Third-party litigation funder Burford Capital has boosted its investment resources above the $300m (£187m) mark, making it the largest fund of its kind in the world, according to its first annual report.

The company, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM), but invests primarily in commercial disputes in the US and in international arbitration, reported revenues of $7.38m (£4.60m) for the period 11 September 2009 to 31 December 2010.

This included $5.1m (£3.2m) of gains on its litigation and arbitration investments, and $2.0m (£1.2m) gains on financial investments.

Burford, which floated on AIM in October 2009 and completed a secondary fundraising in November 2010, said that the top 20 US firms are increasingly requesting capital to help fund their clients’ cases.

Burford reported its results shortly after Commercial Intelligence Funds Group, a distressed debt fund manager, announced that it is seeking to raise $100m (£62m) to finance disputes in emerging markets.

The GDAF III fund will target claims between $5m (£3.1m) and $300m (£187m).

Burford Chairman Sir Peter Middleton said: ‘As we deploy capital and expand, we are being very deliberate – and we are focused more on getting things right and building a long-term sustainable business than in rushing for the sake of near-term quarterly results.’

Burford’s report says that it has committed $140m (£87m) in total to litigation and arbitration.

The report says that $102m (£64m) had been committed by November 2010, and a further $37m (£23m) had been committed since then. Burford said that it has made 25 investments so far.