The National Hurricane Center expects Tropical Storm Dorian to hit Puerto Rico later today with heavy winds and rainfall that may cause life-threatening flash floods. Although weakening is possible after Dorian moves across Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the storm is forecast to strengthen late this week and this weekend while passing near or to the east of the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas, according to the center's early morning update. Dorian could make landfall on Florida as a Category 2 hurricane, CNN reported.
Bank of Montreal is pulling back the majority of its business in the reinsurance sector, partly attributing the decision to climate change, the Financial Post reported. CEO Darryl White said in a quarterly earnings conference call that "performance is no longer meeting our risk-return expectations." CFO Tom Flynn also disclosed that the bank is winding down its property and casualty reinsurance business.
Catastrophe modeler Karen Clark & Co. warned that a "larger magnitude event" than the 1923 Kanto earthquake that impacts Tokyo could trigger total property losses exceeding $3 trillion.
Purdue Pharma LP has offered to settle the more than 2,000 lawsuits filed against the company and its owners regarding the manufacturing of opioids for $10 billion to $12 billion, NBC News reported. The privately held company, owned by the Sackler family, manufactures the powerful opioid painkiller OxyContin.
Life insurance-focused insurtech company Ethos raised $60 million in a series C funding round led by GV, Alphabet's venture capital arm. Goldman Sachs is a new participant alongside existing investors Sequoia Capital and Accel, bringing the total funding to-date to more than $100 million. Also, insurtech startup Kin Insurance Inc. raised $47 million in funding to launch its Florida home insurance carrier, Kin Interinsurance Network.
Bernina Re Ltd. has named Christian Bieri CEO, subject to Bermuda regulatory approvals, Artemis reported. He will succeed Michael McKnight, who left the Credit Suisse-owned company in 2018.
The German Insurance Association estimated that natural hazards such as storms and hail caused insured losses of about €1.3 billion in Germany in the first half, Reinsurance News reported. The estimate includes damage to motor vehicles and residential buildings.
Bâloise Holding AG's first-half profit attributable to shareholders increased to CHF395.0 million from CHF269.7 million in the prior-year period. China Taiping Insurance Holdings Co. Ltd. logged first-half net profit attributable to the company's owners of HK$6.74 billion, up 29.5% from HK$5.21 billion a year earlier. And China Reinsurance (Group) Corp. recorded first-half profit attributable to equity shareholders of the parent of 3.32 billion Chinese yuan, up from 2.33 billion yuan a year ago.
London-based insurance broker Aston Lark Ltd. acquired Manchester, U.K.-based Buckland Harvester Insurance Brokers Ltd.
Now featured on S&P Global Market Intelligence
Amid climate change pressure, insurers hold billions in coal-exposed investments: An analysis shows that the 20 insurers with the most coal exposure held, as of 2018, a cumulative $39.22 billion in investments in companies that mine coal or power producers that generated more than 30% of their electricity from coal in 2017.
Hub, Brown & Brown snag former Nationwide agencies after model change: A handful of Nationwide's exclusive brokers elected the costliest option for becoming independent agents, some with help from broker heavyweights Hub International and Brown & Brown.
In other parts of the world
Asia-Pacific: JPMorgan, Citi expand Japan desk; S&P cuts AMP; Shinsei Bank share sale
Europe: Deutsche Börse offices raided; RBS suffers another IT glitch; all eyes on Italy
Middle East & Africa: Global sukuk issuance set to rise; Bank Leumi names CEO; Hapoalim CFO to resign
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng fell 0.19% to 25,615.48, and the Nikkei 225 rose 0.11% to 20,479.42.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.23% % to 7,105.45, and the Euronext 100 lost 0.54% to 1,039.34.
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 U.S. state street investor confidence index, the U.S. Energy Information Administration petroleum status report and the U.S. survey of business uncertainty are due out today.
The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7:30 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.
