CatCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund Ltd has raised gross proceeds of $124.4 million in a share sale, continuing the trend of Bermuda re/insurers boosting capacity to write more business as rates climb.The fund, whose shares trade on London's Specialist Fund Market, is run from Bermuda and provides some of the capital for CatCo's Bermuda-based reinsurance company.The company said that the massive insured losses from a series of natural disasters in the first quarter had stimulated reinsurance demand and had put upward pressure on prices.Other Bermuda companies to have boosted capacity since the March tsunami in Japan include Montpelier Re, which sold $150 million of 8.875 percent preference shares, and Endurance Specialty Holdings, which this week sold $230 million of 7.5 percent preference shares.Both companies said the proceeds would be used to support underwriting activities, in addition to general corporate purposes, and, in the case of Endurance, for repurchasing outstanding debt. Additionally, Lancashire Holdings and Alterra Capital Holdings have established ‘sidecars'. Lancashire's Accordion will provide $250 million of extra capacity, while Alterra and private-equity firm Stone Point will each put up to $100 million into the sidecar New Point IV.“The extraordinary events of the last few months, including the natural disasters in Australia, New Zealand and Japan, have led to billions of dollars of losses in the reinsurance industry,” CatCo said in a statement.“As a consequence, reinsurers are seeking additional retrocessional protection leading to a significant increase in premium rates.”The new issuance would allow the company to take advantage of the current higher premium rates with the aim of providing better returns to shareholders, CatCo added, and enable the investment manager to further diversify the current portfolio.The 124.45 million new class C shares will have a secondary listing on the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX). The Exchange's Listing Committee announced yesterday that it had also approved the secondary listing of 87.64 million ordinary shares.The listing of both series of shares was sponsored by Prime Management Ltd, which is licensed as a fund administrator by the Bermuda Monetary Authority under the Investment Funds Act 2006.Greg Wojciechowski, president and CEO of the BSX, said: “I am delighted to welcome CatCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund Ltd to secondary listing on the BSX. At the BSX, we have worked very hard to deploy a state of the art internationally recognised listing and trading platform in Bermuda.“As the insurance and capital market industries continue to move closer together, it is very apparent that Bermuda and the BSX can act to accelerate convergence. That said, I look forward to working with the Bermuda insurance industry to bring to market new and exciting products that are listed and traded on the BSX in Bermuda.”Jason Bibb, director and chief operating officer at CatCo Investment Management Ltd, said: “We are extremely pleased to add a secondary listing on the BSX, which brings significant value for our institutional and private client investors and highlights our support for the continued development of the local marketplace.”John Whiley, representing Prime Management, said: “We are pleased to have been able to assist CatCo Reinsurance Opportunities Fund Ltd with their listing on the BSX. As a fund administrator and listing sponsor which is active in servicing the risk-linked investment community, we are very excited to see the continued growth and innovation in risk-linked investments”.Investors in the new shares will also not be exposed to any potential losses from earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand this year.Although the company believes it has no exposure to the two quakes, liability for any potential losses will be ring-fenced in what the company describes as ‘Side Pocket Investments'.“All investment received from new investors on or after 1 April 2011 will have no exposure to such Side Pocket Investments, nor the future unearned premium or any potential losses arising from them,” CatCo stated.The company intends for the C shares to convert into ordinary shares in CatCo's Master Fund when the Side Pocket Investments cease to be in effect.Useful website:www.bsx.com