Max Re Capital Ltd. yesterday announced plans to establish a US-based excess and surplus lines platform that will complement the company?s existing insurance and reinsurance operations based in Bermuda and Dublin, Ireland.

The proposed new subsidiary, which Max Re Capital intends to launch in the first quarter of 2007, will be named Max Specialty Insurance Company and will be based in Richmond, Virginia, with regional offices in Atlanta, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

Joining Max Specialty as its president and chief executive officer will be Stephen J. Vaccaro, Jr., a 30-year insurance industry veteran who headed Essex Insurance Company, an affiliate of the Markel Corporation, from 1993 to 2004.

Max Re said Mr. Vaccaro helped grow Essex revenues five-fold, from $100 million to more than $500 million, achieving a nine-year combined ratio of less than 80 percent while significantly expanding the company?s product base.

W. Marston Becker, chairman and chief executive officer of Max Re Capital, said: ?We look forward to the launch of Max Specialty, which will add a significant new distribution channel and base of potential clients to Max Re Capital?s global insurance and reinsurance businesses, and enable us to provide a broader range of insurance products and services to customers in the United States and around the world.

?We are particularly delighted to welcome Steve Vaccaro and his talented team of underwriting professionals to our organization. Steve has a proven ability to lead insurance operations and consistently deliver underwriting profits in both soft and hard market conditions. Having Steve and his team aboard will allow us to tap into the excess and surplus segment of the insurance business, which has been the industry?s fastest-growing segment for two decades. It will also enhance our ability to generate underwriting profits and to produce a growing and diversified book of business. Most importantly, Steve and his team will enable us to provide a more complete range of solutions for our existing and prospective insurance clients, building our value to them and, in turn, for our shareholders.?

Mr. Vaccaro said: ?I am pleased to be joining the Max Re Capital organization and look forward to working with them and my team of underwriting professionals to launch Max Specialty as a first-class excess and surplus lines insurance company early next year.?

Max Specialty is expected to operate across two divisions, brokerage and managing general agency. Brokerage, to be headed by Jonathan Hahn, and MGA, to be headed by Bryan Sanders, will both offer property, inland marine, casualty, excess liability, and umbrella insurance products.