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Enstar sets up new reinsurer on Island

New reinsurer: Enstar Group is setting up Aligned Re to take on some of its risks

Enstar Group Ltd is forming a new Bermuda-based reinsurance company to assume some of its risks.

Aligned Re Ltd is expected to be funded by third-party capital along with investments from the Enstar, which recently contributed $100 million, according to a regulatory filing yesterday from the insurer.

Enstar itself is also based on the Island, with offices on Queen Street. It specialises in acquiring and managing businesses in run-off — that is, they have stopped writing new business, but continue to have assets and obligations.

Nicholas Packer, who is an executive vice president at Enstar, will be chief executive officer of Aligned Re.

“As a start-up company, Aligned Re will consider hiring additional executives during the ramp-up period of its operations,” Enstar said in the filing.

UBS O’Connor LLC, a $6 billion hedge-fund unit within Switzerland’s biggest bank, will manage money for the new reinsurer.

Goldman Sachs Group and BlackRock have also agreed to oversee portfolios for reinsurance ventures that raised funds this year. U.S. hedge-fund firms including David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital entered the offshore industry years ago, giving the money managers a tax advantage for their investments and a source of permanent capital.

Enstar traces its roots to the early 1990s when executives including Mr Packer pushed into the run-off industry.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board agreed this year to take a 9.9 percent stake in Bermuda-based Enstar.