Darren Redhead has named his reinsurance start-up Perren Re, having firmed up capital of $300mn-$500mn from two investors including a large endowment fund and a PE house in New York, sources have told this publication.
The former head of reinsurer manager Lancashire Capital Management has incorporated three entities in Bermuda: Perren Re, Perren Capital Management and Perren Holding Company.
The firm is reviewing contracts with the aim to bind coverage at 1 January, sources said.
The collateralised reinsurer and ILS fund start-up, first reported by Insurance Insider ILS last month, will write reinsurance for property cat and some multi-class lines, including marine, aviation and cyber risks, and property cat retro.
There is understood to be flexibility to increase the size of the allocation if a market opportunity arises.
ILS industry alumnus Redhead was former head at Lancashire Capital Management leading the Kinesis sidecar, which offered a multi-class aggregate product.
Before that, he served as CUO at DE Shaw, which writes high risk-return collateralised reinsurance/retro, with the ability to flex allocations from the hedge fund up or down depending on market conditions.
Perren Re is one of several reinsurance/retro start-ups this season.
Brian Duperrault’s Mereo has raised around $650mn to start writing at 1 January, and former RenaissanceRe executive Cathal Carr’s start-up Oak Re secured PE house Bain Capital as a cornerstone investor, as reported by Insurance Insider.
Perren is also the second retro-focused entry this year with a PE/asset manager backer, after former Hiscox Re executive Daniel Vestergren joined Walleye Capital to run an ILS allocation, as reported by Insurance Insider ILS.