Asian insurers were the first to suffer from COVID-19, including in their general account investments, but industry practitioners and analysts see a robust industry navigating seemingly endless low rates. David Walker reports
The value factor is suffering its worst run in at least two centuries, according to research. But some believe it is in times like these that investors should keep their value holdings, as they will outperform. David Turner reports.
US insurers are buying ever more services from asset managers, data vendors and research houses to help understand climate change and inform their investment decisions, David Walker discovers.
The coordinator of the campaign group Insure our Future (formerly Unfriend Coal), Peter Bosshard, looks at progress made in 2020 and highlights the roadmap for 2021. Interview by Vincent Huck
M&G Real Estate head of investment strategy Jose Pellicer talks about the future of offices, how that might impact the landscape of our city centres and the investors' allocation into real estate. Interview by Vincent Huck
Elizabeth Gillam, head of EU government affairs & public policy at Invesco, talks about the EU's regulatory pipeline for the coming year, and the key pieces of legislation that may affect insurers' investments. Interview by Vincent Huck
Calculating pay-ins in Germany's Zinszusatzreserve (ZZR) was overhauled in 2018 to reduce pressure on German insurers to build the reserve too quickly by selling valuable investments just to satisfy mandatory contributions. Has the reform been just a 'one-year wonder'? David Walker investigates
The year has been volatile and ugly. And just when it is shaping towards an end, another unwelcome friend has re-entered the fray: Brexit. However, UK insurer Chesnara's CEO says Brexit is not the worst thing to be worried about right now.
As passive strategies have risen in popularity over the years, active managers have argued that their value would be apparent in times of crisis - if COVID-19 was the perfect scenario, have they delivered? And where do insurers and their "long time horizon" investing fit in the debate? Vincent Huck reports
When markets are bumpy, insurers need govvies in their investment portfolios, but for much more it has only shortcomings. David Walker examines European underwriters' varied views on sovereigns
COVID-19 was the 'known unknown' that Randy Brown, CIO at SunLife, has been preparing for the best part of the last five years. So, when markets went into turmoil in H1 2020 the only question that remained was one of timing: when to catch the falling knife? Interview by Vincent Huck
From increasingly fierce wildfires in California to recurring hurricane hits to the country's southern and eastern seaboards, US insurers are only too familiar with some intensifying effects of climate change, but are they doing anything about it? David Walker takes the temperature.