Insurance Asset Risk Awards 2022 - UK & Europe

Investment strategy consultant of the year - EY

EY has taken the investment strategy consultant of the year award, for its "extensive support, provided across the industry", according to one judge.

Another judge spoke of "a number of ground-breaking transactions in the equity release mortgage space".

The consultant says it has aided clients to realise goals in ESG, asset modelling and structuring, and investment strategy.

It can apply its skills to advising on structuring/securitising assets, developing investment strategies, using technology to optimise investment processes and helping to embed ESG frameworks across businesses.

It says: "We have helped broaden the insurance asset investment universe, by working with insurers to enter new asset classes."

Onboarding new types of private debt is one assistance given to underwriters, developing equity investment strategies for direct investment in real assets and using this as the basis to manufacture long-term fixed income assets to back liabilities is another.

And another, with clear application in today's environment, is helping insurers understand the impact of different climate transition pathways on their investment portfolios.

EY already works with most firms invited to take part in the Bank of England Climate Biennial Exploratory Scenario (CBES) plus those who participated in climate scenario analysis voluntarily. EY has also helped clients make sense of the output and its wider implications for their investment portfolios which assists them in progressing a climate risk strategy and implementing appropriate management actions.

Calculating and optimising matching adjustments; helping investment execution teams understand how planned trading activity will impact Solvency II/IFRS metrics; building dashboards to help risk teams better understand market risk exposures and liquidity positions; and a tool with resources to manage an entire LTM portfolio "end-to-end", are all are other ways EY has helped clients.