Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reported its second-quarter financial results Friday night, noting bond insurer subsidiary Berkshire Hathaway Assurance Corp. had written premiums totaling $210 million through the first half of 2008, $110 million in the second quarter.
Much of that came in the secondary market, as Berkshire Hathaway Assurance had wrapped just two new issues with a par value of $361.2 million through the first half of the year, according to Thomson Reuters data. Berkshire Hathaway Assurance had $4.4 billion in net par outstanding as of March 31, according to Moody's Investors Service.
Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group - under which BHAC falls - also guarantees bonds in the secondary market using transactions structured as credit default swaps. This generated $310 million for the company during the first half of the year, but just $10 million of that business came in the second quarter.
Berkshire Hathaway formed BHAC in December, and the bond insurer first began operations in the first quarter of this year. BHAC has triple-A ratings from both Moody's and Standard & Poor's, and approximately $1 billion in capital as of June 30, Berkshire said in its filing.
