Juniperus Capital Limited (Juniperus Capital or JCL) is a Bermuda-based hedge fund

Hedge fund

A hedge fund is a private pool of capital actively managed by an investment adviser. Hedge funds are only open for investment to a limited number of accredited or qualified investors who meet criteria set by regulators. These investors can be institutions, such as pension funds, university...

. It was incorporated in Bermuda on April 11, 2008. The investment management company became operational in May 2008.

The company is named after the Juniperus bermudiana

Juniperus bermudiana

Juniperus bermudiana is a species of juniper endemic to Bermuda. This species is most commonly known as Bermuda cedar although, like most "cedars" it is not a true cedar ; a more botanically accurate name would be Bermuda juniper, but this term is extremely rare.It is an evergreen tree growing up...

, cedar trees found only in Bermuda that are extremely hardy in the face of hurricanes and other adverse conditions.

Management

Juniperus Capital is managed by CEO and Chairman Philip A. Lotz (who was formerly the CEO of Swiss Re

Swiss Re

Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd , generally known as Swiss Re, is a Swiss reinsurance company. It is the world’s second-largest reinsurer, after having acquired GE Insurance Solutions. The company has its headquarters in Zurich...

 Capital Management and Advisory) and Chief Underwriting Officer Stephen A. Velotti.

Fund

Juniperus Capital manages Juniperus Insurance Opportunity Fund. The fund focuses on the collateralised catastrophe reinsurance

Catastrophe bond

Catastrophe bonds are risk-linked securities that transfer a specified set of risks from a sponsor to investors...

 and insurance-linked securities

Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS)

Insurance-linked securities are broadly defined as financial instruments whose values are driven by insurance loss events. Those such instruments that are linked to property losses due to natural catastrophes represent a unique asset class, the return from which is uncorrelated with that of the...

 markets. Substantial investors in the fund include New York-based reinsurance

Reinsurance

Reinsurance is insurance that is purchased by an insurance company from another insurance company as a means of risk management...

 and risk

Risk

Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity will lead to a loss . The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome exists . Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks"...

 intermediary Benfield Group

Benfield Group

Benfield Group is a leading independent reinsurance and risk intermediary. Customers include most of the world's major insurance and reinsurance companies as well as government entities and global corporations...

 Ltd., Tokyo-based Itochu

ITOCHU

, until 1992 "C. Itoh" in English, is a Japanese general trading concern based in Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka and Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo. It has a common origin with Marubeni Corporation. Itochu is a Fortune 500 company.-History:...

 Corporation, Transatlantic Reinsurance Co., and Juniperus Capital management.

Forbes

Forbes

Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...

and The Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

reported in 2008 that Benfield Group announced it had made a $50 million (£25.3m) cash investment in Juniperus Insurance Opportunity Fund. The investment was reportedly made through Benfield Advisory, the group's corporate finance section.

Ownership

Benfield also holds a significant ownership position in Juniperus Capital, having purchased $6.6 million of the shares of the company. Benfield also committed to provide up to $2 million in working capital

Working capital

Working capital is a financial metric which represents operating liquidity available to a business, organization or other entity, including governmental entity. Along with fixed assets such as plant and equipment, working capital is considered a part of operating capital. Net working capital is...

to Juniperus Capital.

In December 2009, Itochu Corporation made a JPY 5 billion equity investment in Juniperus Capital.