Analysis

• LV=’s CIO on adapting to Solvency II

  03 May 2018

  LV=’s CIO Mark Laidlaw gives an insight into how the business has been impacted by Solvency II’s dictates on asset and liability management and moulded its choice of asset manager. By Paul Walsh and Sarfraz Thind

  

• Hiscox to look at increasing asset risk

  01 May 2018

  Hiscox’s CIO Alex Veys took over the role six months ago and is currently exploring new avenues to improve the business. By Sarfraz Thind

  

• Aberdeen Standard Investments' CIO's interesting 12 months

  26 April 2018

  Rod Paris, CIO at Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI), talks about the company's transformational twelve months following the merger and that cancelled Scottish Widows mandate, likely to cost the company some 20% of its assets. By Sarfraz Thind

  

• Goldman Sachs' survey shows insurers less positive about investments

  24 April 2018

  Insurers are less positive about investment opportunities than they were a year ago, according to a Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) survey.

  

• Not all smart beta portfolios are created equal

  19 April 2018

  Smart beta has been getting smarter. Paul Forshaw looks at the evolution of smart beta approaches and consider the relevance for insurance company balance sheet investors looking for investment efficiencies.

  

• What Solvency II reforms mean for an insurers' investment strategy

  17 April 2018

  Solvency II has been refined and reformed since it was introduced two years ago. Gareth Haslip from JP Morgan Asset Management describes the past, present and future amendments to Solvency II that will affect how insurers decide to invest their assets

  

• Trump tax law decimates P&C demand for municipal bonds

  11 April 2018

  Last year's US tax law is destroying insurer demand for municipal bonds, once considered the most attractive surplus cash investment for the country's property and casualty insurers. Sarfraz Thind reports

  

• EU to cut Solvency II securitisation charges "before summer"

  06 April 2018

  Draft rules suggest the capital charges of securitisations could be significantly cut this year as the European Commission takes steps to bring Solvency II in line with the STS framework. So will this spur future securitisation investment? Aggelos Andreou reports.

  

• What next for Scottish Widows' asset portfolio?

  28 March 2018

  Scottish Widows' decision to dump asset manager Aberdeen marked a rare public announcement by an insurer to change third-party managers. Gavin Stewart, director of asset allocation at Scottish Widows, shares insights on its next asset manager selection process with Sarfraz Thind

  

• Zurich's Johanna Köb: investors can make a return while doing good

  26 March 2018

  Johanna Köb, head of responsible investment at Zurich, talks to Cintia Cheong on the importance of adequate pricing of greenhouse gases and how investors can make a profit while doing good to the society and environment.