Aon expects legacy deal activity at Lloyd’s to pick up after a quieter stretch in 2024 and 2025, as carriers take a harder line on capital allocation and prepare for softer market conditions.
In its April 2026 Lloyd’s Legacy Report, Aon said reduced deal flow over the past two years came during a period of relatively mild catastrophe losses and strong wider re/insurance market performance.
That backdrop is shifting. The broker said a softer reinsurance cycle, stronger M&A activity and greater focus on historic liabilities now support a more positive outlook for legacy business at Lloyd’s.
The report points to the growing depth of the market. Since 2010, legacy specialists including RiverStone International, Enstar, Premia, Compre and Marco Capital have assumed nearly $15 bn of reserves through dedicated Reinsurance-to-Close syndicates.
Aon said this growth shows how the Lloyd’s RITC market has built scale, claims expertise and more data-driven reserving and portfolio management tools.
For cedants, this deeper pool of specialist capacity matters. It can reduce volatility, improve operational efficiency and help insurers unlock value from well-reserved portfolios through more competitive deal terms and focused run-off execution.
Deal sizes have also moved up as the market has grown. Between 2015 and 2025, average Lloyd’s legacy deal size came in at just under $300 mn. Half of all transactions sat in the historic sweet spot between $100 mn and $300 mn.
Smaller deals still hold a place. Aon said 25% of Lloyd’s legacy transactions involved portfolios with less than $100 mn of reserves. Larger deals remain material too.
Over the same 10-year period, 20% of transactions reached $400 mn or more. The largest single deal was the £1.2 bn MS Amlin and RiverStone transaction completed in 2023.
Aon expects transaction volume to rise in the coming months as carriers review underperforming business more closely. The broker said insurers are now taking a more granular view of weaker segments, especially where long-tail uncertainty continues to hang over classes such as US casualty and aviation.
More than 75% of Lloyd’s syndicates have yet to complete a legacy deal. That leaves a lot of room for future activity.
At the same time, repeat sellers account for about 66% of reserves transacted since 2015, which suggests retrospective solutions are no longer one-off fixes. They are becoming a recurring capital management tool.
Rob Margetts, legacy reinsurance broker at Aon, said the Lloyd’s legacy market has shifted from a specialist clean-up option into a mainstream tool for managing balance sheets, capital and earnings.
As competition increases and rates soften across multiple classes, he said legacy deals will play a bigger role in helping managing agents and capital providers protect performance, recycle capital and preserve underwriting appetite.
The report also looks at how run-off deals help carriers release capital tied up in prior-year reserves, protect current-year earnings and support underwriting capacity.
Aon added that cedant confidence in the Lloyd’s legacy market continues to build as oversight gets tighter. The report points to the Legacy Oversight Framework, including early engagement through a Legacy Review Panel and formal approval through the Capital and Planning Group.
