The Navigators Group, Inc. announced that its principal underwriting agency subsidiary, Navigators Management Company, Inc., has established Navigators Re, a unit focused on developing specialty assumed reinsurance business.

"As a global specialty insurer, there are certain product lines and geographies where a reinsurance approach is a more efficient and practical manner in which to participate in the market," Stan Galanski, president and chief executive officer of Navigators said in a statement. "Navigators Re will complement our existing insurance business and will be part of our culture that emphasizes specialization, underwriting discipline and a long-term commitment to the markets we enter."

Clay Bassett, Navigators' chief underwriting officer and chief risk officer, who has assumed the additional role of president of Navigators Re said, "Navigators Re will focus on specialty niches that provide geographic, product and cycle diversification to the Group underwriting portfolio."

He added that the three areas of focus are Accident & Health, non-U.S. regional property, and agriculture. Each area, he said, will be led by "an established industry veteran with a solid track record."

Joann DeBlasis has joined Navigators Re as president of the Accident & Health Division, underwriting both proportional and excess of loss treaty business covering medical health care exposures, the company said. Ivan Vega also recently joined Navigators Re, leading a Miami-based team focused on underwriting property treaty reinsurance business covering exposures in Central and South America and the Caribbean. Rob Larson, who started Navigators' agriculture practice last year, will continue to lead that business.

The Navigators Group, Inc. is an international specialty insurance holding company with insurance company operations, underwriting management companies, and operations at Lloyd's of London. Headquartered in New York City, Navigators has offices in the United States, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe.