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EQECAT Announces Release of WORLDCATenterprise™ Version 3.8 - Expands Modeling Capabilities For Earthquakes and Tropical Cyclones

June 14, 2006

Oakland, California

EQECAT, Inc., the leading authority on extreme risk modeling, announced today the release of its updated WORLDCATenterprise™ optimized platform, known as version 3.8, which includes model updates for the perils of earthquake and tropical cyclone in a number of countries including the United States, and enhanced software functionality.

“WORLDCATenterprise™ version 3.8 follows two sequential years of timely updates, to the point that we have now updated more than 34 countries for the perils of earthquake and/or hurricane/typhoon, as well as adding new capabilities to account for new hazards, such as flood,” said Richard Clinton, president, EQECAT.

The enhancements involve global updates to the models in the highly regarded WORLDCATenterprise™ platform, including the U.S. and Atlantic Basin hurricane model that explicitly adds a “near-term” view of hurricane frequency. However, unlike the developers of some models, EQECAT will also continue to provide the traditional “long-term” view so that companies will have a more complete view of the risk. Mr. Clinton said, “it is very important for companies to understand both views of the risk to make better underwriting and pricing decisions. Plus, state insurance departments are going to be putting more emphasis on the “long-term” view when approving rate changes.”

Among the other enhancements made were updates for all Caribbean countries.

Version 3.8 also includes updates of models for earthquakes in Central and South America, and Central and North Europe, typhoons in South Korea, and earthquakes in the U.S. These updates reflect changing market conditions, new data and scientific information, as well as requirements from rating agencies.

In addition to model updates, EQECAT’s new version of WORLDCATenterprise™ has been expanded to provide clients with current state-of-the-art software functionality, which easily can be folded into a user’s day-to-day process, providing added overall efficiency in generating various data.

“Through the model updates and enhancements, EQECAT once again is demonstrating the ability and commitment to maintain a very large collection of natural peril models on a reasonable schedule,” said Mr.Clinton.

“EQECAT remains dedicated to maintaining these natural peril models to make sure clients have the best available resources, based upon the most accurate underlying physics, engineering, and data to efficiently manage a range of catastrophic risk exposures,” he said.

Enhancements Made To EQECAT’s U.S. and Atlantic Basin Hurricane Model

The updates made to EQECAT’s WORLDCATenterprise™ platform incorporate the latest scientific and engineering research, coupled with a first-hand understanding of events as reflected in insurance claims data from recent global perils. EQECAT’s natural catastrophe models cover natural perils that affect countries representing almost 90 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).

Updates made to EQECAT’s U.S. and Atlantic Basin Hurricane model reflect:

• the “long-term” risk model’s historic frequency/severity distribution to include storms of 2004;

• the development of a storm surge / riverine flood model that quantifies the additional insured flood risk with hurricanes. This capability will be available through consultation in 2006, and expected to be incorporated into the actual model in 2007; and,

• incorporation of a “near-term” hurricane risk capability to address the correlation between hurricane losses and the persistence of a “warm” Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation (AMO) state.

“Our commitment to providing clients with the best tools and resources for managing risk, coupled with the support we receive from our parent company, ABS Consulting, a leading independent global provider of risk management services, enables EQECAT to develop a truly advanced and highly useful model,” Mr. Clinton said.

In addition, EQECAT’s U.S. Earthquake model has been independently reviewed by The California Geological Society (CGS) and the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER). Also, EQECAT’s Earthquake model has been confirmed by the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) as ‘state-of-the-art’ technology.

For additional information about upgrades made to specific models, please visit www.eqecat.com or call 510-817-3100.

EQECAT Serves Global Clients Through Extensive WORLDCATenterprise™

Through its user-friendly, extreme-risk modeling software, WORLDCATenterprise™, EQECAT enables clients to assess and manage potential damage and loss from wind, earthquakes, flood, wildfire, and terrorism, among other perils. WORLDCATenterprise™ includes 167 natural hazard software models for 88 countries spanning six continents.

EQECAT, and its parent ABSG Consulting Inc. (“ABS Consulting”) serve the global property and casualty insurance industry, major multinational corporations and financial institutions. EQECAT is known as the technical leader and innovator in the development of analysis tools and methodologies to quantify insurers’ and major corporations’ exposure to natural and man-made catastrophic risk.

EQECAT was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Oakland, California. For additional information, please log on to www.absconsulting.com, or www.EQECAT.com.

For more information, contact:

Thomas Larsen
EQECAT, Inc.
1-510-817-3100 | tlarsen@absconsulting.com

Eric R. Samansky
The Samansky Group
1-516-319-0858 | eric@samanskygroup.com