurance and reinsurance markets in the U.S. continues to evolve. Although U.S. state regulation is currently the primary form of regulation of insurance and reinsurance, Congress has considered proposals in several areas that may impact the industry, including the creation of an optional federal charter, repeal of the insurance company antitrust exemption from the McCarran Ferguson Act, and tax law changes, including changes to increase the taxation of reinsurance premiums paid to off-shore affiliates with respect to U.S. risks and comprehensive business tax reform legislation including border adjustments. We are unable to predict what other proposals will be made or adopted or the effect, if any, that such proposals would have on our operations and financial condition.

The Dodd-Frank Act established federal measures that impact the U.S. insurance business and preempt certain state insurance laws. For example, the Dodd-Frank Act created the Financial Stability Oversight Council (the “FSOC”), which is authorized to designate a nonbank financial company as “systemically significant” if its material financial distress could threaten the financial stability of the U.S. Since 2013, the FSOC has designated three insurance groups as systemically significant nonbank financial companies. The FSOC’s potential recommendation of measures to address systemic risk in the insurance industry could affect our insurance and reinsurance operations as could a determination that we or our counterparties are systemically significant.

The Dodd-Frank Act also created the Federal Insurance Office (the “FIO”). The FIO does not have general supervisory or regulatory authority over the business of insurance, but it has preemption authority over state insurance laws that conflict with certain international agreements. The FIO is also authorized to monitor the U.S. insurance industry and identify potential regulatory gaps that could contribute to systemic risk and may recommend to the FSOC the designation of systemically important insurers. In addition, the FIO represents the U.S. at the International Association of Insurance Supervisors. The Dodd-Frank Act authorizes the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) to enter into international agreements of mutual recognition regarding the prudential regulation of insurance or reinsurance (a “Covered Agreement”). The FIO is authorized to preempt state measures that (i) are inconsistent with a Covered Agreement and (ii) disfavor non-U.S. insurers subject to a Covered Agreement.

On January 13, 2017, Treasury and the USTR notified Congress that they had negotiated a Covered Agreement with the EU which establishes mutually binding prudential insurance standards and addresses three areas of insurance regulation: group supervision, reinsurance and the exchange of information

between insurance supervisors. This Covered Agreement could potentially allow credit to be taken for reinsurance ceded to a non-U.S. reinsurer domiciled in an EU jurisdiction, without the need for such reinsurer to post 100 percent qualified security or to be designated by the state as a “certified reinsurer.” In addition, and importantly for state regulation, it contemplates that in the U.S. it will be implemented by the states by incorporating its standards into state law. However, if state law is not amended to incorporate such standards and disadvantages an EU insurer, the FIO is authorized to preempt the offending state law. The Dodd-Frank Act does not provide any express statutory authority to the U.S. Congress to disapprove the negotiated Covered Agreement in its current form or require that any amendments be made to the Covered Agreement. However, Congress could exercise its authority to amend provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act governing the Covered Agreement’s entry into force. Further, the U.S. Congress has a variety of general authorities under which it could make implementation of the joint agreement by federal agencies difficult or impossible, including prohibiting the expenditure of federal funds for implementation. Furthermore, it is uncertain how the Trump administration will view the Covered Agreement, and they could choose to terminate it.

It is possible the FIO will, in the future, issue recommendations or take or initiate actions in respect of the reinsurance market that would, if enacted, impact our markets or our operations significantly, perhaps adversely. Over time, the Dodd-Frank Act or those agencies responsible for its enforcement may lay the foundation for some form of U.S. federal regulation of insurance.

Government intervention in the property insurance market, particularly with respect to natural catastrophe losses, one of our key markets, has occurred on the state and federal level over recent years. Most significantly, beginning in 2007, the state of Florida enhanced the authority of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (the “FHCF”) to offer coverage at below-market rates and expanded the ability of the state-sponsored insurer, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (“Citizens”), to compete with private insurance companies, and other companies that cede business to us. This legislation reduced the role of the private insurance and reinsurance markets in Florida, a key target market of ours. In succeeding years, Florida legislation allowed Citizens to increase rates and cut back support for the FHCF, which has supported, over this period, a relatively increased role for private insurers in Florida, a market in which we have established substantial market share. However, we cannot assure you that this increased role will continue or be maintained, or that adverse new legislation will not be passed.

See “Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors” and “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, Current Outlook, Legislative and Regulatory Update” for further information regarding recent legislative and regulatory proposals and the potential effects on our business and results of operations.

U.K. Regulation

Lloyd’s Regulation

General .  The operations of RSML are subject to oversight by Lloyd’s, substantially effected through the Lloyd’s Franchise Board. RSML’s business plan for Syndicate 1458, including maximum underwriting capacity, requires annual approval by the Lloyd’s Franchise Board. The Lloyd’s Franchise Board may require changes to any business plan presented to it or additional capital to be provided to support the underwriting plan. Lloyd’s also imposes various charges and assessments on its members. If material changes in the business plan for Syndicate 1458 were required by the Lloyd’s Franchise Board, or if charges and assessments payable to Lloyd’s by RenaissanceRe CCL were to increase significantly, these events could have an adverse effect on the operations and financial results of RSML. We have deposited certain assets with Lloyd’s to support RenaissanceRe CCL’s underwriting business at Lloyd’s. Dividends from a Lloyd’s managing agent and a Lloyd’s corporate member can be declared and paid provided the relevant company has sufficient profits available for distribution.

By entering into a membership agreement with Lloyd’s, RenaissanceRe CCL has undertaken to comply with all Lloyd’s bye-laws and regulations as well as the provisions of the Lloyd’s Acts and the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended by the Financial Services Act 2012 (the “FSMA”).

Capital Requirements.   The underwriting capacity of a member of Lloyd’s must be supported by providing a deposit (referred to as “Funds at Lloyd’s”) in the form of cash, securities or letters of credit in an amount determined under the capital adequacy regime of the U.K.’s Prudential Regulation Authority (the “PRA”).

The amount of such deposit is calculated for each member through the completion of an annual capital adequacy exercise. Under these requirements, Lloyd’s must demonstrate that each member has sufficient assets to meet its underwriting liabilities plus a required solvency margin.

Restrictions.   A Reinsurance to Close (“RITC”) generally is put in place after the third year of operations of a syndicate year of account. On successful conclusion of a RITC, any profit from the syndicate’s operations for that year of account can be remitted by the managing agent to the syndicate’s members. If the syndicate’s managing agency concludes that an appropriate RITC cannot be determined or negotiated on commercially acceptable terms in respect of a particular underwriting year, it must determine that the underwriting year remain open and be placed into run-off. During this period, there cannot be a release of the Funds at Lloyd’s of a member of that syndicate without the consent of Lloyd’s.

The financial security of the Lloyd’s market as a whole is regularly assessed by three independent rating agencies (A.M. Best, S&P and Fitch). Syndicates at Lloyd’s take their financial security rating from the rating of the Lloyd’s Market. A satisfactory credit rating issued by an accredited rating agency is necessary for Lloyd’s syndicates to be able to trade in certain classes of business at current levels. RSML and RenaissanceRe CCL would be adversely affected if Lloyd’s current ratings were downgraded.

Intervention Powers .  The Council of Lloyd’s has wide discretionary powers to regulate members’ underwriting at Lloyd’s. It may, for instance, change the basis on which syndicate expenses are allocated or vary the Funds at Lloyd’s requirements or the investment criteria applicable to the provision of Funds at Lloyd’s. Exercising any of these powers might affect the return on the corporate member’s participation in a given underwriting year. If a member of Lloyd’s is unable to pay its debts to policyholders, the member may obtain financial assistance from the Lloyd’s Central Fund, which in many respects acts as an equivalent to a state guaranty fund in the U.S. If Lloyd’s determines that the Central Fund needs to be increased, it has the power to assess premium levies on current Lloyd’s members. The Council of Lloyd’s has discretion to call or assess up to 3% of a member’s underwriting capacity in any one year as a Central Fund contribution.

PRA and FCA Regulation

The PRA currently has ultimate responsibility for the prudential supervision of the Lloyd’s market and the Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) has responsibility for market conduct regulation. Both the PRA and FCA have substantial powers of intervention in relation to Lloyd’s managing agents, such as RSML, including the power to remove an agent’s authorization to manage Lloyd’s syndicates. In addition, each year the PRA requires Lloyd’s to satisfy an annual solvency test which measures whether Lloyd’s has sufficient assets in the aggregate to meet all outstanding liabilities of its members, both current and run-off. If Lloyd’s fails this test, the PRA may require the entire Lloyd’s market to cease underwriting or individual Lloyd’s members may be required to cease or reduce their underwriting.

Lloyd’s as a whole is authorized by the PRA and regulated by both the FCA and the PRA. Lloyd’s is required to implement certain rules prescribed by the PRA and by the FCA; such rules are to be implemented by Lloyd’s pursuant to its powers under the Lloyd’s Act 1982 relating to the operation of the Lloyd’s market. Lloyd’s prescribes, in respect of its managing agents and corporate members, certain minimum standards relating to their management and control, solvency and various other requirements. The PRA and the FCA directly monitor Lloyd’s managing agents’ compliance with the systems and controls prescribed by Lloyd’s. If it appears to either the PRA or the FCA that either Lloyd’s is not fulfilling its delegated regulatory responsibilities or that managing agents are not complying with the applicable regulatory rules and guidance, the PRA or the FCA may intervene at their discretion. Future regulatory changes or rulings by the PRA or FCA could impact RSML’s business strategy or financial assumptions, possibly resulting in an adverse effect on RSML’s financial condition and operating results.

Change of Control .  The PRA and the FCA currently regulate the acquisition of control of any Lloyd’s managing agent which is authorized under the FSMA. Any company or individual that, together with its or his associates, directly or indirectly acquires 10% or more of the shares in a Lloyd’s managing agent or its parent company, or is entitled to exercise or control the exercise of 10% or more of the voting power in such Lloyd’s managing agent or its parent company, would be considered to have acquired control for the purposes of the relevant legislation, as would a person who had significant influence over the management of such Lloyd’s managing agent or its parent company by virtue of their shareholding or voting power in either. A purchaser of 10% or more of RenaissanceRe’s common shares or voting power would therefore be considered to have acquired control of RSML. Under the FSMA, any person or entity proposing to acquire

control over a Lloyd’s managing agent must give prior notification to the PRA and the FCA of their or the entity’s intention to do so. The PRA and FCA would then have 60 working days to consider the application to acquire control. Failure to make the relevant prior application could result in action being taken against RSML by the PRA or the FCA or both of them. Lloyd’s approval is also required before any person can acquire control (using the same definition as for the PRA and FCA) of a Lloyd’s managing agent or Lloyd’s corporate member.

Other Applicable Laws.   Lloyd’s worldwide insurance and reinsurance business is subject to various regulations, laws, treaties and other applicable policies of the EU, as well as of each nation, state and locality in which it operates. Material changes in governmental requirements and laws could have an adverse effect on Lloyd’s and market participants, including RSML and RenaissanceRe CCL.

Solvency II

Solvency II was adopted by the European Parliament in April of 2009 and came into effect on January 1, 2016. Solvency II represents a risk-based approach to insurance regulation and capital adequacy. Its principal goals are to improve the correlation between capital and risk, effect group supervision of insurance and reinsurance affiliates, implement a uniform capital adequacy structure for (re)insurers across the EU Member States, establish consistent corporate governance standards for insurance and reinsurance companies, and establish transparency through standard reporting of insurance operations. Under Solvency II, an insurer’s or reinsurer’s capital adequacy in relation to various insurance and business risks may be measured with an internal model developed by the insurer or reinsurer and approved for use by the Member State’s regulator or pursuant to a standard formula developed by the EC. The PRA granted approval to Lloyd’s internal model application in December 2015.

Singapore Regulation

Branches of Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci based in the Republic of Singapore (the “Singapore Branches”) have each received a license to carry on insurance business as a general reinsurer. The activities of the Singapore Branches are primarily regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore pursuant to Singapore’s Insurance Act. Additionally, the Singapore Branches are each regulated by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (the “ACRA”) as a foreign company pursuant to Singapore’s Companies Act.  Prior to the establishment of the Singapore Branches, Renaissance Reinsurance had maintained a representative office in Singapore commencing April 2012. We do not currently consider the activities and regulatory requirements of the Singapore Branches to be material to us.

Renaissance Services of Asia Pte. Ltd., our Singapore-based service company, was established as a private company limited by shares in Singapore on March 15, 2012 and is registered with the ACRA and subject to Singapore’s Companies Act.

Ireland Regulation

Renaissance Reinsurance of Europe, incorporated under the laws of Ireland, provides coverage to insurers and reinsurers, primarily in Europe. Business is written both in Dublin and through a branch office in the U.K.

Renaissance Reinsurance of Europe and its U.K. branch are regulated and supervised by the Central Bank of Ireland and are subject to the requirements of Solvency II. Renaissance Reinsurance of Europe is registered with the Companies Registration Office in Ireland and is subject to the Companies Act 2014. The Central Bank of Ireland adopts a risk-based framework to the supervision of regulated firms. Firms are rated according to the impact their failure would have on financial systems, the Irish economy and on the citizens of Ireland. Renaissance Reinsurance of Europe is currently considered by the Central Bank of Ireland to be a ‘low impact’ firm. We do not currently consider the regulatory requirements of Renaissance Reinsurance of Europe and its U.K. branch to be material to us.

Renaissance Services of Europe Ltd., our Dublin-based Irish service company, was established as a private company limited by shares in Ireland and is registered with the Companies Registration Office and subject to the Companies Act 2014.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE CHANGE MATTERS

Our principal economic exposures arise from our coverages for natural disasters and catastrophes. We believe, and believe the consensus view of current scientific studies substantiates, that changes in climate conditions, primarily global temperatures and expected sea levels, are likely to increase the severity, and possibly the frequency, of weather related natural disasters and catastrophes relative to the historical experience over the past 100 years. We believe that this expected increase in severe weather, coupled with currently projected demographic trends in catastrophe-exposed regions, contributes to factors that will increase the average economic value of expected losses, increase the number of people exposed per year to natural disasters and in general exacerbate disaster risk, including risks to infrastructure, global supply chains and agricultural production. Accordingly, we expect an increase in claims, especially from properties located in coastal areas. We have taken measures to mitigate losses related to climate change through our underwriting process and by continuously monitoring and adjusting our risk management models.

In addition to the impacts that environmental incidents have on our business, there has been a proliferation of governmental and regulatory scrutiny related to climate change and greenhouse gases, which will also affect our business. Although most regulations related to climate change and greenhouse gases do not directly apply to our business, these regulations could indirectly impact our business.

International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”)	Accounting principles, standards and interpretations as set forth in opinions of the International Accounting Standards Board which are applicable in the circumstances as of the date in question.

Perils	This term refers to the causes of possible loss in the property field, such as fire, windstorm, collision, hail, etc. In the casualty field, the term “hazard” is more frequently used.

AVAILABLE INFORMATION

We maintain a website at www.renre.com . The information on our website is not incorporated by reference in this Form 10-K. We make available, free of charge through our website, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish such material to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). We also make available, free of charge from our website, our Audit Committee Charter, Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee Charter, Corporate Governance Guidelines, and Code of Ethics. Such information is also available in print for any shareholder who sends a request to RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., Attn: Office of the Corporate Secretary, P.O. Box HM 2527, Hamilton, HMGX, Bermuda. Reports filed with the SEC may also be viewed or obtained at the SEC Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20549. Information on the operation of the SEC Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers, including the Company, that file electronically with the SEC. The address of the SEC’s website is www.sec.gov .