Archive

  • Axa's de Mailly Nesle: CROs need to be controversial and constructive

    16 May 2014

    Chief risk officers should be the ones raising challenges in any decision-making process, says Axa's group CRO Alban de Mailly Nesle. But they also need to avoid being too negative, he tells Lorna Davies.

  • Five steps to 'big data' nirvana

    14 May 2014

    The explosion of data offers a threat and an opportunity to insurers, but few have really grasped the extent of the challenge. Patrick Maeder lays out the five areas where insurers should focus if they are to adapt successfully to the new information-centric world

  • With changing market dynamics, insurers can profit in fixed income

    07 May 2014

    They buy in bulk, their size gives them clout with large fixed-income asset managers and their buy-and-hold outlook insulates them from market swings, as Douglas Niemann explains

  • "No resentment" in Bermuda over Solvency II equivalence deal

    02 May 2014

    Bermuda Monetary Authority director for licensing and authorisations, Shelby Weldon, tells Christopher Cundy how the country's supervisory regime is taking account of changes in regulation globally - not just in the EU

  • China opens up opportunities for insurance asset management

    30 April 2014

    China Life's outsourcing of a $3.2bn investment mandate and a loosening of strict regulations has kickstarted interest in managing China's insurance assets. Hardeep Dhillon reports

  • Annuity changes put corporate bonds under pressure

    23 April 2014

    Revisions to the UK's legislation around annuities is causing insurers to rethink investment strategies. Hardeep Dhillon examines the impact on sterling capital markets and demand for assets

  • Infrastructure assets retain appeal for insurers

    17 April 2014

    Even if recent pension reforms result in falling demand for annuities in the UK, an increasingly competitive insurance market is likely to sustain the demand for high-yielding assets like infrastructure projects, say Michael Wilkins and Oliver Herbert

  • Insurers "going backwards" on pillar 3 readiness

    16 April 2014

    The Ernst & Young (EY) Solvency II preparedness survey is one of the most comprehensive yardsticks of how ready insurers are for the new regime. This year's poll shows firms making progress in most areas - except pillar 3. Christopher Cundy reports.

  • The UK pensions bombshell: opportunities among the wreckage?

    11 April 2014

    The UK annuities market is undergoing a dramatic change as the rules on retirement products are rewritten. In this article, Christopher Cundy looks at five major implications for products and strategy

  • Gen Re's Tad Montross: why we need Solvency III

    09 April 2014

    Solvency II has focused too much on modelling and should be revisited, says Gen Re CEO Tad Montross. He tells Sarfraz Thind about "model mania", risk culture and how to run a reinsurer in a chronically soft market