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CHICAGO, April 7 – GuaranteedWeather of
Hamilton, Bermuda announced today that it has purchased the Weather
Risk Management system and assets of Kansas City based Aquila
Merchant Services, Inc. together with all brand and domain names
including GuaranteedWeather.com, previously ranked the 2nd most
popular insurance website by Yahoo. GuaranteedWeather also announced
the formation of a strategic alliance with Mitsui-Sumitomo Insurance
Company, Ltd and Hannover Reinsurance Company to expand the global
market for weather derivatives and weather risk management products.
"The market for weather risk management has great potential but has
been hurt by the credit crisis in the energy sector," says Neil
Ramsey, President of Ramsey Quantitative Systems, Inc. which funded
the purchase, adding, "we purchased the business of one of the
pioneering leaders in the weather derivatives and risk management at
an excellent time in the market’s cycle and expect our relationship
with Mitsui-Sumitomo and Hannover Re as well as our revitalization
of GuaranteedWeather.com will allow us to reach a broad range of
customers."
"It is fitting that we are launching our relationship with
GuaranteedWeather at the Risk and Insurance Management Society’s
(RIMS) 41st Annual Conference & Exhibition," says Takashi Yamashita,
Managing Director of Mitsui-Sumitomo. "Weather risk products allow
risk managers to expand their impact to a broader range of their
organization's risks and reduce the variability in their bottom line
results," Mr. Yamashita adds.
“We are particularly excited about the opportunities for growing the
weather risk management market with GuaranteedWeather and its proven
leadership team,” says Hans Rohlf, Managing Director, Chief
Underwriting Officer North America for Hannover Re.
Weather risk products are used to offset the adverse affects of
abnormal weather on the revenues or expenses of businesses. Industry
segments that can benefit from this type of protection include
energy, agriculture, construction, entertainment, beverage
manufacturers and distributors or any other organization whose
bottom line results can be significantly impacted by weather
conditions.
"Energy companies have been using weather risk products to mitigate
the impact that cool summers or warm winters can have on the use of
electricity or natural gas, and consequently their revenues and
bottom line," notes Brian O’Hearne, currently President and CEO of
Aquila Re Ltd, who is to become President and CEO of
GuaranteedWeather in May. "Other businesses are now beginning to
consider how they can use the same concepts to help manage the
variability in their revenue or expense caused by the weather,"
O’Hearne adds.
GuaranteedWeather’s family of weather derivative products is
marketed in North America and Europe under the GuaranteedWeather®
brand and in Japan and Asia through Mitsui-Sumitomo.
"Through these and additional alliances we intend to build a
diversified, global weather risk portfolio, which will allow our
clients to counter balance unusual weather conditions around the
world in a highly cost effective manner," explains Brad Hoggatt,
Chief Operating Officer of GuaranteedWeather.
GuaranteedWeather.com currently allows users to structure and price
customized weather coverage for more than 600 locations globally.
GuaranteedWeather will continue to improve the functionality of
GuaranteedWeather.com by continually adding locations and improving
its on-line pricing capability.
GuaranteedWeather’s staff includes a number of pioneers in the
weather marketplace, including individuals involved with the energy
industry's first weather hedge in the summer of 1996. The additional
support provided to GuaranteedWeather by Ramsey Quantitative
Systems, Inc. through its proven modeling and technology
capabilities further strengthens this team. Willis Re also provided
support to GuaranteedWeather in establishing these alliances.
For more information about GuaranteedWeather, visit http://www.guaranteedweather.com.
For more information about Mitsui-Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd.,
visit
http://www.ms-ins.com
For more information about Hannover Re, visit
http://www.hannover-re.com
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