‘First event’ verdict hits Topiary cat bond grade

Peter Birks

TOPIARY CAPITAL – a 2008 cat bond that provides Platinum Underwriters with $200m of second-event coverage for qualifying US hurricane, US earthquake, European windstorm and Japanese earthquake exposure – has been downgraded by rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) after it was confirmed by catastrophe modeller Risk Management Solutions (RMS) last month’s Japanese earthquake will count as a “first event”.