Endurance places $235 million cat bond
Endurance Specialty Insurance Ltd. (“Endurance”) has acquired $235 million of protection for California earthquake and U.S. hurricane risks, financed through a risk-linked securities program. Endurance, a unit of Bermuda-based Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd., bought the coverage from Cayman Islands-based Shackleton Re Ltd. Shackleton Re financed the reinsurance through the issuance of a $125 million catastrophe bond and a $110 million multi-year risk-linked credit facility. Endurance’s new reinsurance program has three separate layers of coverage, including: $125 million of reinsurance to cover California earthquake risk for 18 months; $60 million of coverage for U.S. hurricanes in the North Atlantic, Gulf Coast, and certain inland regions for two years; and $50 million of reinsurance for California earthquake or U.S. hurricane losses, occurring within a year of a similar catastrophe, for two years.
