Analysis

• Navigating the hard realities of policy divergence

  31 March 2015

  The European Central Bank (ECB) unleashing quantitative easing just as the US Federal Reserve sits at the cusp of tightening is causing global currency spasms and market angst. Iain Stealy describes how insurance companies investing in bonds might react to these developments

• Insurers stick with bonds despite ECB buying spree

  26 March 2015

  The launch of QE has sent bond yields tumbling but duration mismatches and capital charges on alternatives discourage reallocation, explains Hugo Coelho

• How insurers can make fixed income work harder

  18 March 2015

  Diversifying portfolios into new sectors and markets within fixed income is just one approach that can help insurance companies squeeze out better returns in an environment dominated by low yields and tighter capital demands from regulators, argues Euan MacLaren

• European insurers should not settle for less than nothing

  12 March 2015

  Moving along the yield curve may offer increased yield and dramatically expand the universe of investible instruments for insurers, Eugene Dimitriou and Michael Story explain.

• Asset diversification gains in popularity among insurers

  05 March 2015

  The benefits of diversification under Solvency II are becoming clearer. But should insurers try to reap these benefits with in-house solutions or the help of external multi-asset funds? Sarfraz Thind reports

• Solvency II data requirements have global implications

  25 February 2015

  The last-minute rush to comply with the impending new EU regulatory framework has drawn in insurers and asset managers outside Europe as these firms hasten to revamp their data management, governance and monitoring systems. John Legrand explains

• Insurers still face barriers to investing in infrastructure debt

  17 February 2015

  Standardised reporting, documentation and benchmarks, coupled with credit enhancements and more flexible regulation, would make this asset class more attractive, argues Patrick Liedtke

• Insurers juggle the attractions and drawbacks of illiquid assets

  12 February 2015

  With quantitative easing reducing the chance of any rise in interest rates soon, insurers are even more interested in higher-yielding illiquid assets to bolster their paltry returns from fixed-income, but Solvency II capital charges remain a problem. Sarfraz Thind reports

• Unit-linked portfolios under Solvency II could offer significant capital benefits

  03 February 2015

  The matching requirements for unit-linked assets and liabilities offer the possibility of both stabilising the economic balance sheet and enhancing the solvency position, argue Sinéad Clarke, Kevin Manning, Scott Mitchell and Eamonn Phelan

• Zurich looks to boost real estate portfolio

  29 January 2015

  Alessandro Bronda, Zurich's real estate investment strategist, tells Marc Jones why the asset class is performing well and why it is an important part of the insurer's overall portfolio.