The Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) just hit the $5 billion mark in insurance-linked securities (ILS) with the new listing of a $300 million catastrophe bond.The new listing comes from the California Earthquake Authority’s (CEA) Bermuda-listed catastrophe bond. The CEA is a provider of residential earthquake insurance. The Listing Committee of the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) has approved the listing of the third issuance from Embarcadero Re. The capital will provide reinsurance coverage for California earthquakes.This is the third catastrophe bond deal the CEA has brought to market through the Embarcadero Re transformer vehicle. The latest deal will issue a single tranche of Class A notes to be sold to investors which ware designed to provide the CEA with a multiyear source of protection from property losses due to earthquakes in California on an annual aggregate basis. The bond has a mature date of August 7, 2015. It follows Embarcadero’s two other $150 million issuances in February of this year and August 2011.This latest issuance brings the number of ILS listed on the BSX to 27 with a value of $5 billion. ILS, which include cat bonds, are instruments that allow investors to have exposure to risks of specified types and scale. Investors risk being wiped out if the bond is triggered by a specified event, but are paid attractive rates of interest for putting their money at risk.The cat bond may be triggered if insured losses in a specified catastrophe type reach a determined level. Investor interest in the bonds stems from the relatively high yields and the lack of correlation with financial markets.