The Berrizal Partners Global Approach

Bridging the Gap Between Regulatory Capital and Insurance Capacity. For financial institutions under Basel III/IV, insurance is no longer only a risk management expense—it can be a substitute for equity capital.

We do not treat captives, reinsurance, or securitisation as isolated products. We treat them as integrated levers in a Capital Engineering Framework—transforming the balance sheet by arbitrating the cost difference between holding regulatory capital (expensive) and transferring risk to insurance markets (efficient).

The framework

Four pillars of capital engineering.

01 — Strategic
Regulatory arbitrage & capital velocity

Our objective is to unlock Capital Velocity—recycling capital to support new lending without raising expensive equity.

  • ■ The problem: Basel 3.1 output floors (72.5%) and LGD floors (e.g., 45% under F-IRB) trap capital and depress ROE.
  • ■ Our approach: structure UFCP and SRT to replace high-density RWA with lower-risk insurance assets—substituting borrower risk weights (often 100%) with an AA insurer (often 0–20%).
  • ■ The outcome: capital is released and redeployed into productive lending, improving RAROC.
02 — Structural
The “virtuous cycle” of the captive

We differentiate by integrating the captive directly into the capital relief chain. We do not only place insurance—we engineer a flow of funds that retains economics within the group.

  1. Fronting: the bank purchases credit protection from a rated insurer to meet CRM eligibility.
  2. Cession: the fronting insurer cedes the risk (and premium) to the bank’s captive via reinsurance.
  3. Value retention: the captive retains underwriting profit otherwise lost to the market.

This turns a cost centre (premiums) into a profit centre (captive dividends) while delivering the capital relief CFOs need.

03 — Execution
Agility via cell structures

Capital markets move faster than licensing timelines. We use Protected Cell Companies (PCCs) and Segregated Account Companies (SACs) as tactical “plug-and-play” infrastructure.

  • ■ Application: execute a specific SRT or incubate a new trade finance insurance programme.
  • ■ Ring-fencing: legally segregate assets and liabilities to isolate portfolio economics and collateral.
  • ■ Speed: reduce lead time and capital burden versus standalone structures.
04 — Governance
“Substance over form”

Regulators (ECB, PRA) scrutinise synthetic structures to ensure they represent genuine risk transfer—not accounting arbitrage. We design and document structures to pass the substance test.

  • ■ CRM eligibility: policies must be legal, valid, binding, enforceable—direct, explicit, irrevocable, unconditional.
  • ■ Future-proofing: proactive rollover risk and maturity mismatch mitigation to keep capital relief durable through cycles.
Summary

We focus on the balance sheet.

We operate at the intersection of Basel IV regulation, corporate finance, and reinsurance. Unlike traditional brokers focused on placement—or captive managers focused on administration—Berrizal Partners focuses on the balance sheet.

Optimise regulatory capital

Reduce RWA density through eligible Unfunded Credit Protection and supervisory-robust structures.

Retain economic value

Capture underwriting margins through captive reinsurance within a compliant fronting chain.

Accelerate execution

Deploy tactical cell facilities for rapid SRT and portfolio-specific risk transfer.

Want to assess capital capacity you could unlock?

We can evaluate whether UFCP, captive integration, and SRT structures can reduce RWA and improve RAROC—subject to jurisdiction and supervisory review.

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