Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited Enters Managed Fund Market for Insurance Linked Securities through Investment and Partnership with Cartesian Iris Re

Hamilton, BERMUDA - 04 June, 2009 €” Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL) (Aspen) today announced that it has partnered with and invested $25 million in Cartesian Iris 2009A, a newly formed specialized investment fund focusing on insurance linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance globally.        

Iris is sponsored and managed by affiliates of Cartesian Capital Group and has been capitalized with funds from Aspen, Cartesian affiliates and other investors.  In addition to its capital investment, Aspen will provide advice on risk selection, pricing and portfolio design.  Aspen was advised on this transaction by Willis Capital Markets.

Chris O'Kane, Chief Executive Officer of Aspen said: "Iris is Aspen's first step into the managed fund market for insurance linked securities and we expect our partnership with Cartesian will allow us to develop a more substantial presence in due course.  Aspen's participation in Iris is a great opportunity to leverage our actuarial and risk assessment skills while maintaining aggregate catastrophe exposures within Aspen's pre-established group tolerances."

About Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited

Aspen provides reinsurance and insurance coverage to clients in various domestic and global markets through wholly-owned subsidiaries and offices in Bermuda, France, Ireland, Singapore, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. For the three months ended 31 March, 2009, Aspen reported gross written premiums of $636.8 million, net income of $91.4 million and total assets of $7.6 billion. Its operating subsidiaries have been assigned a rating of "A" ("Strong") by Standard & Poor's, an "A" ("Excellent") by A.M. Best and an "A2" ("Good") by Moody's Investors Service. For more information about Aspen, please visit www.aspen.bm.