Max Re Capital Ltd. today announced that it will join the list of Bermuda companies that have set up excess and surplus lines platforms in the United States.
With plans to launch a proposed new subsidiary in the first quarter, Max Re said the new company, Max Specialty Insurance Company, will be based in Richmond, Va., and will have offices in Atlanta, San Francisco and Philadelphia.
Max Re said that Max Specialty is expected to operate across two divisions--a brokerage division and a managing general agency division--and that the divisions will offer property, inland marine, casualty, excess liability and umbrella insurance products.
Stephen J. Vaccaro Jr. will join Max Specialty as its president and chief executive officer, the company said. Mr. Vaccaro, a 30-year insurance industry veteran, was previously with Essex Insurance Company, an affiliate of the Markel Corporation, from 1993 to 2004.
In a statement announcing the launch, W. Marston Becker, chairman and chief executive officer of Max Re Capital, said: "We look forward to the launch of Max Specialty, which will add a significant new distribution channel and base of potential clients to Max Re Capital's global insurance and reinsurance businesses, and enable us to provide a broader range of insurance products and services to customers in the United States and around the world."
Mr. Becker noted that the E&S segment of the insurance business has been the industry's fastest-growing segment for two decades. He said the new subsidiary will enhance Max Re's ability to generate underwriting profits and produce a growing and diversified book of business.
Max Re said the brokerage division of Max Specialty will be headed by Jonathan Hahn, and the MGA division will be headed by Bryan Sanders.
Mr. Hahn has more than 15 years of insurance industry experience. He has worked at Markel since 1995 with responsibility for growing the excess property book there.
Mr. Sanders, Max Re said, has more than 25 years in the E&S insurance business and has experience in building and developing a national wholesale operation.
Mr. Becker, who became CEO in mid-November, also has a long history in the specialty lines arena, in addition to holding leadership roles at reinsurance companies. Mr. Becker was appointed CEO of Max Re in mid-November, replacing Robert Cooney, who resigned when the reinsurer announced an internal investigation of some finite reinsurance contracts.
Max Re was originally launched in 2000 with a business model that focused on writing structured or finite business and a nontraditional investment strategy. In 2005, the company began to shift gears in its insurance portfolio by entering the traditional property reinsurance market.
With the launch of an E&S operation, Max Re is not alone in expanding its strategy to encompass U.S. specialty lines. Other Bermuda players involved in the E&S segment include ACE Limited, XL Capital, RenaissanceRe, Aspen Holdings, Arch Capital and Everest Re.
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