Financial markets veteran Daniel Brookman has launched the Gildenbrook Group.

The new entity includes a reinsurance platform in Bermuda, an alternative asset manager in the British Virgin Islands and a fintech development firm in Singapore. It utilises third-party service providers in Bermuda and Geneva for operational support.

Gildenbrook is wholly-owned by Mr Brookman, who is also founder and chief executive officer.

Mr Brookman has worked within the alternative asset management, re/insurance and investment banking spheres for some 20 years, and formerly held top positions at Axa XL and Montpelier Re in Bermuda.

The Group said it is focused on the intersection of alternative investments, reinsurance underwriting and their related analytical technologies.

It was established to serve institutional investors such as sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurers, asset managers, banks and endowments as a fund manager – and re/insurance companies, brokers and banks as a risk trading counterparty and strategic partner.

Mr Brookman said: “As the global insurance and reinsurance industry further embraces technology for improved business efficiency, seeks out new and sustainable risk capital funding sources and expands the protections offered to customers in both traditional and alternative ways, I am confident that our people, our differentiated approach and our innovative structure will enable Gildenbrook to foster and enhance meaningful strategic partnerships on behalf of our institutional investor clients with insurers, reinsurers and intermediaries.”

The operation here, Gildenbrook (ISAC) Ltd, or Gildenbrook Re, is a reinsurance platform focused on opportunities available within the global collateralised reinsurance and retrocession marketplace.

Established as an incorporated segregated accounts company, Gildenbrook says it is the first ILS-focused entity of its kind.

The company said Gildenbrook Re will utilise the advantages of the ISAC structure to deliver effective, cost-efficient and transparent access for investors to re/insurance risk premia through its ability to facilitate both investment fund and re/insurance business.

The company said Gildenbrook Re received approval from the Bermuda Monetary Authority to apply for registration in December.

Once registered, the company said Gildenbrook Re will establish, from time to time, incorporated segregated accounts that will apply to be licensed under the Insurance Act 1978 to transact non-life reinsurance and retrocession business on a fully collateralised basis.

Mr Brookman said the plan for Gildenbrook Re is to set up an office and build out staff over time.

He added: “The group has three pillars, and I anticipate that the initial focus will be on growth of the fintech side, which supports the other two pillars, in the first instance.”

Gildenbrook Re was incorporated as an exempted private limited company and has been registered under the Incorporated Segregated Accounts Companies Act, 2019.

Mr Brookman said: “The new legislation is a positive development for Bermuda as it permits seamless re/insurance and fund business within one structure, similar to what was possible in Guernsey previously.”

The BVI component, Gildenbrook Capital Management Ltd, is a specialist alternative asset manager focused on the life and non-life insurance-linked securities asset class.

Advising $850 million in institutional assets, Mr Brookman said GCM serves sophisticated institutional investors seeking access to alternative risk premia sourced from the global re/insurance market.

Mr Brookman said: “I am delighted to announce the launch of GCM. The attractiveness of the opportunities which exist today in our target markets, together with our group’s innovative structure and differentiated approach have resonated with the institutional investor community.”

He added: “Gildenbrook’s multi-faceted combination of asset management, reinsurance and financial technology development within one group positions our clients well as re/insurers and institutional investors look to forge meaningful strategic partnerships with each other.”

The company said GCM employs a highly quantitative approach towards investing, leveraging proprietary capabilities developed by Gildenbrook’s fintech development company in Singapore. GCM seeks investment opportunities that offer equity-like returns with little or no correlation to traditional equity or fixed income markets.

GCM is licensed as an approved investment manager and regulated by the BVI Financial Services Commission to manage open-ended funds, closed-ended funds, “fund of one” and separately managed account structures on behalf of institutional investors, the company said.

The fintech development company in Singapore, Gildenbrook Technologies Pte Ltd, or G-Tech, is responsible for building advanced, proprietary software, algorithms and systems to support the insurance-linked investment and re/insurance activities of the Gildenbrook entities and their respective clients.

G-Tech is also pioneering the development of artificial intelligence applications for reinsurance pricing and risk assessment, the company said.

Mr Brookman served as head of alternative capital at Axa XL from early 2016 until last October, and previously spent two years as head of capital markets at Montpelier Re. Before that, he worked in the New York and London offices at Barclays Investment Bank for more than seven years.

The company said he has raised and/or managed more than $7 billion in ILS assets and advised on cross-industry and cross-asset transactions totaling circa $60 billion in aggregate value since July 2000.

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