A $350 million catastrophe bond that will boost underwriting capacity for Bermudian insurer and reinsurer Axis Capital Holdings has been admitted to listing on the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

The BSX also announced on Friday that a €40 million cat bond, issued through Windmill I Re Ltd to cover European perils, was also listed.

Growth in the booming $29 billion insurance-linked securities market is showing no signs of slowing and 2017 is on target to be a year of record issuance. Bermuda is at the epicentre of the global business and more than three-quarters of global issuance was listed on the BSX as of the end of the first quarter, according to a Bermuda Monetary Authority report.

According to the Artemis.bm website, a keen ILS market observer, Axis was originally looking to sell $250 million of cat bonds through its Bermuda special purpose insurer Northshore Re II Ltd.

But strong demand from investors led to the offering being upsized to $350 million. The Northshore Re bonds will pay investors a 7.5 per cent coupon, Artemis reported.

The cat bonds will provide cover for Axis and its subsidiaries against industry losses from US named storms, US earthquakes and Canadian earthquakes, on a per-occurrence basis and across a three-year term.

The Windmill I Re Ltd name first appeared in the cat bond market in January 2014. Sponsored by Dutch reinsurer Achmea Reinsurance, it was an indemnity catastrophe bond for European windstorm coverage, particularly related to the Netherlands.