Private rating spike highlights concerns on insurer rating arbitrage
US insurers' privately rated assets jumped 96% in last two years, NAIC finds
News
AllianzGI launches sustainable private markets unit
Headed by Matt Christensen overseeing a team of 12
PIC invests in UK's largest regeneration project
Offering £130m to the Wirral Waters One scheme
M&G acquires responsAbility Investments
The Swiss impact investor brings $3.7bn of AUM
Tokio Marine joins taskforce for nature-related risk reporting
TNFD already has Sompo, Sumitomo Mitsui and MS&AD on board
Slovakian regulator boosts unit-linked fine for cross-border group
Deficiencies alleged in customer documents
US P&C taking less underwriting risk but more investment risk
Overall increase in surplus capital being put to work in riskier asset markets, NEAM says
Robeco appoints head of fixed income Asia
Thu Ha Chow is also the portfolio manager in the credit team
M&G acquires London office building
The third acquisition made on behalf of an Asian separate account mandate
Barings purchases Dutch logistics portfolio for €33.6m
Manager highlights last mile logistics assets as an area of growth
PGIM promotes Unanyants-Jackson to global ESG head
Reports to COO Taimur Hyat
Fed balance sheet spike has fuelled "speculators paradise"
Rapid policy reversal could do even more harm to economy, Guggenheim CIO says
NZAOA aims to halve emissions by 2030
Members of NZAOA have pledged to target reducing their portfolio emissions by at least half by 2030
ESMA calls on IASB to clarify sustainable assets' SPPI suitability
The European regulator weighed in on IFRS 9 debates
M&G launches diversity and inclusion sustainability fund
The fund will invest in companies demonstrating gender and ethnic diversity
PIC makes £128m debt investment in University of Birmingham
It's the insurer's first investment linked to CPI in the sector
Aviva Investors to focus on biodiversity and human rights on top of climate
Asset Manager updates its stewardship priorities
PIC's head of investment risk leaves the company
Peter Vasey becomes CRO of the National House Building Council
Eastspring Investment cautious on equity in 2022
But surveyed investors highlight China A equity as the asset class to watch
Sumitomo invests ¥10bn in Dutch social housing sustainability bond
Proceeds will provide sustainable rented housing
What assets for rising inflation?
Convertible bonds, CLOs and REITS among best for insurers this year, Wellington says
AXA IM Alts appoint Rob Samuel as head of UK development
The UK continues to be one of the asset manager's "most important markets"
Ping An sells out of Ageas
Stake in Belgian composite was non-strategic, inherited from Fortis holding in 2007
Bayerische Versicherung wants tough rules softened on Bavarian wind parks
Pangaea Life already invests in Norway and Denmark
Principal Global Investors closed $750m of private lending deals in 2021
Aims to double business this year with new hires and expanded deal count
Chart of the week: Which European nation's insurers pay the most for investing?
Most generous industries revealed by Insurance Risk Data analysis
UK PRA reveals proposals for life stress tests
Investment stressors planned to evolve in four distinct stages
KKR buys MMTC real estate lending platform
Will invest via its private credit funds business
US life investment returns of 2021 not sustainable, S&P says
Agency warns of more severe future crisis due to central bank interventions
2022 - the year Solvency II becomes political
Invesco's head of EU affairs discusses the Solvency II review roadmap
Analysis
"You can't have everything": can CIOs strike a balance between ESG and returns?
Panellists at IAR's Asia conference discuss sacrificing balance sheets, for better ESG credentials, as Abbie Wood reports
Be-rating the agencies
US insurance regulators are assessing the use of rating agencies in their risk capital adjudications—it could have significant implications for insurer assets. Sarfraz Thind reports
Hong Kong regulation's benefits more than numerical, insurers say
Capital charge numbers are an important part of Hong Kong's RBC, but insurers tell David Walker that the qualitative improvements they expect in how underwriters manage their risk will be as important
'The transition will not be smooth, or socially just'
The shift to a net-zero economy will bring upheaval and job losses, warns Zurich's Peter Giger. Madeleine Jenkins reports
IAR Asia: The economic head- and tailwinds of 2022
Speaking at IAR's Asia conference, Peak Re chief economist Clarence Wong highlights the key considerations for insurers' investments in the coming months as well as the main trends affecting the global economy post-COVID-19.
Investors to benefit as Asia ILS market comes to life
Investing in insurance-linked securities (ILS) was once about natural catastrophe risk, but in Asia, practitioners expect far greater diversity in life/non-life risks being packaged, with help from insurers and regulators alike, they tell David Walker
Unit-linked redefining insurers and asset managers relationship
Insurers are increasingly using unit-linked products in their business mix, with the investment risk transferred to the policyholders what are the implications for the relationships between insurers and asset managers? Vincent Huck reports
Investcorp's field of dreams
Alternatives-asset manager Investcorp has purchased insurer Sunset Life, attracting smaller insurers to what is an increasingly competitive market. And it has some significant models to follow. Sarfraz Thind reports
Chinese political risk - a real or imagined threat in the minds of CIOs?
To most investors China is an object of allocation-lust, for its gigantic size and the promise of exponential opportunities. But insurers still fear risk. Is that justified? Vincent Huck seeks some answers
CIO Interview: Allianz US' Todd Hedtke
Todd Hedtke, chief investment officer at Allianz US, reflects on 2021, a year marked by "very significant changes". Interview by Abbie Wood