Analysis

• Hardie cautiously re-risks Direct Line's portfolio

  08 October 2015

  Direct Line's investment boss Jim Hardie has been steering the UK general insurer's investment portfolio into more dynamic areas. But he is at pains to stress his conservative approach. By Sarfraz Thind

• Insurers face up to the asset test of Solvency II

  23 September 2015

  As solvency ratios come under pressure and the introduction of Solvency II with its higher capital charges for some asset classes looms, insurers are taking a hard look at the risk in their asset portfolios, as Sarfraz Thind explains

• The modelling challenges in absolute return strategies

  16 September 2015

  Absolute return strategies offer promising risk-adjusted returns and capital efficiencies, but do you need an internal model to gain the benefit and what other complexities are created? Experts discuss in part two of this InsuranceERM/Insurance Asset Risk and Standard Life Investments roundtable

• Absolute return: a silver bullet for the investment strategy?

  11 September 2015

  Absolute return strategies seem an ideal response to low interest rates, volatile markets and Solvency II, but what are the associated challenges facing investors? Experts discuss in part one of this InsuranceERM/Insurance Asset Risk and Standard Life Investments roundtable

• In the world of LEIs, quantity leads quality

  08 September 2015

  Legal entity identifiers are meant to help ease regulatory compliance and risk management but the challenges of take-up, availability and accuracy mean progress on LEIs has been slow, as Brian Clarke describes

• Insurers tweak fixed-income approaches to be ready for rate rises

  20 August 2015

  There are still many ways to make money in fixed-income amid the uncertainty over when rates will start to tick up. Insurers are adopting varied approaches as they also get ready for the new constraints Solvency II will introduce in just over four months. David Turner reports

• Pimco advances on the European front

  12 August 2015

  Despite its well-documented problems during the past year or so, Pimco remains one of the biggest managers of insurance assets in the world. And Matthieu Louanges, head of the European financial institutions group (FIG), believes that insurance is the most promising sector for future growth. Sarfraz Thind reports

• Excess liquidity creates opportunities for insurers

  05 August 2015

  Low interest rates have put pressure on the investment portfolios of insurance companies, but exploiting liquidity to invest in alternative assets may help ease this strain, argues George Caffrey.

• Aviva Investors: flexibility and a broad perspective needed in fixed-income investment

  23 July 2015

  Quantitative easing in Europe, renewed risk from Greece and China and a predicted rate rise in the US are all giving fixed-income investors headaches. Spare a thought, then, for Aviva Investors' Colin Purdie, with £96bn of IG credit to oversee. Sarfraz Thind reports on his strategy

• German insurers are big winners from infra charges cut

  14 July 2015

  German firms are likely to benefit most from Eiopa's tentative proposals to reduce the Solvency II capital charges on infrastructure investment, which fell short of the hopes of the industry overall. The changes in the standard formula calibrations may also have implications for users of internal models, as Hugo Coelho reports