A one-time leading figure in Bermuda reinsurance, Kenneth LeStrange, has re-entered the market as the new chairman of Florida-based Orchid Underwriters Agency, LLC, industry media are reporting.

The appointment comes after a management buy-out of the insurer at the beginning of October. Orchid Underwriters, described as a specialty underwriter of property insurance focusing on coastal properties, announced then that Gryphon Investors, a San Francisco-based middle market private equity firm, had agreed to make a majority investment in the company. Mr LeStrange was described as an adviser to Gryphon, and it was reported that he would become the chairman of Orchid on the closing of the deal.

Mr LeStrange was quoted in the announcement of the deal as saying: “Michael (chief executive officer Michael Ray), Brad (president Brad Emmon) and the rest of the Orchid team have built a great franchise with an impressive value proposition for insureds, agents and carriers. I am excited to have the opportunity to work with them along with the Gryphon team to expand the company’s product lines and geographic reach.”

Mr LeStrange, the former CEO of Aon Risk Services, co-founded Endurance Specialty Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd, a Bermuda-based specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, in 2001. He was also the company’s former chairman, president and CEO. He sits on the board of Bermuda-based run-off specialist Enstar Group Ltd.

According to its website, Orchid was established in 1998 and specialises in catastrophic coastal personal and commercial property insurance, as well as catastrophic personal coverage in brush exposed areas of Arizona, California and Nevada. Personal lines products include homeowners’ insurance, earthquake insurance, umbrellas, stand-alone personal lines and excess flood coverage.

Orchid describes itself as the largest writer in Florida for high valued homeowners’ insurance placed through Lloyd’s syndicates, ranking in the top five of Lloyd’s largest personal lines writers in the US and with access to “leading global insurers with headquarters in the United States, London, Europe, Bermuda and Australia”. Ironshore and QBE, which recently opened a Bermuda office, are among those listed.