From The Royal Gazette

Bermuda’s Third Point Re, which had an IPO month, will probably produce better underwriting results than Cayman-based Greenlight Capital Re, analysts say.

This is according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts.

“Dan Loeb’s Third Point Reinsurance Ltd., which had a public offering last month, will probably produce better underwriting results than David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital Re Ltd.,” Bloomberg reported, citing the JPMorgan analysts.

“Third Point Re’s managerial talent and business model will help limit volatility, analysts led by Jimmy Bhullar wrote in a note to clients today initiating coverage of the Bermuda-based company with a neutral rating.”

However, “Greenlight Re posted inconsistent underwriting results because of poor risk selection,” they wrote.

“While TPRE is unlikely to earn significant underwriting profits, we believe that its margins will be more stable than GLRE’s given a difference in business line mix and a superior underwriting team,” Bhullar and his colleagues wrote.

Loeb and Einhorn started the reinsurers, in part, to funnel capital to their hedge funds, Bloomberg said.

Third Point Re will probably post an underwriting profit by 2015, the analysts wrote. CEO John Berger and other executives have led profitable reinsurance underwriting operations in the past and are focusing on low- severity policies that should mitigate volatility, they said.

Brian Ruby, a spokesman with ICR Inc. who represents Greenlight Re, had no immediate comment on the research note.

(Photo by Mark Tatem)

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http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20130909/BUSINESS02/130909764