Press Releases

Patrick Wills to Join Catlin as Deputy Chief Investment Officer

23 March 2009

HAMILTON, Bermuda – Catlin Group Limited (‘CGL’; London Stock Exchange), the international specialty property/casualty insurer and reinsurer, announces that Patrick Wills will join Catlin on 5 May 2009 as Deputy Chief Investment Officer.  He will be based in Catlin’s London office.

At Catlin Patrick Wills will work alongside Nylesh Shah, who also holds the title of Deputy Chief Investment Officer, responsible for managing cash and investments of nearly US$7 billion.  Catlin is currently in the process of recruiting a Chief Investment Officer as Preben Prebensen, who had held that position since 2007, resigned in February to become Chief Executive Officer of Close Brothers Bank plc in London.  Nylesh Shah and Patrick Wills will report to Chief Executive Stephen Catlin in the interim.

Patrick Wills will be joining Catlin from Montier Partners LLP in London, a firm that provides advice relating to hedge fund portfolios.  As a Partner at Montier his responsibilities included portfolio construction, risk management and hedging.  Previously he held a variety of senior positions at Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Bear Stearns International and BNP Paribas.  Before beginning his investment career, he worked at Catlin from 1987-88 as an underwriting assistant.

Stephen Catlin, Chief Executive of Catlin Group plc, said: 

“I am delighted to welcome Paddy Wills on his return to Catlin.  The events of 2008 have underscored the importance of investment management to insurers and reinsurers.  Paddy has wide experience with some of the world’s major financial institutions, and the combined talents of Nylesh and Paddy will provide Catlin with a strong and multi-skilled investment management team.”

Patrick Wills said:

“I am pleased to be rejoining Catlin, albeit in a much different role than the one I left 20 years ago.  Catlin has grown spectacularly during the past two decades, and I am looking forward to working at such a well-respected company.”

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For more information contact:

Media Relations:    
James Burcke,
Head of Communications, London		 Tel:
Mobile :
E-mail:		 +44 (0)20 7458 5710
+44 (0)7958 767 738
james.burcke@catlin.com
     
Liz Morley, Maitland

Tel:
E-mail:

 +44 (0)20 7379 5151
emorley@maitland.co.uk
   
Investor Relations:
William Spurgin,
Head of Investor Relations, London

Tel:
Mobile :
E-mail:

 +44 (0)20 7458 5726
+44 (0)7710 314 365
william.spurgin@catlin.com


Notes to editors

1.   Catlin Group Limited, headquartered in Bermuda , is an international specialist property/casualty insurer and reinsurer writing more than 30 classes of business worldwide through four underwriting platforms and an international network of offices. Catlin shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: CGL). Gross premiums written during 2007 exceeded US$3.3 billion. More information about Catlin can be found at www.catlin.com.
2.  

 Catlin's four underwriting platforms are:

  • The Catlin Syndicate at Lloyd's of London (Syndicate 2003) is a recognised leader of numerous classes of specialty insurance and reinsurance. The Catlin Syndicate is the largest at Lloyd's in 2008 based on premium capacity of £1.25 billion.
  • Catlin Bermuda (Catlin Insurance Company Ltd.), which is a leading participant in the Bermuda market, underwriting a diversified portfolio of property treaty, casualty treaty, political risk and terrorism, and structured risk coverages.
  • Catlin UK (Catlin Insurance Company (UK) Ltd.), which specialises in underwriting commercial non-life insurance for UK clients through a network of regional offices. In addition, Catlin UK underwrites other classes of commercial business which are also written by the Catlin Syndicate.

  • Catlin US, which encompasses Catlin's operations based in the United States. Catlin US underwrites a wide variety of specialty property/casualty insurance and reinsurance products from more than 15 offices. Catlin US includes Catlin Insurance Company Inc. and Catlin Specialty Insurance Company Inc.

3.  

Catlin's international network of offices allows the Group to diversify further its risk portfolio and to work more closely with local policyholders and brokers. Besides its offices in the UK, US and Bermuda, Catlin operates offices in Canada, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Guernsey, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Austria.

 4.   Catlin Group Limited is the title sponsor of the Catlin Arctic Survey, a major scientific expedition to measure the thickness and density of the permanent ice surrounding the North Pole.  The project’s aim is to determine, with a much greater degree of accuracy, when this ice could disappear as a result of global warming. The Survey, during which three Arctic explorers will trek on foot approximately 1,000 kilometres to the North Pole, began on 28 February 2009.  More information is available at www.catlinarcticsurvey.com.