Juniperus Capital Hires Chris McKeown As CEO
Juniperus Capital Holdings Limited,, a Bermuda-based insurance asset manager focused on collateralized reinsurance and catastrophe insurance-linked securities, confirmed that industry veteran Chris McKeown has joined the firm as Chief Executive Officer effective immediately.
Aquiline Capital Partners LLC ) a New York-based private equity firm investing in financial services, acquired Juniperus in January of this year to capture growing investor demand for insurance-linked securities. In April of this year, Juniperus announced that Marsh & McLennan Companies had taken a minority partnership stake, joining existing partners Aquiline and the company’s management team.
Mr. McKeown has over 25 years of experience in the insurance industry and has recently served as Vice Chairman of North America Broking at Guy Carpenter, a leading global risk and reinsurance intermediary.
Prior to joining Guy Carpenter, Mr. McKeown was President and CEO of CIG Reinsurance Ltd. and New Castle Reinsurance Co. Ltd., companies founded in 2004 and 2005, and capitalized by investor funds managed by Citadel Investment Group LLC. Between the two companies, Mr. McKeown and his team deployed over $1 billion of investor capital dedicated to the reinsurance market.
In conjunction with this new sponsorship and a broader vision, Juniperus has announced plans to rebrand itself as Pillar Capital Management in the coming weeks.
“I am excited to lead Juniperus in our next phase of growth. The existing management team and I look forward to partnering with Aquiline, Marsh & McLennan Companies and investors to participate in the collateralized reinsurance and catastrophe insurance-linked securities market,” said Mr. McKeown. “The collateralized reinsurance market has grown significantly since 2004, and Juniperus is well-positioned as an independent asset manager dedicated to reinsurance risk.”
Mr. McKeown will succeed Phil Lotz, who will remain with the company as Executive Chairman.
“We are very excited for Chris to join our team as he will be a tremendous asset in this new chapter of the company’s growth,” said Mr. Lotz. “I look forward to collaborating with Chris and our partners.”
Jeff Greenberg, Chief Executive of Aquiline, said, “Chris brings a unique blend of operating experience and underwriting expertise in the alternative reinsurance space. I believe he is ideally-suited to lead Juniperus. With Chris at the helm, we hope to create an industry leading platform to satisfy varying investor appetites to deploy assets in the reinsurance arena. I look forward to working with Chris and the management team going forward.”
