Argo Group International Holdings, a Bermuda-based underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products, has established the first sidecar for the 2013 accident year.
Named Harambee Re 2013-1, the newly set up sidecar, will support both a reinsurance and an insurance portfolio, unlike the company's other sidecars that write either reinsurance or retrocession business.
Argo Group president and chief executive officer Mark Watson said, ''Harambee Re enables us to grow the size of two of our core businesses without adding materially to the Group's exposure to the volatility associated with US earthquakes and hurricanes.''
The sidecar will offer approximately 5% of premium income capacity for specific property portfolios that represent two of the company's core businesses, including Argo Re and Colony Specialty.
Harambee Re establishment continues the company's utilization of an array of mechanisms to capitalize on market opportunities and also builds upon its previous insurance-linked securities transactions, Loma Reinsurance 2011-1 and Loma Reinsurance 2011-2.
