RMS Launches Climetrix

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Wednesday 12 July 2000

One-stop solution offers data and analytical tools for structuring and pricing of weather contracts and for portfolio management.

Risk Management Solutions (RMS) today announced the release of Climetrixtm, an Internet-based application that provides a comprehensive range of cleaned and enhanced weather data, sophisticated analytical tools, and portfolio management capabilities. The application can be accessed at www.climetrix.com.

Users of Climetrix will have access to a suite of advanced stochastic modeling tools that simulate thousands of years of potential weather behavior to analyze and track the risk to individual contracts and to portfolios. The wide range of customizable features and modeling procedures reflects the input of ten beta clients - including reinsurers and energy trading companies active in the market - who participated in the design and testing of the system. Users can analyze all common transaction structures and underlying index types encountered in the market. The Climetrix architecture uses the latest Java technology to allow immediate deployment of sophisticated functionality through a web browser.

One key feature of Climetrix is a database of cleaned and enhanced historical weather data developed by Earth Satellite Corporation (EarthSat) in collaboration with RMS. The database includes 50 years of data for approximately 200 U.S. weather stations that are most commonly used as the basis for weather contracts. Doug Hall, CEO of EarthSat, noted, "One major issue throughout the development of the weather risk market has been the lack of a standardized set of data that addresses acknowledged problems in historical data, such as discontinuities caused by changes in weather station location or instrumentation. Drawing on our meteorological capabilities and RMS' analytical expertise, we have developed a unique and highly sophisticated methodology to clean and enhance historical data that we believe will provide a standard benchmark for the market."

"Despite significant growth of the weather market, many potential participants have remained on the sidelines due to concerns that they would be at a technical disadvantage relative to companies that have developed proprietary data and trading systems," commented Paul VanderMarck, Managing Director of the RMS Weather Risk business unit. "We have invested more than $2 million at RMS and EarthSat over the past year to develop a state-of-the-art system that enables a new participant to enter the market on a level playing field with their counterparties. We are optimistic that the availability of such capabilities will stimulate further growth of the market."

Since its beginnings in 1997, the weather risk market has grown rapidly as energy companies and other weather-reliant businesses have made increasing use of weather derivatives and related insurance contracts to hedge their risk. The market today counts a number of leading energy trading companies, investment banks, and reinsurers as active traders, and recent estimates indicate that more than $5 billion of weather risk has been transacted to date.

RMS and EarthSat will be holding seminars in New York and London in late July to introduce the Climetrix application and the EarthSat data to clients and other interested market participants. For more information, send email to climetrix@riskinc.com or call 1.650.617.6548.

About RMS
Risk Management Solutions (www.riskinc.com) is the world's leading provider of products and services for the quantification and management of property catastrophe, natural hazard, and complex business risks. Its clients include leading insurers, reinsurers, industrial corporations, governments, and financial institutions. Founded at Stanford University in 1988, RMS employs over 500 people worldwide. RMS is owned by DMG Information, a division of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc media enterprise.

About EarthSat
Earth Satellite Corporation (www.earthsat.com), established in 1969, is an international consulting and professional services firm specializing in the application and development of remote sensing and geographic information technologies (GIS) to the exploration, development, monitoring and management of the Earth's resources. EarthSat's Weather Services Division has been providing weather services to the agricultural community since 1973, and has developed a role as a leader in energy weather since 1988. Based in Rockville, Maryland, EarthSat is a world leader in the utilization of remote sensing data from aircraft and satellites and is the largest value-added provider of satellite remotely sensed images. EarthSat solves information problems in oil and mineral exploration, worldwide crop monitoring, and landcover change mapping.

Inquiries to:
Matthias Beckmann
ZOOM Marketing Corp
1 (650) 614 1980 ext 231
John Abraham
Risk Management Solutions 1 (650) 617 6692