New York- based private-equity firm Capital Z Partners is seeking $400 million to $500 million for its latest fund to invest in financial-services companies in Bermuda and the US and UK.Capital Z Partners IV will focus on insurance, speciality finance and lending in those regions, according to an investor update, Bloomberg News reported. The firm’s previous fund, which made similar investments, raised $251 million in 2007.Capital Z Financial Partners partnered with Aon Corporation and Zurich Financial Services to sponsor the formation of Bermuda-based re/insurer Endurance back in December 2001.Brad Cooper, a co-founder of the firm, declined to comment.Mr Cooper started Capital Z with Bob Spass in 1990 after they worked together at Salomon Brothers, the investment bank that was acquired by Citigroup in 1997.The firm will give clients the chance to invest alongside the fund, up to the amount committed to Partners IV, Bloomberg said, citing a person with knowledge of the situation. Since its inception, Capital Z has offered more than $3 billion of co-investments, which have returned 2.2 times investors’ money, said the person, who asked not to be named because the information is private.According to Capital Z’s website, in partnering with management teams, “CZP looks to make long-term capital investments to support the strategic and financial objectives of its companies. The target investment size ranges from $30 million of capital to an unlimited maximum from our committed capital base and co-investors“.Capital Z Partners III started investing in 2010, after sitting out the financial crisis of 2008-2009, Bloomberg said.It led a recapitalisation of Jelf Group, a middle-market insurance broker that year, and a $200 million investment in Opportunity Bancshares Inc, a Texas-based depository institution that was intended to be a platform to bid on FDIC-assisted deals for lenders in California and the western US.The firm has invested about $2.5 billion in more than 55 deals since its inception, according to its website. Excluding fees it has returned 2.1 times invested capital and generated an internal rate of return of almost 24 percent, according to the update. The prior fund had a 1.3 times multiple at year-end, the person said.Sixpoint Partners LLC, based in New York, is the placement agent for the fund, which has yet to distribute marketing documents to prospective investors.