CATCo CEO Belisle acquires more shares

Tony Belisle, the Chief Executive Officer of Markel CATCo Investment Management Ltd., has taken the number of shares he has recently acquired in his firms stock exchange listed retrocessional reinsurance ILS fund strategy to 2.5 million shares across all classes, with another two purchases made.

Earlier this week we reported that Belisle had acquired 1 million Ordinary shares in listed retrocessional reinsurance fund, the CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund, in May and then acquired another 500,000 shares in the C Class at the end of last week.

Yesterday Belisle acquired another 500,000 shares in the Ordinary share class, further demonstrating an alignment with the investors in the future performance of the retro ILS fund.

Then today, Belisle has added another 500,000 Ordinary Shares, taking the total purchased recently to 2 million in this share class, alongside the 500,000 C Shares purchased.

The acquisitions follow the fund reporting a significant increase in its loss expectations from the 2017 hurricanes and other catastrophe events, bolstering its reserves for 2017 catastrophe losses by another 19.5% of net asset value.

Other internal buyers of shares have also been seen in recent days, with James Keyes, chairman of the board of directors, acquiring 150,000 shares in the Ordinary Share class.

Given the level of losses experienced by the Markel CATCo reinsurance and retrocession portfolio in the wake of the 2017 catastrophes, it could be seen as an opportune time to buy in at the bottom, with the shares likely to steadily recover some of their value over the rest of the year, as long as global catastrophe activity remains relatively benign.

Of course another impactful hurricane season, or other major catastrophe event, could also result in more losses. Hence Belisle’s buying in is generally seen as an effort to align his interests with those of his investors.

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