Mar 2021
The Cayman International Reinsurance Companies Association (CIRCA) was founded earlier this year to promote the interests of commercial reinsurers in the Cayman Islands and to work collaboratively with all stakeholders in the expanding segment of the Cayman Islands financial industry. Conyers Coverage sat down with Nate Gemmiti, the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Knighthead Annuity & Life Insurance Company and Chairman of CIRCA, for a wide-ranging interview on the state of the reinsurance industry in the Cayman Islands.
Conyers Coverage – Tell us a bit about yourself and how you ended up working with Knighthead Annuity.
Nate Gemmiti – I’m a US lawyer by training and admitted to multiple state courts, federal courts and even the US Supreme court. I started out in private practice at a relatively large US law firm in the Northeast US and represented predominantly insurance clients in formal insurance disputes on the litigation side and you could see if you had only done this or that or designed the policy a specific way or you had treated your client differently you wouldn’t be embroiled in a lawsuit.
After that foundation, I went to work for a reinsurance company called Scottish Re. At Scottish Re we had global reinsurance operations including the Cayman Islands which was run by Gary Dombowsky who is now CEO of Knighthead.
Following my stint at Scottish Re, Gary and I kept in touch and put together a business plan for Knighthead Annuity & Life Insurance Company, and raised $230 million dollars from thirty individual shareholders.