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Allianz proposes new cat bond

German insurer Allianz is looking to a new $US150 million ($214 million) catastrophe bond – its fourth such transaction this year.

S&P says the bond has been launched by Allianz’s Cayman Islands-based special purpose entity Blue Fin, and will cover its Allianz Argos 14 unit against US hurricane and earthquake losses until April 2012.

Risk modeller AIR Worldwide will be the calculation and reset agent, and the deal is being arranged by investment banker Goldman Sachs and reinsurance broker Aon Benfield Securities.

Unlike most cat bonds there will be no total return swap. Instead the proceeds from the sale of the notes will be invested in floating-rate notes issued by German development bank Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau.

S&P has given the deal a preliminary rating of BB-.