Benfield Group, the global reinsurance group, has provided some much needed good news for the initial public offering market by trading strongly on its debut after increasing its offer size by more than half.

Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley were joint bookrunners. They are also financial advisers to Benfield alongside Lexicon Partners, the the financial services advisory boutique. Merrill acted as sponsor and broker. Deutsche Bank and Fox-Pitt, Kelton are co-lead managers.