Bermudian-based insurer and reinsurer Iris Re has listed a new class of shares on the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

Iris said the new shares, all non-voting preferred shares, will allow qualified investors to take part in its specialised insurance programmes.

Charles Mixon, director of Iris Re, said: “Listing shares of Iris Re on the Bermuda Stock Exchange allows qualified investors to access our strategy and is a useful complement to our fund offerings.

“We believe that an investment in Iris Re can add both diversification and attractive risk-adjusted returns to an investment portfolio.”

He added: “We credit the BSX for its strong support of this innovative offering.”

Iris Re was founded seven years ago and provides institutional investors with risk-adjusted returns uncorrelated to traditional asset classes by underwriting parametric and index-based insurance and reinsurance, primarily through industry loss warranties.

Industry loss warranties are short-term contracts that are uncorrelated with other financial asset classes and have limited counterparty and adverse-selection risk.

Iris Re is an affiliate of the Cartesian Re group and is sponsored by Cartesian Capital Group, a global private equity firm with more than $2 billion in commitments under management.