Bermuda-based Vantage Group Holdings Ltd has appointed Alex Blanco as CEO of insurance to lead the growth and development of its insurance business.

Vantage was established late last year and began writing reinsurance risk on January 1 through its Bermuda Class 4 company, Vantage Risk Ltd.

The Bermuda carrier has since expanded its offering to include select insurance products.

In the United States, Vantage launched a US surplus lines carrier, Vantage Risk Specialty Insurance Company, enabling certain US risks to be written on A- (Excellent)/Financial Size Category XII AM Best-rated paper.

Vantage said that Mr Blanco is a seasoned insurance professional with more than 25 years of industry experience across professional and specialty lines of business.

Most recently he was chief underwriting officer, specialty, Americas, at AXA XL after serving as chief underwriting officer, professional E&O and cyber insurance, for XL Insurance, and as a managing director of XL Group.

Vantage CEO Greg Hendrick said: “We are very excited for Alex to lead our talented and growing insurance team at Vantage.

“His exceptional underwriting acumen, proven leadership ability and informed insights will provide great value as we build out our insurance offerings to address the increasingly complex needs of our clients.”