Insurance and reinsurance giant XL Catlin is to partner with a new US-based managing underwriter which will provide commercial property insurance to small and medium-sized businesses.

XL Catlin, now headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, but which still maintains a major presence in Bermuda, has teamed up with Ventus Risk Management for the new venture.

Ventus is headed by George Reeth, a co-founder and former president Validus Re, as CEO, with Stuart Mercer, a co-founder and former chief risk officer at Validus and ex-CEO of AlphaCat Managers, as president.

Craig Wentzel, XL Catlin’s head of alternative capital, said: “We are excited to be partnering with this experienced team in bringing leading-edge modelling and distribution practices to the marketplace.

“This builds on our history of developing innovative solutions in the reinsurance and insurance capital markets and furthers our objectives in matching the right capital to each risk we underwrite.”