Analysis

• Is it really a small world after all? Protectionism strikes back

  21 March 2019

  Most insurers’ chief investment officers and asset managers have grown up investing during the long trend of beneficial globalisation. The trend was their friend. But as evidence of its unravelling builds, they are asking if the elastic is just stretching or about to snap back. Vincent Huck went in search of answers

  

• As the credit cycle enters its later stages, insurers prepare for its end

  19 March 2019

  With global growth expected to slow down this year and some predicting a US recession in 2020, the health of the credit market, its ability to cope with rate rises and a loss of liquidity, holds huge significance to insurers investments. Adam Leach reports

  

• Lack of uniformity in sensitivity analysis raises questions

  14 March 2019

  While some insurers prepare for full force hurricanes, others get ready for light showers. Insurance Risk Data reveals the extend of diversity in the stress test, and why it might be of concern. David Walker reports

  

• The BBB effect: apocalypse or opportunity?

  12 March 2019

  US insurers are holding bigger volumes of BBB-rated corporate debt than at any time in the past. A turning credit cycle could tip significant amounts of these to junk. But while the headline figures look startling, is this really a precursor to the apocalypse or just another bad news story? Sarfraz Thind reports

  

• French insurers partner up for major unlisted SME funding initiative

  07 March 2019

  From Axa France to BNP Paribas Cardif and CNP Assurances, France’s largest have helped unlock €22.2bn of fund-based investments for French small caps. Their early-stage returns may be unclear. But their ambitions for the next phase of their investment is only the greater, the heavy hitters tell Vincent Huck

  

• Asian insurance AuM gold rush

  05 March 2019

  Regulatory changes in Asia combined with challenging local market conditions are teasing Asian insurers’ interest in diversifying their investments abroad, this could be a gold rush for Western asset managers. Vincent Huck reports

  

• Pomona’s private equity niche

  28 February 2019

  Pomona Capital’s founder, Michael Granoff explains how his company has tapped into the private equity niche and how it is preparing for a potential turn in the cycle. Interview by Sarfraz Thind

  

• At the helm of Europe's giant general account

  26 February 2019

  Pascal Christory, chief investment officer at Axa Group, describes the difficult balance between centralisation and flexibility in an international group's investment strategy. Interview by David Walker

  

• Transitioning from Libor: complex questions and no answers

  21 February 2019

  The discontinuation of Libor will affect trillions of contracts across the global financial industry, Insurance Asset Risk reveals the scope of the impact on insurers and the unanswerable question they face in a transition period filled with uncertainty. Vincent Huck reports

  

• Stormy days ahead for insurers as LGIM warns of global slowdown and credit default risks

  19 February 2019

  From slower growth in the US and China, to the huge rollback of central bank purchasing, the global investment environment is in a perilous state that leaves insurers in need of knowing their weakest links, according to Legal & General Investment Managers. Adam Leach reports on the outlook for 2019 of its CIO and deputy CIO