Analysis

• Notional hedging of unit-linked liabilities: tread lightly

  23 February 2016

  Notional hedging can help achieve a lower capital requirement and more investment freedom. But there are a number of isues that need to be considered before moving with this ALM tool, warns advisory firm Willis Towers Watson in a report.

• Insurers raise allocations to high-dividend equity strategies

  16 February 2016

  Better liability matching, accounting and tax treatments motivate switch, say asset managers

• Japanese insurers hunt abroad as rates turn negative

  16 February 2016

  Overseas assets, products and acquisitions are proving attractive to a Japanese industry struggling under the burden of low interest rates. B. Gravrand reports.

• Illiquid assets pull in yield-hungry insurers

  10 February 2016

  As yields in conventional asset classes disappear, insurers are chasing illiquids, says J.P.Morgan. B. Gravrand reports.

• MetLife embraces utility-scale renewables

  10 February 2016

  MetLife's Stuart Ashton explains why the insurer has included utility-scale renewables, but not residential solar rooftops, among its renewables investments.

• IFRS accounting rules to shape asset allocation

  03 February 2016

  When it finally goes live, the IFRS 9 accounting rule is likely to have a notable impact on asset allocation. So what should participants be aware of? Sarfraz Thind reports

• European real estate in 2016: keep calm and carry on

  26 January 2016

  Joe Valente looks at the state of the European real estate market for 2016 and finds it is attractive on a relative basis.

• Alternative credit: is the illiquidity premium sustainable?

  22 January 2016

  Antti Suhonen and Declan Canavan examine the growing alternative credit buzz and the validity of the corresponding illiquidity premiums.

• Aegon targets expansion of asset management division

  21 January 2016

  The investment management division of the Dutch insurer wants to meet the increasing demand for benchmark-agnostic active investment solutions. Benedicte Gravrand reports.

• Goodbye gilts as Solvency II shifts asset allocation

  20 January 2016

  Prompted by Solvency II, some insurers have moved out of government bonds and into swaps and short-dated government or corporate bonds. But the swap-based approach is not without its challenges, as Sarfraz Thind reports