Iris will provide reinsurance coverage for a variety of natural catastrophes.
June 5, 2009
By Kelly Holman
IDDmagazine.com
Cartesian Capital Group has formed Iris Reinsurance Ltd., marking the firm’s first investment in the reinsurance industry.
The New York private equity firm, which manages $1.1 billion, has backed the launch of the Hamilton, Bermuda-based reinsurance company with an undisclosed amount of capital.
“You have an increase in demand and a contraction in supply, but the underlying risk of natural disasters remains unchanged,” said Peter Yu, managing partner of Cartesian Capital.
Iris will provide reinsurance coverage via industry-loss warranties for a variety of natural catastrophes including earthquakes, hurricanes and wind storms.
The launch of the reinsurer couldn’t be more timely.
The Atlantic Ocean is expected to spawn five hurricanes and 11 named storms through November, according to the latest data from Colorado State University.
Iris will led by an executive team that includes former Credit Suisse director G. Chase Toogood and G. Schuyler Havens, formerly the chief financial officer and head of corporate development at Freestone Capital Management in Seattle.
The investment fits nicely with Cartesian Capital’s focus, according to Yu. “Our strategy over the years has been to look for long-term continuity opportunities and take advantage of market dislocations.”
Yu served as chief executive of American International Group private equity unit AIG Capital Partners prior to launching Cartesian in 2005.
He will sit on Iris’ board along with principals Charles Mixon III and Gregory Armstrong.
Kirkland & Ellis served as counsel to Cartesian, which also received legal advice from Bermuda law firm Appleby Global.
Iris is backed solely by Cartesian, which joins a stable of other private equity firms that have invested in reinsurance companies in recent years.
A syndicate of well-known financial sponsors that included Stone Point Capital LLC, Diamond Castle Holdings and Credit Suisse’s DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, for example, launched Hamilton reinsurer Harbor Point Ltd. with $1.5 billion in 2005.