ST GEORGE RE LAUNCHES AS DEDICATED ASBESTOS INSURER

Newly formed Bermuda-based St George Re has launched operations as the first company to offer cover exclusively for asbestos exposure faced by US corporate clients. St George, led by president Jason Paterniti and CEO Colin Barnes, has the financial backing of US insurance and investment holding Berkshire Hathaway, enabling it to underwrite more than $5bn of coverage. St George intends to provide cover against potential losses from future asbestos claims in an effort to “remove uncertainty and provide resolution to historical corporate asbestos risk”, Mr Barnes told Reuters . In a statement, Mr Barnes said that the new company’s goal “is to provide resolution to a company’s asbestos problems so that companies can focus on their core competencies and shareholders can realise the benefits that removing the ‘asbestos discount’ from the company’s stock valuation can provide, not just over the long run but immediately at the point of risk transfer”. Asbestos claims have cost US companies around $70bn and pushed more than 70 firms into bankruptcy. St George’s founding capital was provided by funds managed by Context Capital Management, Plainfield Asset Management and Silver Creek Capital Management.