Barbican Insurance Group has launched a new underwriting unit in Bermuda.

The company will focus on the US property market and will write exclusively on behalf of Barbican Syndicate 1955.

Barbican Bermuda will underwrite a direct and facultative portfolio of business on an excess and surplus lines basis.

Barbican said today the new Hamilton-based company would seek to build a balanced book that spans both commercial and industrial risks, and that the team would concentrate on Fortune 1000 corporations as well as middle-market organisations.

All business written will be US-domiciled and will include nationwide, regional and single state/location accounts.

Nik Lucking will lead the operation as head of direct and facultative. He will report to David Slade, divisional head of property at Barbican.

Mr Lucking has experience in the Bermuda re/insurance market, having previously headed the US direct and facultative property at Axis/Novae.

Before that, Mr Lucking was senior vice-president and head of individual risks at Montpelier Re Bermuda, having joined Montpelier Re in 2007.

He was also an executive director at Willis, heading-up the firm’s US property team in Bermuda and middle-market team in London.

Mr Lucking said: “Through Barbican Bermuda, we are able to extend the reach of Barbican’s property division in London and strengthen our US direct and facultative market proposition. From Bermuda, we are able to bring the security of the Lloyd’s market to an even broader spectrum of organisations, introduce greater diversity into our property portfolio and benefit from the stability that this brings.”

Mr Slade added: “We see this as an opportune time to establish ourselves in Bermuda. We believe that Bermuda offers significant opportunities for profitable, sustainable growth in the US direct and facultative arena and Nik brings an exceptional level of underwriting insight and leadership to the operation.”