ILS

February was an unprecedented month for Lloyd's fundraising with four quoted insurers all raising equity finance.

Berkshire Hathaway’s credit default swaps (CDS) hit a new record high yesterday on concerns over the conglomerate’s exposure to the bullish derivative positions it has taken

As the monoline insurers teetered on the abyss' edge a year ago, Berkshire Hathaway famously stepped in with an offer to write their municipal, or tax-exempt, bonds.

Those making the annual pilgrimage to the Berkshire Hathaway website for chairman Warren Buffett's letter to his shareholders were treated to a vintage exhibition of Buffettology, as the sage of Omaha warned against the "extraordinary" rush out of corpora

Two more cat bonds from Chubb and Liberty Mutual are following close on the heels of SCOR's $200mn Atlas V transaction, which closed on 19 February, taking the tally of insurance linked securities (ILS) issuance to $550mn for 2009.collapse in September, h

Fitch Ratings upgraded the class B notes of Brit Insurance's three-year catastrophe swap deal Fremantle, as the likelihood of a loss is diminishing with the risk period moving closer to completion.

Hardy Underwriting has become the latest Lloyd’s insurer to undertake capital raising measures with a £40.3mn placing and open offer it says will allow it to take advantage of opportunities from improving market conditions as it prepares to underwrite thr

US insurer Liberty Mutual is set to sponsor another cat bond with the launch of its $200mn Mystic Re III transaction – taking the tally of insurance linked securities (ILS) issuance to $550mn for 2009.

The Lehman Brothers-induced ILS drought finally ended last week with the completion of Scor's $200mn Atlas V catastrophe bond, and news that Goldman Sachs is marketing the renewal of Chubb's East Lane III.

The much-anticipated European industry-wide loss index has drawn closer to fruition with the Swiss incorporation of Perils AG, a firm established to aggregate European windstorm exposure and loss data.

Goldman Sachs’ recommendation last week to short the highly-valued Amlin plc and go long in rival Catlin was criticised last week by Investec Securities’ insurance analyst, Tim Young.

Shareholders of Chaucer Holdings plc - the Lloyd's insurer that is exciting M&A interest - approved the £75mn equity net fundraising designed to plug a hole in its 2009 capital requirements.