Validus Re reports premiums of US$220 million

Bermuda start-up Validus Reinsurance Ltd. has reported gross written premiums of US$220 million during the January 2006 renewal season a performance that the company describes as exceeding expectations.The holding company formed on Dec. 12, 2005, to add capacity to the reinsurance market after the unprecedented catastrophic activity of 2004 and 2005.Validus Re commenced operations with a broad team of highly-regarded underwriters, actuaries and catastrophe modelers, and is backed by more than US$1 billion in capital and an A.M. Best rating of A-(Excellent).”We are very gratified with the reception that Validus Re has received from both intermediaries and reinsurance buyers during the January renewal season,” Validus Re chairman and CEO Edward J. Noonan said. “Both submissions and bindings exceeded our expectations. To date, Validus Re has bound business representing gross written premiums of $220 million in our targeted property, marine and energy, and specialty lines.”Having developed a business model based on conservative assumptions regarding rate increase, we were pleased with the pricing environment.”Additionally, we are encouraged by the broader market acceptance of the absolute total insured value approach to risk and capital utilization that is the core premise of our exposure management strategy.”The lead investors in Validus Reinsurance Ltd. are Aquiline Partners, a private equity investor run by former Marsh & McLennan chairman Jeffrey Greenberg, and partners from Venturion, another private equity firm.