Analysis

• Insurers raise allocations to high-dividend equity strategies

  16 February 2016

  Better liability matching, accounting and tax treatments motivate switch, say asset managers

• Japanese insurers hunt abroad as rates turn negative

  16 February 2016

  Overseas assets, products and acquisitions are proving attractive to a Japanese industry struggling under the burden of low interest rates. B. Gravrand reports.

• Illiquid assets pull in yield-hungry insurers

  10 February 2016

  As yields in conventional asset classes disappear, insurers are chasing illiquids, says J.P.Morgan. B. Gravrand reports.

• MetLife embraces utility-scale renewables

  10 February 2016

  MetLife's Stuart Ashton explains why the insurer has included utility-scale renewables, but not residential solar rooftops, among its renewables investments.

• IFRS accounting rules to shape asset allocation

  03 February 2016

  When it finally goes live, the IFRS 9 accounting rule is likely to have a notable impact on asset allocation. So what should participants be aware of? Sarfraz Thind reports

• European real estate in 2016: keep calm and carry on

  26 January 2016

  Joe Valente looks at the state of the European real estate market for 2016 and finds it is attractive on a relative basis.

• Alternative credit: is the illiquidity premium sustainable?

  22 January 2016

  Antti Suhonen and Declan Canavan examine the growing alternative credit buzz and the validity of the corresponding illiquidity premiums.

• Aegon targets expansion of asset management division

  21 January 2016

  The investment management division of the Dutch insurer wants to meet the increasing demand for benchmark-agnostic active investment solutions. Benedicte Gravrand reports.

• Goodbye gilts as Solvency II shifts asset allocation

  20 January 2016

  Prompted by Solvency II, some insurers have moved out of government bonds and into swaps and short-dated government or corporate bonds. But the swap-based approach is not without its challenges, as Sarfraz Thind reports

• European high-yield debt and alternatives top J.P. Morgan's investment ideas

  14 January 2016

  Divergent markets are making it difficult for investors to pick an investment theme, but J.P. Morgan has identified some sectors with a brighter future for 2016. Benedicte Gravrand reports