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Insurers stocking up
24 August 2021Insurers are a safe, staid bunch by nature. But even in this world of conservatism, there is always room for a little bit of riskier investing. So where have insurers been keeping their "naughty" equity investments? Sarfraz Thind reports
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The RBC changes: a slow-moving Titanic
20 July 2021It is a slow change, even by the notoriously slow standards of the insurance industry. However, the soon-to-be instigated changes to the NAIC's risk-based capital charges on fixed income assets could have significant ramifications for the US insurance investment portfolio. And many don't like it. Sarfraz Thind reports
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Biden's tax hike to offer silver lining for muni bonds
06 May 2021P&C insurers will profit from proposal according to Conning
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Conning's Büsst on all that it takes, to be a 'good' Lloyd's AM
04 May 2021Conning is Lloyd's market's most popular asset manager by engagements. Russell Büsst, Conning's chief executive and investment officer for Europe, tells David Walker about the changing face of syndicate asset management.
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The Famous Five - How CIOs trumped underwriters, again, at Lloyd's
26 April 2021If you want to know when the underwriters at Lloyd's last beat its investors, cast your mind (all the way) back to 2015. The bad luck of Lloyd's underwriters is clear. The good run of its investors is largely to plan, David Walker finds.
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A year to forget? Not if you were a shareholding CIO
16 March 2021One year ago today, markets reached 'peak-panic', as the Vix index hit 82.7. David Walker re-examines insurers' general accounts to show who got hit, who got hedged, and who got shot of their shares
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IAR outlook survey: sustainability for the next ten years
08 February 2021Insurance Asset Risk's outlook survey discovered that sustainability is the overarching theme that will influence insurance investor behavior—not just this year but for the next decade and probably beyond. Yet, some are more prepared than others. Sarfraz Thind reports
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IAR's global outlook survey 2021: a foggy crystal ball
01 February 2021Respondents to Insurance Asset Risk's outlook survey seem more at the mercy of the financial gods than ever before. Most agree that while the pandemic rages, 2021 will be a damn hard year to predict. Sarfraz Thind reports
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A testing climate for munis
20 January 2021US municipal bonds have been a staple asset for insurers. But as underwriters brace for the effects of climate change, some insurers are questioning if lending to states hit with increasingly frequent and more severe hurricanes and wild fires is a sensible use of their general accounts. David Walker and Sarfraz Thind report
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Bitcoin: blowing bubbles or truly sticky?
18 January 2021Bitcoin is steaming into the stratosphere—and many want in. But is this speculative bubble going to appeal to insurers? Sarfraz Thind finds out.