Compass Re Ltd. cat bond completes and lists in Bermuda

National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, a subsidiary of Chartis, has completed their Compass Re Ltd. catastrophe bond and the notes have been approved for listing on the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX). The deal features three classes of Series 2011-1 notes issued by Compass Re to provide National Union Fire Insurance Co. with a source of collateralized reinsurance cover for certain U.S. hurricane and earthquake risks.

The transaction grew in size significantly while marketing, having started as a $275m cat bond, Compass Re upsized to a $575m cat bond before close. The Class 1 notes issued by Compass Re remained at $75m while the Class 2 and 3 notes which began marketing at $100m each completed sized $250m each.

James McKirdy, Chief Compliance Officer of the BSX said; “We are delighted to welcome Compass Re Ltd. Principal-at-Risk Variable Rate Note Program & Notes – Due January 8, 2015 to the Official List of the BSX. The BSX Listing Regulations for International Issuers of Insurance Related Securities are specifically designed to facilitate the listing of Notes that are offered to institutional and sophisticated Qualified Investors”. Mr. McKirdy continued, “We are extremely pleased to be working with Compass Re Ltd. Insurance Related Securities listed on the BSX now total in excess of $2.9 billion.

Alex Conyers of Capital G BSX Services Limited, who sponsored the listing of the Compass Re Ltd. cat bond notes, commented; “It has been a pleasure to assist in bringing another listing of this type to the Bermuda Stock Exchange. The co-operation and assistance of the BSX Officers again made it a very smooth exercise.”

Standard & Poor’s affirmed the preliminary ratings of ‘BB-‘, ‘BB-‘ and ‘B+’ for the Compass Re Ltd. Class 1, 2 and 3 notes respectively.

You can read all about the Compass Re Ltd. cat bond in our deal directory.