NEW YORK, July 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Beechwood Re today announced that David Lessing, former Morgan Stanley Chief Operating Officer of U.S. Wealth Management Group, has joined the Beechwood family of companies.

Beechwood provides both offshore reinsurance capacity to Life, Health, and Annuity insurance companies who are seeking to improve capital efficiency through reallocation of surplus or other capital management goals, as well as direct-written investment products to global investors (ex-U.S.).

Lessing has been appointed Executive Vice President at Beechwood and will be Head of Global Product Development and Distribution. In this role, he will lead efforts to grow Beechwood Bermuda’s offshore product platform and global distribution capabilities. “David joining the company is an important milestone for our firm,” commented Mark Feuer, CEO of Beechwood. “His capabilities and background are a perfect fit to complement and accelerate the growth of our global investments business.”

Scott Taylor, President of Beechwood remarked, “We cannot be more thrilled to have David Lessing join the team. In our minds there are few people more capable of building a world-class distribution platform to support our industry leading investment products. Additionally, as a valued partner Mr. Lessing will bring enormous value to our reinsurance products as well.”

In Lessing’s prior role at Morgan Stanley, he was responsible for a broad range of business lines and support functions including recruiting and training of new Financial Advisors, sales force compensation, the mass affluent and online client channels, and the advisor desktop for the largest wealth management firm in the U.S. He also served as Head of Marsh’s Middle Market Business and Client Development Group and Head of Merrill Lynch’s Global Private Client Direct Division. Lessing is a securities lawyer by training and practiced law for several years prior to serving as a financial services management consultant at McKinsey & Company in New York. Lessing holds a J.D. with honors from Harvard Law School and A.B. with honors from Harvard University.

About Beechwood Re, Ltd and Beechwood Bermuda International Ltd.

The Beechwood family of companies includes Beechwood Re, a reinsurer domiciled in Grand Cayman and regulated by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA), and Beechwood Bermuda International Ltd., a licensed long-term insurer located in Hamilton, Bermuda and regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA). The companies were formed with the belief that there is a shortage in attractive capacity for the life and annuity markets, driven by a need for flexibility and creativity in underwriting and product development in markets associated with asset risk. The Beechwood companies provide life and annuity reinsurance to primary insurance companies in the United States and Internationally, and direct-written investment products to clients around the globe. Beechwood seeks to provide flexibility for companies to manage their balance sheets and risk profiles through a variety of solutions. Target markets include reinsuring in-force blocks and ongoing quota-shares of fixed and indexed annuities, in addition to in-force, closed blocks of long-term care and long-term disability policies for primary writers.