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WellCare divestment; insurers optimistic; Metromile IPO; Lorenzo strengthens

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WellCare divestment; insurers optimistic; Metromile IPO; Lorenzo strengthens

Anthem Inc. agreed to acquire WellCare Health Plans Inc.'s Missouri and Nebraska Medicaid plans, in a deal connected to Centene Corp.'s proposed acquisition of WellCare. Also, Centene and WellCare announced that their transaction has received approval in California and Wisconsin.

A BlackRock Inc. survey found that insurers are still optimistic despite a more challenging environment. This positive sentiment is tempered, however, by a certain caution in their exposures and a desire to increase resilience within their portfolios. This translates into further optimization of fixed income allocations and a continued long-term shift into less correlated and more profitable private markets, the asset manager said.

Metromile Inc. CEO Dan Preston sees his company going public as something that is "definitely in our future," The Insurance Insider reported. The insurtech company is aiming for an IPO within the next "couple of years," he reportedly told the news outlet.

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey urged Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina CEO Patrick Conway to resign after the insurer allegedly covered up the top executive's arrest in June on suspicion of drunk driving and child neglect.

Karen is "barely" a tropical storm with little change in strength expected during the next few days, the National Hurricane Center said. A northeastward to eastward motion with a decrease in forward speed is expected through Friday. Karen, or its remnants, are then expected to slow down and make a clockwise loop over the southwestern Atlantic into the weekend.

On the other hand, Lorenzo strengthened to a Category 3 hurricane and might become even stronger today. However, the current wind speed projection map suggests that the storm will not approach any landmass in the western Atlantic or Caribbean.

Cyberrisk analytics and insurance platform provider Arceo.ai raised $37 million. Lightspeed Venture Partners and Founders Fund led the funding, with participation from CRV and UL Ventures.

A group of insurance associations are calling on the International Accounting Standards Board to delay until 2023 the effective date of the new International Financial Reporting Standard, better known as IFRS 17.

Citizens Inc. appointed Jeffery Conklin as the company's permanent CFO, effective Sept. 20.

Rothesay Life PLC signed what it says will be the "largest full scheme buyout ever undertaken in the U.K.," agreeing with telecom company telent to a bulk annuity insurance buyout of the £4.7 billion GEC 1972 Plan. The buyout is expected to be completed before the end of 2022.

Prudential PLC is offering a one-off dividend of about £100 million, equivalent to about 3.85 pence per share, related to the proposed demerger of M&GPrudential. The planned dividend is in recognition that M&G will be operating without incurring certain costs, such as debt interest costs, for the majority of the 2019 financial year.

Aviva PLC appointed Jason Windsor CFO and an executive director, effective Sept. 26. Windsor had served as interim CFO since July 1 and was previously CFO of Aviva UK Insurance.

South Korea's Woori Bank is selling a 4% stake in its holding company Woori Financial Group Inc. to Taiwan's Fubon Life Insurance Co. Ltd. for 358.5 billion won, according to a Sept. 25 filing.

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IPO window still open, but some having trouble getting through: A handful of big transactions helped boost IPO activity earlier in 2019, but several high-profile IPO-hopefuls have hit speed bumps on their path to going public.

SEC divided over ESG disclosures as pressure from Congress rises: Top SEC officials are split over whether the regulator needs to develop a uniform framework for corporate America to follow when making environmental, social and governance disclosures.

In other parts of the world

Asia-Pacific: Japan Exchange nears merger; Indian bank loans fall by 900B rupees

Europe: Deutsche raid; ex-Danske exec found dead; Credit Suisse spy drama deepens

Middle East & Africa: Netanyahu to form Israel's new government; Old Mutual-Moyo dispute continues

The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, the Hang Seng jumped 0.37% to 26,041.93, and the Nikkei 225 rose 0.13% to 22,048.24.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.99% to 7,362.13, and the Euronext 100 climbed 0.70% to 1,089.32.

Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.

On the macro front

The GDP report, the international trade in goods report, the jobless claims report, the corporate profits report, the retail inventories report, the wholesale inventories report, the pending home sales index, the EIA natural gas report, the Kansas City Fed manufacturing index, the Fed balance sheet and the money supply report are due out today.

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