Mark Cloutier Takes The Reins At Brit
A Bermuda re/insurance industry veteran has been appointed as the new CEO of a European group hoping to make in-roads into the same specialised area of insurance company run-offs Mark Cloutier [pictured] supervised while working on the island for a decade.
Incorporated in the Netherlands and based out of London, Brit Insurance is an international general insurance and reinsurance group specialising in commercial insurance.
“”Brit Insurance looks to have signalled an interest in becoming a big operator in the market for buying closed insurance companies by appointing Mark Cloutier as its new chief executive in place of Dane Douetil,” reports “The Financial Times” today [Oct. 11].
“Mr. Cloutier has spent more than a decade building a reputation for dismantling insurers and handing capital back to their owners and has been working on the future strategy for Brit since at least February this year.”
The leading British business newspaper said the practice of shutting down insurers and dismantling their liabilities — known as putting them into “run-off” — is expected to become a much bigger business in coming years because of regulatory changes in Europe.
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Industry analysts expect anticipate specialist companies which acquire closed insurance firms will see an increase bu8siness related to run-off, especially in Europe, as the incoming Solvency II capital rules for insurers start to bite.
“Mr. Cloutier was hired to run Alea, a Bermuda-based business, after it decided to close to new business in 2006. He cut its exposure dramatically under the ownership of hedge fund Fortress until he left in 2010. Before that he had earned a reputation for running off closed books as the head of another Bermudian reinsurer, Overseas Partners, which he joined in 2000,” reported “The Financial Times.”
