Alterra Capital Transfers Management of Two Lloyd’s Syndicates to Whittington

Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd. said it had transferred the management of two of its Lloyd's syndicates to focus on its remaining syndicate, Syndicate 1400.

Alterra, which was formed when Max Capital merged with Harbor Point, said the management of Lloyd's Syndicates 2525 and 2526 has been transferred to Whittington Capital Management.

Alterra has only minority interests in the capital of Syndicate 2525, a specialist public and employers' liability syndicate, and Syndicate 2526, a specialist professional liability syndicate, the company said.

It is a transfer of the management rights of the syndicates, and the transfer value was immaterial, Susan Spivak Bernstein, senior vice president of Alterra, said in an e-mail.

Both syndicates are planning to continue their underwriting in 2011 under Whittington Management, which already has a number of active and run-off syndicates under management, she said.

"The driver behind our decision to transfer them was to allow us to focus on further developing the products within our own 100% Alterra-backed Syndicate 1400," Spivak Bernstein said.

Since acquiring Alterra at Lloyd's in November 2008, Alterra has recruited new teams to underwrite international casualty reinsurance, aviation, and personal accident product lines.

Whittington Capital also manages Syndicate 1910 (Arrow), a syndicate backed by Goldman Sachs; Syndicate 1955 (Barbican), which operates with capital from Steel Partners II, Carlson Capital and Whittington; and Syndicate 1967 (W.R. Berkley), which operates with funding from W.R. Berkley Corp., according to Whittington's website.

Whittington's business was founded on the management of Lloyd's syndicates in run-off before the formation of Equitas, and the run-off of syndicates is still a core activity of the group It currently manages the run-off of Syndicate 376.

In October, Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd. renamed Max Specialty Insurance Co.Alterra Excess & Surplus Insurance Co. The move came as part of an overall rebranding following the May 2010 merger of Max Capital and Harbor Point to form Alterra, the company said (BestWire, Oct. 15, 2010).

Alterra's subsidiaries currently have Best's Financial Strength Ratings of A (Excellent).

Shares of Alterra (NASDAQ: ALTE) were trading at $21.35 a share midday on Nov. 15, down 1.14% from the previous close.

(By Meg Green, senior associate editor, BestWeek: Meg.Green@ambest.com)