Results for Analysis
'A new breed of strategically positioned CIOs is emerging'
Former CRO at Police Mutual, non-executive director and independent risk management advisor Vicky Kubitscheck discusses the evolving role of the investment function and the CIO against a changing regulatory and governance landscape.
M&A: tipping the scales
With a squeeze on fees and increased competition, the asset management world is realising the need for scale. Insurers have already started on the M&A trail, but there appears to be much more on the way. Sarfraz Thind reports
End of the road for ground rents?
Ground rents were talked up as a great diversifier for insurers, with stable and very long term cashflows, but the UK government's consultation paper and media scrutiny in the past week may be a death knell for the asset class. Asa Gibson reports
Insurers blame asset managers for insufficient look-through
European insurers pass the buck onto asset managers for lack of reporting data, but Eiopa pursues a hard line with underwriters facing difficulty getting hands on investment data. David Walker reports
Private debt blues
Private debt seems the perfect fit for insurance investors with its long-term horizon, better-than-average returns and graspable risk for those used to dealing with fixed income. Yet the regulatory stance on the asset has not been overly clear so far. Sarfraz Thind reports
'Bring it on': California commissioner bullish on fossil fuel divestment
Commissioner Dave Jones was threatened with legal action from 12 Republican attorney generals who oppose his fossil fuel investments disclosure initiative. The threats appear to have spurred Jones on, however. Callum Tanner reports
SimCorp on the investment technology drive
As insurers push further into the asset management space, investment technology will become ever more critical to business performance. Klaus Holse, CEO of SimCorp, talks to Sarfraz Thind about how the firm is helping insurers grow their investment operations.
MA optimisation: the experience at LV=
The matching adjustment (MA) is a vital element of the Solvency II package to annuity underwriters, but making the most of it is challenging. In this article, James Sharpe, developer of optimisation tool OptiMA, and Ed Rayson of insurer LV=, describe how MA benefits have been improved in practice
Why Aegon, Allianz, Aviva and NN are well prepared for rising rates
Many loans and mortgages offer resilience to interest rate volatility, and with talk of rising rates becoming more frequent – whether through optimism or anticipation – IAR unmasks the largest life insurers' allocations to the lesser-used asset classes. David Walker Reports
Solvency II filings reveal extent of life insurers' illiquid investments
Insurance 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
Low yields, high cost and underperformance: manager fees under the spotlight
Paying 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
US accounting tweak could see insurers plough into bond ETFs
BlackRock, State Street worked with NAIC to instigate new valuation treatment
Five minutes with: Gjensidige's CIO Erik Ranberg
Norwegian insurer's chief investment officer talks to Insurance Asset Risk about his concerns regarding real rates, a lack of duration in the bond market, regulatory ambiguity, political risk and the need for active management. Asa Gibson reports
The continued lure of equity
Solvency II has punished equity investment with its 39% capital charge. But the SCR restrictions are bringing out a plethora of equity structures designed to appeal to insurers with lower volatility and capital charges. Is this enough to attract new investors? Sarfraz Thind reports
Capturing the illiquidity premium in the alternatives universe
Ahead of speaking at next month's Insurance Asset Risk conference in London, Invesco's head of UK insurance Ed Collinge talks to Asa Gibson about trends, changing attitudes and capturing the illiquidity premium.
Moving on from hedge funds: alternative risk premia
Insurers 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
Emerging market debt: fundamentally attractive
With strong and improving fundamentals underpinning emerging market debt, AllianceBernstein's Arnaud Mounier and Shamaila Khan argue that insurers should consider the asset class as a core strategic allocation, rather than an opportunistic diversifier.
'Insurers need to move from climate talk to climate action'
Axa and Vivat's investment arms recently announced coal exclusion policies, while Axa also committed to stop underwriting coal projects – could this be a model for the rest of the industry? Peter Bosshard from anti-fossil fuel NGO the Sunrise Project comments.
Factor investing - from idea to implementation
Eager for better risk-adjusted returns and greater diversification, insurers are warming up to factor-based investment strategies. Invesco's Ed Collinge and Georg Elsaesser explain why the approach is proving popular with the industry.
French elections are “crucial” for future of Europe, says NN’s CIO
Political events emerge as number one concern for insurance investment chiefs in Goldman Sachs Asset Management's survey of insurance investors, having not been considered as a threat in 2015. Asa Gibson reports