RMS publishes daily weather derivatives data

Risk Management Solutions (RMS), a California-based provider of software for the management of natural hazard risks, has begun publishing daily weather market price data on the internet.

Weather market indexes based on the number of heating degree days – a method of comparing daily temperature with a seasonal average – are now available for Chicago, New York and London. The numbers should represent the strike price on a weather derivatives contract that provides a hedge against un-seasonal temperatures.

“Until now, the only way people could get this information was by phoning a broker,” said Steve Jewson, director of business development at RMS in London. “We wanted to provide an electronic data service that is independent of the market.”

RMS said it produces the data by surveying, on a daily basis, leading weather derivatives traders that represent a majority of the market. Jewson added that the data is not representative of values that can actually be traded but are indicative of what a broker should offer.

The data can be accessed from RMS’s weather risk website, climetrix.com.