its $350 million capital base just five months after opening for business.

The matter was discussed at a meeting of Mid Ocean Re's Board of Directors last week, said the company's president, Mr. Ian Heap.

"There was discussion as to the feasibility of raising additional capital for the further development of the company but no decisions were taken other than management should take this issue under study,'' he said.

"The reason that the Board is interested flows from the initial success of the company and the increasing need for some capacity in the property catastrophe reinsurance marketplace.

"There's a lot of work to be done. I don't see anything on the immediate horizon.'' One way of raising capital is to float shares on a recognised stock exchange, as local companies such as Mutual Risk Management, Exel and ACE have done in recent years.

But the possibility of Mid Ocean Re going public is not considered likely at the moment.

It was announced yesterday that the company, which opened for business last November, had appointed Mr. Henry Keeling to succeed Mr. Charles Skey as its underwriter. Mr. Keeling has been elected senior vice president.

Mr. Keeling joined Mid Ocean Re in January after serving as deputy underwriter of Lloyd's syndicate 51 (A. Taylor and Others) since 1984.

Mr. Heap said: "We're extremely fortunate to be able to appoint someone as our underwriter who has the experience and international reputation of Henry Keeling.

"We greatly appreciate Charles Skey's agreement to serve as underwriter for an initial period and, now that this assignment has been successfully completed, we look forward to working with him in his new capacity.''