Archive

  • US insurer high yield holdings at highest level in a decade

    11 August 2021

    COVID-19 downgrades left many holding fallen angels, NAIC says

  • The RBC changes: a slow-moving Titanic

    20 July 2021

    It 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

  • The low rate crunch

    28 June 2021

    You can't get away from low rates if you are an insurer. But how bad is the low rate environment for the industry? Well the devil's in the detail as Sarfraz Thind finds out.

  • California and Washington regulators request insurers to join TCFD reporting

    09 June 2021

    Signals move to more uniform climate reporting in US

  • US insurers increased liquidity in 2020 to counter market risk

    14 May 2021

    At the same time growth of alternative assets continued apace, according to NAIC

  • US insurers went on bond acquisition spree in 2020

    25 January 2021

    Corporate bond purchases 36% higher than previous year, according to NAIC

  • A testing climate for munis

    20 January 2021

    US 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

  • 2020 in assets: every bit as forgettable as the future is uncertain

    31 December 2020

    Having ridden out a turbulent year, US insurers want no repeat of 2020, and expect no swift recovery from it

  • CLOs pose no risk to US insurers despite pandemic

    17 December 2020

    GAO report finds insurer leveraged loans too small to be a threat

  • US insurers are reticent about EM investments

    11 November 2020

    Less than 1% of AuM in EM assets but Biden's presidential win may spur future allocation