Markel CATCo Investment Management

Former CATCo CEO Tony Belisle is back in court after another investor vehicle filed a fraud lawsuit in Florida alleging that he misrepresented the risks of an investment in the Markel CATCo retrocessional reinsurance investment strategy.

As the proposal of a process to buyout investors in the Markel CATCo Investment Management retrocessional reinsurance investment funds has been drawn out by legal appearances and is now waiting for a court decision to proceed, the investment manager has extended the expiry date of the support undertakings it received from investors.

Progress in the buyout of investors in the Markel CATCo Investment Management retrocessional reinsurance investment funds is unlikely to be made until next year now, as the investment manager said a court decision is unlikely to come until January 22nd 2022.

Markel CATCo Investment Management acknowledged the delay to the buyout process for its retrocessional reinsurance investment funds this morning, but said that any challenges from investors would be vigorously defended against.

Activity surrounding the buyout terms proposed to investors in the Markel CATCo Investment Management retrocessional reinsurance investment funds looks set to drag on, after a court appearance in Bermuda ended with Markel agreeing to provide additional information to creditors, we understand.

Yesterday, a judge in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York granted Markel CATCo’s petition for Chapter 15 bankruptcy recognition and relief for the proposed buyout process for the final winding down of the CATCo retrocessional reinsurance funds.

Pension Insurance Corporation plc (PIC) has explained that it won’t accept the updated and improved buyout terms proposed to investors in the Markel CATCo Investment Management retrocessional reinsurance investment funds, calling the proposal “fundamentally flawed”.

Markel Corporation intends to continue to cede retrocessional reinsurance business to its Lodgepine Capital Management start-up retro ILS investment manager and expects the full retro book to transfer to the ILS model in time, Co-CEO Ritchie Whitt said today.

In the last quarter of record, revenues earned from its flagship insurance-linked securities (ILS) operation Nephila Capital rose for parent Markel Corporation, but assets under management at Nephila Capital declined heavily in Q3, dropping by $500 million to $9.3 billion by the end of September.

Investors in the Markel CATCo Investment Management retrocessional reinsurance investment funds now stand to receive as much as 18.5% more in capital return, on the back of the updated and improved buyout terms.