The chairman and non-executive director of the board for the CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund has resigned due to a conflict of interest.The Royal Gazette has learned Anthony Taylor handed in his notice Monday, after the board learned that Montpelier Re, which Mr Taylor has ties to, is planning to launch a similar retrocessional reinsurance fund on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).Mr Taylor helped set up Montpelier Re in Bermuda back in 2001. At the time, he was CEO and chief underwriting officer. He went on to be president and CEO and currently serves at non-executive chairman of the company’s board of directors.Montpelier Re registered Blue Capital Global Reinsurance Fund Ltd with the Bermuda Registrar of Companies on October 8. The fund is to be managed by Montpelier Re’s Blue Capital Management, a wholly owned fund management group established to offer collateralised property catastrophe reinsurance to the traditional reinsurance market. The company is now said to be poised to launch the fund and could float it on the LSE as early as next week, sources close to the matter say.Montpelier Re has told prospective investors that it intends to invest $50 million in the fund. The company has been pitching the concept under the name CollateralPLUS to investors in the London market seeking attractive yields from the ILS market, which is flourishing.The product, structured by Barclays, would write fully collateralised reinsurance contracts by drawing on capital from a range of institutional investors — much like CATCo has done.Both Montpelier Re and CATCo declined to comment on the matter.The CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund, currently the only Bermuda and London Stock exchange listed fund of its kind, is operated by CATCo Investment Management.The specialist Bermuda-based reinsurance-linked investment firm, which incorporated in August 2010, raised $80 million through an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in December of that year and now has $400 million in capital. The CATCo Group of companies now manages $2 billion in assets.CATCo has brought a capital markets approach to the reinsurance industry — an approach that’s proved popular with investors and reinsurance buyers alike. The company has a focused portfolio of retrocessional reinsurance risks in global property, marine and aviation that are fully cash collateralised — meaning there is no doubt about the company’s ability to meet its obligations.The $400 million CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund is made up of various insurance-linked securities (ILS) instruments. The fund aims to achieve long-term capital growth and income through a balanced portfolio of global catastrophic reinsurance risk protections — paying annual dividends to provide investors regular income as well as capital growth. In September, the company said it expected the fund to deliver a net return in excess of 20 percent this year.It is unknown at this time whether Montpelier Re has raised enough capital to actually launch its new fund. However, while there would be no direct competition in strategy of either fund, the company’s board and Mr Taylor agreed it was appropriate for him to step down in an effort to avoid any future, actual or perceived, conflict of interest.“I am pleased to have played a role in the launch and evolution of the company, and I wish continued success to the CATCo directors and management team,” Mr Taylor said in a statement. Mr Taylor could not be reached for further comment on the conflict of interest.CATCo has named a new non-executive director and chairman, appointing Nigel Barton to the role. Mr Barton is the ex-founder and chief executive of Oxygen Holdings plc, a specialist insurance broking business based in London.Mr Barton has extensive insurance and reinsurance experience having working in the industry for 35 years. He was the founder and CEO of Oxygen Holdings plc, a London based specialist insurance broking business.Prior to that, Mr Barton was a director of DP Mann Holdings Ltd, a Lloyds Managing Agency, which was acquired by General Reinsurance Corporation/Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in 1998. After DP Mann had changed its name to Faraday Underwriting, Mr Barton had the role of director of underwriting, and then ultimately chief executive officer. Mr Barton worked at Marsh, where his focus was on catastrophe reinsurance and retrocession classes.Commenting on the appointment, Alastair Barbour, non-executive director of CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund, said: “Given Nigel’s substantial experience and knowledge of the insurance and reinsurance industry, the board are delighted that someone of his calibre is joining the board of directors. He will be a valuable addition to the board of directors.”