Famous banking analyst tries hedge funds, now tries insurance

Arch insurance hires industry heavyweight

Running a hedge fund didn’t work out for Meredith Whitney, once one of the most famous banking analysts in the U.S. So she’s starting fresh at a Bermuda-based insurer.

Whitney has begun at Arch Capital Group Ltd., where she’s overseeing an equity portfolio that had about $800 million under management at the end of September, Preston Hutchings, the company’s chief investment officer, said in an interview.

Arch, which writes property-and-casualty insurance and reinsurance, has been led by Chief Executive Officer Constantine Iordanou since 2003. The firm had more than $15 billion of investments as of the end of September.

She’ll oversee a portfolio with money allocated to about eight managers, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and BlackRock Inc., Hutchings said. Its investments include U.S. and Asian stocks.

“Her task is to essentially manage the managers,” Hutchings said. “It’s not S&P focused, it’s a little more varied than that.”

Whitney did not immediately respond to email and phone messages.
 

Bloomberg News
Max Abelson and Sonali Basak

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