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Private U.S. property and casualty insurers' surplus reached a record $802.2 billion in the first six months of 2019 as the stock market recovered from a significant downturn at the end of 2018, according to Verisk Analytics Inc. and the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.
There are no indications so far that London-based international insurers are suffering a "Brexit slump," according to the International Underwriting Association of London. The trade body also said London insurers are seeing growth opportunities from the new subsidiaries they have set up in the so-called EU27 to ensure that they can still access European markets after the U.K. leaves the European Union.
Dubai-based International General Insurance Holdings Ltd. entered into a definitive business combination agreement with publicly traded special purpose acquisition company Tiberius Acquisition Corp. and certain related parties, which will result in a Nasdaq listing.
Axis Capital Holdings Ltd. projects pretax losses of between $150 million and $175 million from catastrophic events during the third quarter. Losses stemmed from Hurricane Dorian, Japanese typhoons and other weather-related events.
The Japan Meteorological Agency expects Typhoon Hagibis to affect the Tokai or Kanto region on the evening of Oct. 12 or at a later time before making its way north, The Japan Times reported. The agency warned that fierce winds and downpours are likely for most of the country. Hagibis is comparable to a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
The typhoon also forced the cancellation of the 2019 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix's activities scheduled for Oct. 12.
Aon PLC expects insured losses from Hurricane Dorian to be less than $600 million, while total insured losses from Typhoon Faxai were minimally expected to approach $5 billion, with the overall economic cost even higher.
Prudential Financial Inc. completed its acquisition of Assurance IQ for about $2.35 billion.
Munich Re will stop reinsuring digital managing general agency Hippo at Jan. 1, 2020, The Insurance Insider reported. Due to its rapid growth, Hippo is no longer within the risk appetite of the German reinsurer's insurtech unit, Munich Re Digital Partners, according to a source.
Humana Inc. has expanded its existing partnership with Accolade, a private healthcare company. The expanded partnership includes a $20 million strategic investment into Accolade from Humana.
Private equity company Warburg Pincus LLC and PremjiInvest have entered advanced negotiations to jointly acquire Insurance Australia Group Ltd.'s 26% stake in India-based SBI General Insurance Co. Ltd., Moneycontrol reported, citing sources. PremjiInvest may acquire a bigger stake and is likely to be given a seat on the board, according to a source.
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Pending legislation expected to more than double cannabis insurance capacity: However, industry experts say there is cause for concern about "wild swings" in the marketplace if players' lack of expertise leads to bad underwriting.
Tough conditions pushing reinsurers toward electronic trading: Attempts to digitize reinsurance transactions have come and gone, but technology proponents argue that cost pressures, better technology and threats from outside mean it will be different this time.
In other parts of the world
Europe: Tullett Prebon fined £15.4M; Brexit 'pathway'; Euronext eyes revenue growth
Middle East & Africa: National Bank of Kuwait's Q3 results out; partial sale of UAE's Najm explored
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng climbed 2.34% to 26,308.44, and the Nikkei 225 rose 1.15% to 21,798.87.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.60% to 7,210.66, and the Euronext 100 was up 0.83% to 1,085.79.
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 import and export prices report, the consumer sentiment report and the Baker-Hughes Rig Count report are due out today.
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