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Prudential Financial buying insurtech; Scor review; Dorian threatens Carolinas

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Prudential Financial buying insurtech; Scor review; Dorian threatens Carolinas

Prudential Financial Inc. is acquiring insurtech startup Assurance IQ Inc. for $1.88 billion in cash and $470 million in restricted Prudential common stock and equity awards. Up to $1.15 billion in additional cash and common stock will be payable in 2023 if Assurance meets certain targets for gross revenues net of associated selling expenses.

Scor SE is reviewing several lines of nonlife reinsurance business after 2019 price increases were not sufficient to make sustainable profits in the coming years, according to Scor Global P&C CEO Jean-Paul Conoscente. He also said the insurance industry must address the issue of so-called "silent" cyberrisk before Scor will grow its appetite for cyberrisk meaningfully.

Hurricane Dorian continues to lash the coast of the Carolinas, with hurricane conditions likely over portions of the area later today, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 a.m. ET bulletin. The hurricane is about 80 miles off Charleston, S.C., and has maximum sustained winds of 115 mph. A hurricane warning is in effect for the Savannah River to the North Carolina/Virginia border, as well as the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. acquired Brentford, U.K.-based insurance intermediaries Rentguard Ltd., Home & Travel Ltd. and RGA Underwriting Ltd., collectively referred to as RGA Group.

Vienna Insurance Group AG announced plans to offer insurance to corporate customers in four Nordic countries through brokers. The company intends to start operating in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, through branch offices in Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo, with Finnish customers served through the framework of the freedom to provide services.

Hiscox Ltd. appointed Joanne Musselle group chief underwriting officer ahead of Richard Watson's impending retirement. She will step into the new role at the end of 2019.

Hyperion X appointed David Flandro managing director for analytics. He will lead the development of Hyperion's new analytics business, Hyperion X Analytics, which is a Hyperion X and RKH Reinsurance Brokers joint venture.

Shenzhen, China-based Huize Holding Inc. filed with the U.S. SEC for an IPO of its American depositary shares. The offering has a proposed maximum aggregate price of US$150 million.

IDBI Bank Ltd. said it plans to divest its stake in insurance joint venture IDBI Federal Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Mint reported, citing a newspaper advertisement by the bank.

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L&G's new pension insurance product cheaper than superfunds, but different: L&G is positioning its Insured Self-Sufficiency as a superfund-beater, but consultants said it is not a direct replacement because the employer's connection with the pension scheme is retained.

The bull case: Resilient US consumers are a buffer against recession: Despite worsening global financial conditions, economies — including the U.S. — can see slower growth without automatically falling into a recession, according to Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.

The bear case: Trade 'Cold War' makes a recession more likely: A variety of domestic and international risks are likely to result in a U.S. recession in either 2020 or 2021, according to Brunello Rosa, CEO and head of research at Rosa & Roubini Associates.

In other parts of the world

Asia-Pacific: China joins JPMorgan indexes; Australia IPOs; Moody's Indian bank rating actions

Europe: Danske reshuffles management; Nordea names CEO; CYBG sees extra £450M PPI charge

Middle East & Africa: BlackRock opens Saudi office; KCB sets National Bank of Kenya takeover in motion

The day ahead

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

In Asia, the Hang Seng fell 0.03% to 26,515.53, and the Nikkei 225 rose 2.12% to 21,085.94.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.65% to 7,263.46, and the Euronext 100 was up 0.67% to 1,080.80.

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 motor vehicle sales report, ADP employment report, jobless claims report, the productivity and costs report, PMI services index, factory orders report, ISM non-manufacturing index, EIA petroleum status report, Fed balance sheet, and the money supply report are due out today.

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