Analysis

• Impact investing: a new dawn

  30 August 2018

  As ESG issues are becoming mainstream finance and the concept of 'doing good' is overtaking the idea of 'doing no harm' investment opportunities are emerging with promises of financial returns for investors. Molly Wilson and Vincent Huck report

  

• Austria: Eastern Promise Beckons for Asset Managers

  23 August 2018

  Austrians' expanding businesses in eastern Europe, a commitment to ESG and their suffering at the hands of miserable debt yields, makes the country a market worth investigating in. David Walker reports.

  

• Insurers rate poorly on ESG reporting and integration

  21 August 2018

  A new report by research and rating agency Vigeo Eiris has ranked the insurance industry 23rd out 39 for environment, social and governance related performance. In particular the report highlights the industry's weakness in dealing with climate risk on both sides of its balance sheet. Vincent Huck reports

  

• Insurers hear train coming

  16 August 2018

  Europe's liberalisation move in the rail sector provides ample promises of returns for institutional investors such as insurers. Despite tailwinds from the legislators and regulators, investors still have to manage the complexity of such deals as well as the risks they incur to ultimately be on the right track. David Walker reports

  

• US insurers pulling out of hedge funds

  14 August 2018

  Although insurers tend to have relatively low exposures to hedge funds, in recent years investments in the asset class have dropped amongst US insurers. However, changes in the economic environment suggest this trend could be reversed in the coming years. Vincent Huck reports

  

• Equity release mortgages: stopping the roof falling in

  09 August 2018

  The Prudential Regulation Authority has shaken up life insurers by proposing new assumptions around the valuation of ERMs. The more prudent approach seeks to avoid a potential disaster if house prices stagnate or crash, but the impact on insurers could be serious. Christopher Cundy reports

  

• Safety in Danish mortgage bonds

  07 August 2018

  Danish mortgage bonds have sparked a flurry of interest from foreign insurance investors with their AAA-rating, long tenors and the crucial yield pick-up in a return-starved market. These days, the market is seen as even more attractive by those who fear a meltdown of the euro currency. By Sarfraz Thind

  

• "Private assets and ESG: today's hot topics" - Schroders' Perisse

  02 August 2018

  Ghislain Périssé joined Schroders as head of insurance strategy in the insurance asset management team in May of this year. Previously at Axa Investment Management, Périssé is based out of Paris, but on a visit to London he sat down with Vincent Huck. In the second part of a two-part article, he discusses the impact of Solvency II on the relationship between the different departments in an insurance company, as well as the investment trends in private assets and sustainable finance.

  

• How to connect new technologies with strategy

  26 July 2018

  MetLife's chief digital officer Greg Baxter talks to Paul Walsh about which technologies are his top priorities, how such technologies can be applied to asset liability management in a Solvency II environment and what investments the firm is making in the digital economy.

  

• "Actuaries and asset managers have cultural differences like Chinese and Europeans"- Schroders' Perisse

  20 July 2018

  Ghislain Périssé joined Schroders as head of insurance strategy in the insurance asset management team in May of this year. Previously at Axa Investment Management, Périssé is based out of Paris, but on a visit to London he sat down with Vincent Huck to discuss the cultural rift between actuaries and asset managers. In this first of a two-part article, he also discusses his move, the differences between in-house and third-party insurance asset managers, and how countries' cultures have influenced Solvency II implementation.