New Ocean gains perspective with XL Catlin affiliation: CEO McKeown

Bermuda domiciled ILS asset manager New Ocean Capital Management Limited (New Ocean), gains increased perspective on operations across geographies and perils through its strategic alliance with XL Catlin, according to New Ocean’s CEO Chris McKeown.

Following XL’s acquisition of Catlin in 2015, New Ocean and its shareholders benefit from the extensive global footprint of the re/insurer, an affiliation that enables the insurance-linked securities (ILS) investment manager to identify reinsurance opportunities and capitalise on those growth opportunities, according to New Ocean Chief Executive Officer (CEO), McKeown.

“While the general global pricing environment is challenging, we continue to see adequate opportunities to grow our business. Our affiliation with XL Catlin also means that we gain perspective on relative value across geographies and perils due to XL Catlin’s global footprint, and are in a strong position to identify investments in reinsurance opportunities in more localized ways than we could as a stand-alone, non-affiliated manager,” said McKeown.

Since its establishment in 2013 by XL Group and Stone Point Capital, the ILS asset manager has continued to expand, growth that has been aided by its strategic alliance with XL Catlin and a continued affiliation with Stone Point and Dowling Capital Partners, which both act as shareholders.

“New Ocean’s core team is enhanced, through a Service Agreement with XL Catlin, which leverages their formidable resources dedicated to financial, analytical, and operational excellence. The ownership structure is further enhanced with Stone Point Capital and Dowling Partners as shareholders, bringing third party validation and strategic guidance from recognized, premier institutions,” said McKeown.

McKeown explained to Artemis that New Ocean has its own team of seasoned reinsurance professionals that have experience through multiple re/insurance market cycles to evaluate investment opportunities in the re/insurance marketplace.

The Funds managed by New Ocean invest in reinsurance strategies which utilise both traditional and non-traditional reinsurance capital, such as catastrophe bonds, collateralised reinsurance, ILWs, and traditional reinsurance, among others.

“By providing access to customized reinsurance solutions, based on our historic relationships and unique portfolio insights, New Ocean strives to selectively identify investments in reinsurance opportunities in all market cycles,” said McKeown.

As a result, and evidenced by the asset manager’s increased capabilities since its inception roughly three years ago, New Ocean is able to invest in a broad range of reinsurance strategies and , further support the continued growth of the ILS market.