Phoenix reports 4.5% bond downgrades in shareholder portfolio
British insurer also announced commitment to net-zero carbon investment portfolio by 2050
News
Japanese life insurers' capitalisation improved in H1 2020 but still weak to market shocks
Movement away from domestic bonds to foreign becoming increasingly transparent
Insurers reveal investment disappointments of pandemic
LV, VIG and QIC Global aim fire and ire at property fund suspensions, some EM credit and debt yields
Investments in Chinese ESG ETFs increased 464%, Ping An says
Research showed all ESG funds performed above market average
L&G commits to halving £81bn annuity portfolio carbon emissions by 2030
Legal & General Retirement publishes its ESG policy handbook
Barings to open Singapore office
To serve as gateway for Southeast Asia investment opportunities
Climate reporting 'more onerous for insurers than Solvency II'
And "numbers on physical risk too scary to disclose" ICR's audience told
Axa IMRA acquires JPY 22bn Tokyo data centre
Brings asset manager's Japanese property acquisitions in 2020 to JPY 173bn
43% of global re/insurance assets covered by divestment policies
Insure Our Future publishes annual scorecard on insurers' climate policies
Ergo and Wüstenrot announce cooperation in real estate financing
Ten-year partnership to be expanded from spring 2021
MEAG contributes €100m to German wind farm debt refinancing
Completed through MEAG Infrastructure Debt Fund I
Eiopa opens consultation on insurers' sustainable KPIs
Public consultation open from 30 November to 12 January 2021
Sumitomo Life invests $100m in BlackRock Real Assets green fund
Infrastructure fund to focus on solar and wind power generation plants in OECD countries
ZZR cuts required yield at German life firms by one-third
But industry body head says it's the correct mechanism to counter low interest rates
IAR's global outlook survey 2021
Deadline for answers 18 December 2020
Swiss Re receives regulatory approval for fund management
Swiss Re will open its natural catastrophe portfolio to investors through a permanent fund format
Amundi threatens to divest State Bank of India's green bonds over coal project
"When we face controversies, we engage, and if the engagement is unsuccessful, we divest," asset manager of Crédit Agricole Assurances says
LGIM acquires two self-storage facilities
Legal & General's Industrial Property Investment Fund valued at £2.3bn
From hurricanes to drought, climate risk hits US insurers' muni appetite
Coastal states, even land-locked Nevada, face curbed demand from global warming
VIG set to add more than €500m to general account after regional M&A
M&A involved assets as well as liabilities for Austrian insurer
Athene to purchase Hertz subsidiary for expected $875m
Car rental company filed for bankruptcy protection in May
AWARDS: Deadline for entries is Friday 11 December 2020
Including three new categories highlighting the increased importance of sustainability in investment decisions
NN IP adds trade finance fund to alternative credit offering
To help institutional investors compete against banks in the $15trn market
MAPFRE appoints group head of sustainability
As well as a new CEO for its real estate asset manager
Groupama AM favors risky assets
Asset manager bets on a return to pre-crisis growth levels by 09/21 in the US and a year later in Europe
PIC invests £65m in Welsh housing association
Majority of funding to be deferred and matures in 2059
Axa IMRA enters European life science sector with lab office firm acquisition
Purchase is worth €500m, Insurance Asset Risk has learnt
Aviva updates market on bond downgrades
UK insurer avoided defaults entirely in Q3
Australian non-life insurers tumble to worst nine-month investment result in four years
But Zurich and mutuals shine in Q3
Over half of US insurers have not altered investment strategy for climate
US's biggest insurer climate survey shows gaps in industry's climate change work
Analysis
CIO Interview: Macroeconomics is doomed, but investment opportunities still abound
Mapfre's group chief investment officer José Luis Jiménez reflects on the current economic crisis and points out pockets of opportunity for his team to explore. Interview by Vincent Huck
Climate lawyer urges CIOs to pressure sovereigns on climate
Australian government faces spotlight - and the dock - over poor bond disclosure. David Barnden, the lawyer who is taking the class action suit to the court, talks to David Walker about the case, and why institutional investors might want to join retail ones in litigating
Use of stress tests: careful not to address the fire that just happened
Ash Belur, a director at Willis Towers Watson's insurance investment team, discusses insurers' usage of stress tests in their investment portfolios and how 2020 might have thrown many of the scenario assumptions out of the window. Interview by Vincent Huck
Comment : ESG investing in credit without compromise
Andrew Epsom, insurance client solutions director at Royal London Asset Management, considers the continuing trend towards ESG investing in credit, but highlights that in many cases the approaches being adopted may not result in either the environmental or financial outcomes that insurers are seeking.
US Election result: Georgia on investors' mind
The great US election of 2020 is done and it has changed little for insurance investors. Biden's win with a slim majority in Congress, and the likelihood of a gridlock means any major reforms are improbable. Unless Georgia delivers the Senate to the Democrats. Sarfraz Thind reports
To invest in offices or not invest in offices, that is the question
With central office rents down, and the very future of work spaces in jeopardy, Vincent Huck looks at what is in the balance for European insurers' €87bn of investments in the asset class
Asset managers turn from outsourcing partners to owners of Bermuda re/insurers
Research by Insurance Risk Data analyses the trend of part ownership of Bermudian re/insurers by asset managers, looking in particular at the investments of Wellington, Blackstone and Carlyle. David Walker reports
In conversation: Guernsey's regulator on green capital charges
The director of banking and insurance, Jeremy Quick, and the assistant director, Matthew Tanner, at Guernsey Financial Services Commission talk to Vincent Huck about their recent proposal to introduce a 'green discount' for fixed income investments in the jurisdiction's solvency rules.
Cash a 'sweat-able asset' in need of exercise
Cash once used to be king, but the cost of holding it has become prohibitive for insurers, who are also weary of the prospect of losing money in their safe harbour asset class: government bonds. Has the time to make their money "sweat" come? David Walker asks
Prudential's CIO: shepherding through the valley of darkness
In Part II of this profile, Prudential's CIO Tim Schmidt talks about the investment structure at Prudential, his relationship with the CRO, its ESG policy and the threats of mismanaging risk in the industry. Interview by Sarfraz Thind