Incubator, Former C&F Exec Launch Specialty Insurer for Insurers, Financial Managers

A former Crum & Forster executive and a London-based underwriter incubator have teamed up to launch a new specialty insurance company based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

1889 Specialty Insurance plans to offer professional lines coverage and management liability policies to small and medium-sized insurance companies, brokers, financial institutions, and asset managers. Policies will be written on an excess and surplus basis and distributed mostly through wholesale channels, the company said in a news release Thursday.

The firm is led by Blair Bartlett, who previously was the vice president for financial institutions at Crum & Forster, and worked in a similar role at CapSpecialty and Allied World. The launch is backed by Beat Capital Partners, a subsidiary of Ambac Financial Group and an incubator of underwriting franchises and provider of risk capital.

1889 Specialty said it writes for a Beat syndicate at Lloyd’s of London.