Catlin Group Limited has named Peter Schmidt as chief executive officer, European Reinsurance.
He will also serve as CEO of Catlin Re Switzerland, which, subject to regulatory approval, will begin writing specialty classes of reinsurance for European clients later this year.
He joined Catlin, an international specialty property and casualty insurer and reinsurer, on Aug. 1, reporting to Paul Brand, group chief underwriting officer and CEO of Catlin's European operations, the company said.
Mr. Schmidt joined Catlin from Atradius N.V., where he was chief market officer and a member of the Group Management Board. Before joining Atradius in 2008, he held various senior management positions at Swiss Reinsurance Company. He also has held executive positions at General & Cologne Re and Union Re.
Catlin announced in June that it had applied to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) to establish Catlin Re Switzerland. The formation of Catlin Re Switzerland will allow Catlin to write classes of European reinsurance business that are not currently underwritten within the Catlin Group, focusing on classes where underwriting conditions are favorable, according to the company.
Catlin Re Switzerland will be established as a subsidiary of Catlin Bermuda (Catlin Insurance Company Ltd.) and will be capitalized at about $1 billion. Much of that capital will be allocated to a Bermuda branch of Catlin Re Switzerland, which will be established upon authorization by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. The Bermuda branch will initially underwrite reinsurance of various Catlin Group subsidiaries; this reinsurance is currently written by Catlin Bermuda.
