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SAS and Swiss Re partner to help insurers navigate risk

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Collaboration combines Swiss Re’s catastrophe risk insights with SAS’ AI and actuarial modeling capabilities to strengthen underwriting, pricing and portfolio resilience

CARY, N.C., July 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SAS, a global leader in data and AI, and leading global reinsurance provider Swiss Re have entered into a partnership designed to help insurers strengthen resilience through AI-driven risk intelligence and advanced actuarial decisioning.

“The partnership between SAS and Swiss Re reflects a broader industry shift toward insurance operations that combine AI and advanced analytics, catastrophe intelligence and human expertise to support more agile decision making.”

As a member of the SAS Strategic Technology Partner Program, Swiss Re will combine its CatNet® natural catastrophe risk intelligence with SAS® Insurance Life Cycle Accelerator, enabling insurers to incorporate predictive hazard insights directly into underwriting, pricing and portfolio management workflows.

“Insurers cannot rely solely on historical loss data to understand risk,” said Stu Bradley, Senior VP for Risk, Fraud and Compliance Solutions at SAS. “The combination of SAS’ AI and actuarial modeling capabilities with Swiss Re’s catastrophe intelligence will enable insurers to make faster, more transparent and more resilient underwriting and pricing decisions.”

Secondary perils, primary risk

As climate-driven events increase in frequency and severity, insurers are facing mounting pressure from so-called “secondary perils” such as floods, hailstorms and wildfires. According to Swiss Re Institute – the research and thought leadership arm of Swiss Re – 99.9% of insured catastrophe losses in the United States in 2025 originated from secondary peril events, underscoring the growing importance of managing these risks.

The offering will provide insurers with:                                                                                              

Powerful data integration. Users can view high-resolution CatNet natural catastrophe data directly within existing SAS workflows via secure APIs and geocoding. Hazard intelligence is directly integrated into actuarial and underwriting workflows – no manual data manipulation.Automated and advanced decisioning. Real-time model scoring using machine learning incorporates current hazard information and event notifications. Enriched decision intelligence is automated for pricing, rating and underwriting. Model scores are unified with business rules, and champion-challenger strategies are run within guardrails for profit-loss ratio, fairness and compliance.Portfolio risk steering. Insurers can better understand concentration risk, assess portfolio impacts, and perform “what-if” analyses across geographies and perils.Proven operational efficiencies. SAS and Swiss Re expect their combined solution to drive massive productivity gains, including a 95% increase in decisioning efficiency and a 50% efficiency boost in the modeling process.Bottom-line and volume growth: Underwriting teams will be able to review 40% more risks with the same manpower, driving both top- and bottom-line impact.Robust governance and auditability. Governed, explainable AI workflows support regulatory and operational transparency. Rather than fragmented spreadsheet logic, a unified, cloud-native approach ensures full lineage, visibility and audit control from exposure data to final rate deployment.

The combined capabilities are designed to help insurers improve operational efficiency while strengthening profitability and resilience in the face of rising catastrophe exposure.

“Secondary perils are not secondary in terms of their financial impact,” said Ali Shahkarami, Head Risk Data Solutions Insurance at Swiss Re. “Insurers need the ability to understand how risk is evolving across portfolios and geographies in near-real time. Together, Swiss Re and SAS are enabling carriers to integrate catastrophe intelligence directly into underwriting and actuarial decision-making so they can better anticipate risk, close protection gaps and build more sustainable portfolios.”

The partnership reflects a broader industry shift toward insurance operations that combine AI and advanced analytics, catastrophe intelligence and human expertise to support more agile decision making.

“The future of the insurance industry will be led by enterprises embracing the concept of ‘new collar,'” said Franklin Manchester, Principal Global Insurance Advisor at SAS. “Insurance professionals collaborating with AI agents to bring agility to decision making will be the hallmark of leaders – and the bane of laggards – when the dust settles.”

More about secondary perils and sustainable pricing

To go more in-depth about the challenges they’re helping insurers solve, join SAS and Swiss Re (along with Definity) for the free webinar Sustainable Property Pricing for Today and Tomorrow in an Evolving Natural Catastrophe Landscape. Experts from all three companies will discuss the rise of secondary perils as driven by climate change; sustainable property pricing and risk selection; and building portfolio resilience for long-term growth.

About SAS
SAS is a global leader in data and AI, helping organizations make confident decisions with AI they can trust. For decades, SAS has set the standard for delivering software that drives meaningful impact, incorporating deep industry expertise, transparency and governance. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW®.

SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright © 2026 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.

Editorial Contacts:
Trey Whittenton                                                    
Trey.Whittenton@sas.com                        
919-531-2250                                                     
sas.com/news

Georgie Blackerby
Georgie.Blackerby@sas.com
919-531-1674

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SOURCE SAS

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BCE reports results of Series S and T preferred share conversions

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MONTRÉAL, Oct. 19, 2026 /CNW/ — BCE Inc. (TSX: BCE) (NYSE: BCE) today announced that 400 of its 4,798,333 fixed-rate Cumulative Redeemable First Preferred Shares, Series T (“Series T Preferred Shares”) have been tendered for conversion on November 2, 2026, on a one-for-one basis, into floating-rate Cumulative Redeemable First Preferred Shares, Series S (“Series S Preferred Shares”). In addition, 676,765 of its 1,866,877 Series S Preferred Shares have been tendered for conversion on November 2, 2026, on a one-for-one basis, into Series T Preferred Shares. Consequently, on November 2, 2026, BCE will have 5,474,698 Series T Preferred Shares and 1,190,512 Series S Preferred Shares issued and outstanding. The Series T Preferred Shares and the Series S Preferred Shares will continue to be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols BCE.PR.T and BCE.PR.S, respectively.

The Series T Preferred Shares will pay on a quarterly basis, for the five-year period beginning on November 2, 2026, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of BCE, a fixed cash dividend based on an annual fixed dividend rate of 5.523%.

The Series S Preferred Shares will continue to pay a monthly floating adjustable cash dividend for the five-year period beginning on November 2, 2026, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of BCE. The monthly floating adjustable dividend for any particular month will continue to be calculated based on the prime rate for such month and using the Designated Percentage for such month representing the sum of an adjustment factor (based on the market price of the Series S Preferred Shares in the preceding month) and the Designated Percentage for the preceding month.

About BCE
BCE is Canada’s largest communications company1, leading the way in advanced fibre and wireless networks, enterprise services and digital media. By delivering next-generation technology that leverages cloud-based and AI-driven solutions, we’re keeping customers connected, informed and entertained while enabling businesses to compete on the world stage. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca or BCE.ca.

1 Based on total revenue and total combined customer connections.

Media inquiries:
Ellen Murphy
media@bell.ca

Investor inquiries:
Krishna Somers
krishna.somers@bell.ca

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bce-reports-results-of-series-s-and-t-preferred-share-conversions-302913268.html

SOURCE BCE Inc.

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3M announces collaboration with GSEO to advance Expanded Beam Optical manufacturing and development

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ST. PAUL, Minn., Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — 3M (NYSE: MMM) today announced a collaboration with Genius Electronic Optical Co., Ltd. (GSEO, Taiwan: 3406), an optical technology company, to advance technology development and manufacturing for 3M’s Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) solutions. In support of these efforts, 3M expects to make a strategic investment to acquire approximately 4.7% of GSEO’s common shares as part of the company’s private placement of newly issued shares, subject to customary closing conditions.

The collaboration brings together 3M’s EBO technology leadership, optical interconnect expertise, materials science, manufacturing scale and customer relationships with GSEO’s precision optics manufacturing capabilities and production scale. Together, the companies aim to support EBO commercialization and long-term capacity expansion to meet growing demand from hyperscale data centers and other advanced connectivity applications.

“3M is investing in capabilities and partnerships that can accelerate innovation for our customers,” said William Brown, 3M Chairman and CEO. “By selecting GSEO as a manufacturing partner and investing in the company, we are strengthening the path to scale next-generation optical connectivity solutions for high-performance data center infrastructure.”

GSEO’s existing precision optics manufacturing capabilities and technical development experience are expected to support manufacturing readiness for 3M’s EBO ferrules, co-packaged optics solutions and related optical interconnect applications. The collaboration is part of 3M’s broader EBO ecosystem strategy, which includes continued work with customers and partners across the optical interconnect market.

“GSEO is pleased to expand its relationship with 3M as we work together to advance optical interconnect solutions for next-generation data center infrastructure,” said Micro Kuo, GSEO CEO and President. “This collaboration brings together complementary technology and manufacturing strengths to support continued innovation and help meet the performance demands of high-growth connectivity markets.”

3M expects the strategic investment to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this release are considered “forward-looking statements” under the federal securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, and are intended to enjoy the protection of those laws. Forward-looking statements may appear throughout this release and are typically identified by the words “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “evaluate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “future,” “goal,” “guidance,” “impact,” “initial,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “outlook,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “probable,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “strategy,” “target,” “will,” “would,” and other words that are similar to, or have the opposite meanings of, those words. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, 3M assumes no duty to update those statements, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of those statements. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and expectations of future events and trends that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including those described in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” of 3M’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.

About 3M
3M (NYSE: MMM) is focused on transforming industries around the world by applying science and creating innovative, customer-focused solutions. Our multi-disciplinary team is working to solve tough customer problems by leveraging diverse technology platforms, differentiated capabilities, global footprint, and operational excellence. Discover how 3M is shaping the future at 3M.com/news.

Contacts
3M
Investor Contact:
Diane Farrow, 612-202-2449
Media Contact:
3MNews@mmm.com 

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Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers Announces Second Annual Operation Fur-Ever Home Pet Adoption Event at Lafreniere Park

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NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers is excited to announce the return of its second annual Operation Fur-Ever Home, a free community pet adoption event taking place on Saturday, November 14, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Lafreniere Park in Metairie, Louisiana.

The free, family-friendly event will give attendees the opportunity to meet adoptable pets from local animal shelters, learn about responsible pet ownership, and potentially welcome a new furry companion into their homes. Those who preregister for the event will also be entered for a chance to win a Soundcore speaker and a free pet adoption.

“Last year’s event was everything we hoped it would be, and we are incredibly excited to bring Operation Fur-Ever Home back for a second year,” said David Vicknair, founding partner of Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers. “There is something special about watching a family meet a pet that could become part of their lives for years to come. We wanted to create another opportunity to make those connections while supporting the organizations that work tirelessly to care for animals in our community.”

Building on the success of the first event, this year’s event continues the firm’s commitment to supporting local animal shelters and creating meaningful opportunities for families throughout Southeast Louisiana.

“Giving back to our community has always been an important part of who we are as a firm,” said Vicknair. “Whether we are helping students prepare for school, recognizing deserving teachers, or supporting local animal shelters, our goal is to make a positive difference in the communities we serve.”

Operation Fur-Ever Home is free and open to the public. Families, animal lovers, and anyone interested in adopting a pet are encouraged to attend and preregister.

About Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers

Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers is a New Orleans-based personal injury firm committed to providing exceptional legal representation while also investing in the communities it serves. Their experienced team of dedicated attorneys specializes in car accidents, personal injury, and wrongful death cases in New Orleans. With diverse personal and professional backgrounds, they craft legal strategies tailored to each client’s specific case and needs.

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SOURCE Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers

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