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The slippery skill of liquidity management
01 December 2017Liquidity management is an ever-growing focus for insurers since the financial crisis. But how well do insurers understand it? Sarfraz Thind reports
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The calm before the storm: 'Investors should be worried'
06 September 2017Some investors and analysts have been surprised by the calmness of financial markets at a time of political and economic uncertainty. Sarfraz Thind talks to seven senior investment professionals working with insurance assets about their prognosis for the future.
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Solvency II filings reveal extent of life insurers' illiquid investments
28 June 2017Insurance Risk Data, the data service offered by the publishers of IAR, examined the QRTs of Europe's largest life companies that together run €1trn of investments and found they had allocated €375.7bn to five illiquid asset classes. David Walker reports
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Low yields, high cost and underperformance: manager fees under the spotlight
23 June 2017Paying high fees for your asset management is never welcome. In the current low return environment insurers are increasingly having to re-evaluate the charges they pay as fees eat into their profits. And not before time, too. Sarfraz Thind reports
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Political risk stifles infrastructure investment
15 June 2017Insurers remain wary of policymakers changing the goalposts, while building in-house origination capabilities can help capture the illiquidity premium, practitioners say
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Election result hangs uncertainty over markets
09 June 2017The reversal of 10-year gilt yields to pre-election levels serves as an indicator of the uncertainty facing investors as the country embarks on EU exit negotiations.
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Moving on from hedge funds: alternative risk premia
17 May 2017Insurers have been looking at alternative risk premia strategies as a substitute for poorly performing hedge fund investments. The strategies offer a cheap and transparent way of getting exposure to hedge fund-like returns but there are complications. Sarfraz Thind reports
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Diversified Growth Funds - manna or mania?
07 April 2017Diversified growth funds promise equity-like returns with fixed income-type capital charges. It certainly looks an interesting proposition for insurers in the current low yield world. But how well do the promises stack up? Sarfraz Thind reports
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The Solvency II mandate race
29 March 2017Solvency II has turbo-boosted the move to insurance asset outsourcing. Asset managers are beefing up their capabilities to win market share—but what can you do to make yourself stand out from the crowd? Sarfraz Thind reports
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Investing against terror
23 November 2016Pool Re's chief investment officer Ian Coulman speaks to David Walker about investing on behalf of the UK's terrorism reinsurance pool.