|
Newark, Calif. - August 23, 2001
- Risk Management Solutions (RMS), the
world's leading provider of products and services for the management
of natural hazard risks, today announced the addition of Japanese
and German temperature data to the Climetrix® weather derivatives
trading and risk management system. The weather market has been
rapidly expanding outside of the U.S., and the new data provides
weather derivative traders and end-users with coverage for two of
the most important areas of market expansion.
For Japan, RMS and strategic partner Earth Satellite Corporation (EarthSat)
have compiled and cleaned 40 years of historical daily measurements
for 47 of the Japan Meteorological Agency's (JMA) primary weather
stations. These stations were selected with input from active
Japanese weather traders and provide the geographic diversity for
traders to structure transactions for corporate end-users throughout
the country.
In Germany, RMS and EarthSat have assembled 40 years of historical
data for 14 weather stations located in or near major metropolitan
areas. The data was sourced directly from the Deutscher Wetterdienst
(DWD), the German meteorological office, and is the most complete
and highest quality data available for Germany.
In addition to the historical data, RMS and
EarthSat have also added daily feeds of prior-day weather recordings
and medium range forecasts to the Climetrix system. This data is
automatically updated each day at 8:00 A.M. in the local time zone
for each country to ensure that Climetrix users always have access
to the most recent data available. The feeds of daily measurements
are the official values issued by the JMA and DWD that are used by
the market for contract settlement. RMS and EarthSat fill in any
missing values using standard market conventions.
Paul VanderMarck, managing director of weather
risk products at RMS, commented, "It is widely recognized that the
challenges in acquiring reliable, quality-controlled data have been
one of the most significant constraints on global expansion of the
weather market. By making available high quality data for key
countries around the world, we hope to facilitate continuing rapid
growth of weather trading activity."
Over the next several months, RMS and EarthSat
will be conducting further research on the Japanese and German
stations to develop enhanced historical data that reflects the
impacts of measurement discontinuities caused by historical changes
in weather station location and instrumentation.
Climetrix (www.climetrix.com) is an
Internet-based application that provides integrated access to all of
the data, advanced pricing tools, and portfolio management
capabilities necessary for successful participation in the weather
market. Since the initial release of Climetrix in July 2000, more
than 70% of active weather market participants have licensed the
system or the underlying weather data. More information on the
Japanese and German data described in this press release, including
complete station listings, can be accessed at
http://www.climetrix.com/products/historical_data.htm.
About RMS
Risk Management Solutions is the world's leading provider of
products and services for catastrophe, weather, and enterprise risk
management. More than 400 leading insurers, reinsurers, trading
companies, and other financial institutions rely on RMS models to
quantify, manage, and transfer risk. Founded at Stanford University
in 1988, RMS serves clients today from offices in the U.S., Europe,
and Japan. For more information, visit our web site at
www.rms.com.
Climetrix, RMS, and the RMS
logo are trademarks of Risk Management Solutions, Inc. All other
trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Next Press
Release
Back to Press
Releases Page
|
