Ergo Group decided early on in the pandemic that it would see through its equity holding thought the crisis, however, it was slightly more concerned about its credit portfolio, according to its head of SAA/ALM Thomas Fiedler.

“But we quickly decided that, because we believed in a V-shaped, or at least, a relatively quick recovery on many of the sectors that we were invested in, that we wouldn't have to reduce our positions that substantially,” Fielder said as part of a panel at Insurance Asset Risk 2020 EMEA conference held online on 19 and 20 October.

Instead, Ergo Group decided take advantage of some industries being oversold, and it was able to “take advantage after the initial shock and making sure that the portfolios were all right to buy long-term credit in the crisis”.

To manage board members’ nervousness amid increasing uncertainty, the investment team gave regular updates along with its asset managers MEAG on the development in the capital markets.

“That went down well, it basically meant that nobody was too nervous, there wasn’t any pressure on us to derisk the asset portfolios significantly,” Fiedler said.

More information about the event can be found here.

Vincent Huck