“If you’re an insurer today, and you’re really good at underwriting, you should evolve into being a reinsurer and jettison out other assets.”

The words of advice from InsurTech Co-Founder Marty Young of Buckle during a virtual M&A conference late last year nearly knocked me off my chair. These days, there aren’t too many pure standalone reinsurers. (Only one, Partner Re, comes immediately to mind.) Surviving members of the Bermuda classes of 2001 and 2005 are all hybrids. And executives heading up hybrids that I’ve interviewed in recent years talk about growing their insurance businesses and de-emphasizing reinsurance.