Vantage Risk picks ex-Hamilton to lead property cat underwriting

Bermuda-based specialty insurer  Vantage Group Holdings has appointed a former Hamilton executive to lead its property catastrophe underwriting, having raised $1 billion capital to accelerate the growth of its collateralised insurer AdVantage.

Brian Steinhoff (pictured) joins as senior vice president, property catastrophe, of subsidiary Vantage Risk. He will be based in Bermuda and reports to Peta White, president of Vantage Risk Ltd.

Steinhoff, who was formerly at Hamilton Insurance and Allied World, will lead Vantage Risk's property catastrophe underwriting team, as well as the property catastrophe underwriting efforts on behalf of the company's partnership capital platform AdVantage Retro I.

In December, Vantage Risk raised $1 billion additional capital for deployment through its partnership capital model. The funds were raised through AdVantage.

Additionally, Steinhoff and his team will be responsible for producing and underwriting portfolios within target investment parameters. Under his direction, the group's expertise, analytics, and reporting will also be extended to investors interested in opportunities in the property catastrophe market.

The company said Brent Poliquin, reinsurance data & analytics lead, will expand his responsibilities to lead strategic operational planning and investor reporting activities related to AdVantage.

Chris McKeown, Vantage's chief executive of reinsurance, ILS and innovation, said: "The $1 billion capital raise sets us on sound footing to accelerate AdVantage's growth. With the development of our partnership capital model gaining steam, Brian's underwriting expertise and extensive market contacts will be invaluable to investors seeking non-correlating returns in the Property Catastrophe reinsurance market. We're happy to have him take on this important role and build on Vantage's early success in managing partnership capital."

Steinhoff said: "I'm excited to support Chris and the team developing and executing our AdVantage strategy. We're committed to providing best-in-class service to cedents and third party investors, while bringing creative and meaningful capacity to the market."

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