have joined together to form a new Class IV property catastrophe reinsurer, initially capitalised at $400 million.

Overseas Partners Cat Ltd. (OpCat) will be owned and financed by Overseas Partners Ltd. (OPL) and its underwriting will be carried out by RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (RenRe) to underwrite worldwide property catastrophe reinsurance programmes.

OPCat is intended to bring disciplined capacity and excellent security to the property cat reinsurance marketplace. RenRe's subsidiary, Renaissance Reinsurance (Renaissance Re) will be the exclusive underwriter for OPCat and will underwrite using its proprietary REMS system.

Speaking on the new company, Scott Davis, president and chief executive officer of OPL said: "This partnership will give us preferred access to the property catastrophe marketplace and provide us with an opportunity to further diversify our portfolio of insurance risk. We believe that there are current opportunities in the property catastrophe reinsurance market which will add significant value to the OPL organisation through long-term profits and diversification of risk.'' James N. Stanard, chairman, president and chief executive officer of RenRe commented: "We are delighted that Renaissance was selected by OPL to enter into this partnership to underwrite catastrophe business. This combination will enable Renaissance Re to offer significant additional capacity to programmes that we currently underwrite as well as providing support for new programmes.'' He continued: "We will begin using this capacity immediately. We look forward to a long and mutually rewarding relationship with OPCat.''