�Simone Foxman and Sonali Basak

$1.5 billion to help create an insurer it plans to take public, according to a marketing document obtained by Bloomberg. Howard Marks’s Oaktree Capital Group recently raised about $600 million to start an insurance venture.

At the same time, investor interest in the companies may be waning. Goldman Sachs fell $500 million short of its maximum fundraising target. Robert Bredahl, Third Point Re’s chief operating officer, told investors in September that he’s not hopeful for an immediate reinsurance industry rebound. Given such concerns, “you’re probably not going to see vast amounts of new investor interest in the model,” says Meyer Shields, an analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Some still see an opportunity for patient investors—as long as the hedge fund managers deliver strong returns. “In one or two years of good earnings on the investing side,” says Ken Billingsley, an analyst at Compass Point Research & Trading, “they could make up for three or four years of underperformance.”

The bottom line Investors looking for a way to have Dan Loeb invest for them can buy Third Point Re. But they may not get Loeb’s returns. When Rivera applied to Meridian for a mortgage, it asked for her credit rating, utility bills, proof of residency, and her diploma