Sandell Asset Management Corp., the activist hedge-fund firm run by Tom Sandell, started a Bermuda-based reinsurer to support its investing strategy.

Sandell Re will rely on the hedge fund to oversee the reinsurer’s assets, the New York-based firm said Thursday in a statement.

“We have been evaluating reinsurance opportunities for several years and believe this offers a unique permanent capital vehicle for the firm,” Tom Sandell, 54, said in the statement.

Sandell joins hedge-fund managers David Einhorn and Daniel Loeb in establishing offshore reinsurers, which give them access to more long-term cash to invest. Reinsurers assume risks from primary insurers and invest premium revenue before claims come due.

Sandell founded the fund in 1998 and utilizes an event-driven investing strategy similar to Loeb’s Third Point. It has about $1 billion in assets under management, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

The fund has bought shares in companies including restaurant chain Bob Evans Farms Inc. and pipeline operator SemGroup Corp. and pushed for board changes and spinoffs.

–With assistance from Doni Bloomfield in New York.