Kin Group Regulatory News (KIN)

16 Aug 2007 12:07

Kiln Ltd16 August 2007 Kiln Ltd Investment Update In the context of the current market uncertainty with regard to the investmentportfolios of insurance companies, Kiln is issuing the following statement whichreiterates the company's investment strategy and gives full details of thecomposition of its portfolio of holdings. Kiln's approach to investment is designed to generate satisfactory investmentreturns while preserving shareholders' capital and avoiding excessivefluctuations in the non-underwriting results. All investments are held in lowerrisk, investment grade assets, with the majority (95%) of syndicate assets andcash held in fixed income instruments with a rating of AAA, principallyGovernment Bonds, or AAA rated money market funds. Full details of the positionas at 31 July 2007 are below: Portfolio - Segmental Split Syndicate 100% assets Kiln Group share Other corporate assets £m £m £mCash 125 53 157Fixed Income 417 181 126Equities - - -Alternative assets - - - Credit Analysis of Fixed Income Syndicate 100% assets Other corporate assetsbonds % %AAA 94 75AA 5 22A 1 3 Sector Analysis of Fixed Income Syndicate 100% Other corporate assetsPortfolio assets £m % £m % Government Bonds 332.8 79.9 52 41Government Agency Bonds 40 10 - -Corporate Bonds 43 10 74 59Supranational Bonds 1 0.1 - -Asset Backed Bonds 0.2 - - -Total 417 100 126 100 The exposure to Asset Backed Securities (ABS) and Mortgage Backed Securities(MBS) is limited; Asset Backed Securities in the portfolio amount to less than£200,000 and within the Government Agency holdings Mortgage Backed Securitiesrepresent £36.5m (6.7% of syndicate assets). All these securities are currentlyrated 'AAA'. There are no holdings of Collateralised Debt Obligations (CDOs) within anyportfolio. Kiln has no exposure to equities in either corporate, syndicate orpension fund portfolios; all the scheme's equities were sold during the lastquarter of 2006. The pension fund is invested in two pooled long bond funds.Cash is diversified and is invested in bank deposits of 'AA' rated UK banks and'AAA' rated Money Market funds. Average Duration of Fixed Income portfoliosUSD 1.75 yearsGBP 0.45 yearsCAD 1.22 years Fixed Income returns to 31 July on Syndicate 510 %USD 3.1GBP 3.0CAD 1.8 Peter Haynes, Kiln's group chief financial officer commented: "Kiln's investment strategy is consistent with its cautious approach to capitalrisk management in general. We seek to protect our investment portfolio by meansof diversification and credit quality; at this stage the recent marketturbulence related to the financial markets' concerns over the sub-prime sectorhas not had a negative effect on our asset base." 16 August 2007 Enquiries: Kiln Ltd Peter Haynes, group chief financial officer +1 (441) 278 4440 (Please note BST - 4 hours)Kate Rogers, head of communications 020 7886 9000 College HillRoddy Watt 020 7457 2020Tony Friend 020 7457 2020 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange