Brit Prepares To Launch Re Norton II

by Stewart Douglas

Story link: Brit Prepares To Launch Re Norton II

Insurer Brit Insurance has today announced it has agreed to the launch of the new Norton Re II fund, which will be operated from tax-haven Bermuda with a view to providing reinsurance services for largescale clients.

The fund, to be known as Norton Re II will be set up to write catastrophic retrocession, and will supercede its predecessor fund Norton Re in the market. The fund will be launched with over $118 million of capital reserves to pay its losses.

The fund was today given the approval legally, having previously received its trading license from the Bermuda authorities at the end of November of this year, paving the way for its official launch into the general reinsurance market after having been advised by HSBC Bank prior.

Brit Insurance is the leading investor in the fund with $20 million of a stake in common with private fund managers and investors globally. This latest round of investment will see the fund operate with some $11 million more in reserves than previously, in order to market inflation and an increase in potential cost centres.

The fund will begin trading as of 1 January in 2008 and will continue with the practice of its predecessor in operating from its offshore location in Bermuda’s capital Hamilton. Of the major investors in Norton Re, most have remained part of the Norton Re II, according to a statement from Brit today.

Speaking on the mov, Brit CEO Dane Douetil said that they were delighted to see continuity in investment, and the ongoing Brit ethos of diversifying capital structures was further highlighted by the company’s decision to manage funds in which it has a substantial interest.