GC Securities placed $135 million of protection for Hartford Fire Insurance Co. This was done through Hartford's existing catastrophe bond shelf program called Foundation Re III Ltd.
The Series 2011-1 notes, which represent the fifth issue from Hartford's Foundation Re program, provide fully collateralized, multi-year protection for U.S. hurricanes. The bonds pay investors a 5% coupon above the yield of a treasury money market fund.
GC Securities, a subsidiary of reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter, was the co-structuring agent and co-manager for the offering. This marks GC Securities’ first deal in 2011, after securing over $1.25 billion of capital markets protection last year.
"The execution of Foundation Re 2011-1 within stated guidance and with upsized issuance amount is a testament to the Hartford brand and evidence of the catastrophe bond market’s continued ability to function as a valuable source of risk transfer capacity for cedants,” said Bill Kennedy, CEO of global analytics and advisory at Guy Carpenter.
