Lloyd's of London's pretax profit rose to £2.33 billion in the first half from £588 million a year earlier, as the investment return jumped year over year to £2.32 billion from £204 million. The market benefited from unrealized gains due to reducing U.S. and U.K. bond yields, as well as robust returns from equities in the first six months. Lloyd's Chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown told Reuters that the results of a conduct survey to be published Sept. 24 "will not be surprising but they will be sobering."
Also, David Sansom has been confirmed as chief risk officer, subject to regulatory approval. He had served in an interim capacity since October 2018. Chief People Officer Annette Andrews will be leaving at the end of 2019.
Hurricane Humberto became a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 115 mph. The core of Humberto is expected to pass just to the northwest and north of Bermuda later tonight. Humberto may bring periods of heavy rain to Bermuda through Thursday, with rainfall accumulations of 2 to 4 inches with maximum amounts of 6 inches expected.
Tropical Depression Imelda is moving farther inland, and heavy rains and significant flash flooding will spread over eastern Texas during the next couple of days, the Weather Prediction Center said in a 4 a.m. CDT bulletin. Imelda is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of six to 12 inches with isolated maximum amounts of 18 inches across portions of eastern Texas, including the Houston and Galveston areas.
And Tropical Storm Jerry is the 10th named storm of the 2019 season. It is about 1,545 kilometers east of the Leeward Islands, and is projected to become a hurricane by the time it nears the northern Leewards.
The New York State Department of Financial Services fined American Progressive Life & Health Insurance Co. of New York $260,000 for revoking life insurance policies without policyholders' consent.
Tech startup-focused insurance company Vouch Insurance launched Sept. 17. It is allowed to sell to startups in Utah and Illinois. The company also announced that it raised $24.5 million in a series A funding round led by Ribbit Capital and SVB Financial Group.
BMS Group Ltd. promoted Kirk Conrad to the newly created role of chief analytics officer. He will oversee the U.S. reinsurance catastrophe analytics and actuarial divisions.
Bahrain's Trust International Insurance and Reinsurance Co. BSC, or Trust Re, formed an executive committee with Group CEO Talal Al Zain as its leader.
The Pakistani government will sell a 20% stake of state-owned State Life Insurance Corp. of Pakistan Ltd., Business Recorder reported, citing sources. The stake sale will not affect the insurer's management control but will place State Life Insurance on the active privatization list, according to the report.
Data from underwriting agency Emergence Insurance found that cyber claims frequency in Australia was up 29% year over year in 2019, Insurance Business Australia reported. Cyber claims severity rose at a much higher rate — 51% compared to 2018.
Zhu Jialin resigned as chairman of Shenzhen-based Evergrande Life Assurance Co. Ltd., Mingtiandi reported.
Now featured on S&P Global Market Intelligence
With attacks on the rise, insurers nervously await 1st major cyber catastrophe: Insurers are well-versed in dealing with heavy claims bills from natural catastrophes, but while there have been a smattering of large cyber claims, the industry has yet to deal with an attack big enough to threaten profits and capital.
Regulator, commercial auto insurer have 'materially' different view of reserves: Two rehabilitating subsidiaries of Atlas Financial showed significant unfavorable reserve development in recently posted statutory statements reflecting the outcome of an actuarial review conducted on behalf of their state regulator.
Divided Fed likely to cut rates, keep door open to more easing: The Fed's expected 25-basis-point rate cut would be its second of the year, but the decision will likely highlight a divide among Fed officials over how concerned they should be about a potential U.S. economic slowdown.
In other parts of the world
Asia-Pacific: ADB confirms president resignation; investors eye new Chinese bank
Europe: Metro Bank execs probed; HSBC French unit under review; Lloyd's H1 profit up
Middle East & Africa: Israel's tight election; Moody's expects Islamic finance in Africa to grow
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng lost 0.13% to 26,754.12, and the Nikkei 225 declined 0.18% to 21,960.71.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 rose 0.05% to 7,324.54, and the Euronext 100 was up 0.16% to 1,089.03.
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
U.S. housing starts, the U.S. Energy Information Administration Petroleum Status Report, the Federal Open Market Committee meeting announcement, the FOMC forecasts and the Fed chair press conference are due out today.
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