FlagstoneRe Chairman Mark Byrne Steps Down
Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings said company co-founder Mark Byrne is stepping down as chairman, but will remain on the board as a nonexecutive member.
Daniel James, a director of the Flagstone board since its inception, will succeed Mr. Byrne as chairman. Co-founder David Brown, who has served as Flagstone’s chief executive officer since the company’s inception in 2005, and all other members of the senior management team will continue in their current roles.
Mr. James is a founding partner and head of North America of Trilantic Capital Partners, a private equity firm managing more than $3.6 billion. Before joining Trilantic, Mr. James was head of North America of Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking.
Before founding Flagstone, Mr. Byrne founded and managed West End Capital Management (Bermuda) Ltd., a Bermuda investment management firm engaged primarily in fixed income arbitrage. Along with his professional staff, he managed more than $1 billion of net assets, according to Flagstone Re’s website.
Mr. Byrne has been involved in the insurance and reinsurance business as an owner/investor and board member for many years. He has invested at early stages in several insurance companies and has served on the boards of a number of insurance companies, including three public companies before Flagstone: White Mountains Insurance Group, Terra Nova (Bermuda) Holdings and Markel Insurance. Mr. Byrne is also chairman of Cayman Islands-based Island Heritage Insurance Holdings.
From September 2003 until Flagstone was launched in 2005, Mr. Brown served as the CEO of Haverford (Bermuda) Ltd. and as the chief operating officer of West End Capital Management (Bermuda) Ltd. During his time at Haverford, Brown led the team that analyzed, structured and negotiated the acquisition of Merastar Insurance Co. in 2004. As chairman of Merastar, he led the board’s oversight of the successful turn-around strategy.
Mr. Brown joined Centre Solutions (Bermuda) Ltd. in 1993, and was its president and CEO at the time of his retirement in 1998. At Centre, Brown was responsible for the global operations of a group with more than $7 billion in assets and offices in several countries, according to Flagstone Re’s website.
Last week, Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings completed the planned redomestication of its corporate domicile from Bermuda to Luxembourg
