Archive

  • Credit downgrades raise strategic questions for insurers

    22 September 2016

    Investors are questioning the impact of credit downgrades on insurers' Solvency II balance sheets. Hugo Coelho investigates how firms are gauging this risk and why they resist putting a figure on it

  • European supervisors change tack on negative interest rate risk

    20 September 2016

    Insurers are being asked to modify internal models as negative yields become the new normal, but the approach varies by country and company. Hugo Coelho reports

  • Pulling the trigger on Solvency II transitional recalculations

    13 September 2016

    Callum Tanner investigates UK insurers' first experiences with transitional recalculations and finds contrasting approaches to deal with the volatility of Solvency II ratios

  • A false dawn for restricted tier 1 debt?

    09 September 2016

    The market for restricted tier 1 debt took off last month with an issue by Gjensidige, but may remain subdued for as long as the Solvency II grandfathering provisions last. Hugo Coelho reports

  • UK firms split on interest rate hedging strategy

    01 September 2016

    L&G has put its economic view on the pedestal, moving away from its rivals and challenging analysts who take Solvency II figures more seriously. Callum Tanner reports

  • My 'A' is not like yours

    18 August 2016

    Fitch and AM Best are wrangling over the equivalency of their IFS rating scale. Hugo Coelho investigates what sets them apart and the implications for insurers buying reinsurance protection

  • L'exception française?

    02 August 2016

    The French government is proposing to exempt supplementary pension products from Solvency II capital requirements, a seismic change that will give the sector much needed relief. Hugo Coelho reports

  • The stress of going sub-zero

    28 July 2016

    UK insurers modelling the risk that interest rates move into negative territory are finding that the capital implications of doing so are less than straightforward. Hugo Coelho reports

  • Post-Brexit slump makes mockery of Eiopa stress test

    21 July 2016

    The UK's Solvency II discount rates at the end of June put insurers in a worse position than the stress test scenario, so what can insurers and regulators hope to learn? Hugo Coelho reports

  • Top tips for top-down validation

    07 July 2016

    Boards have struggled to get comfortable with validation of internal models. LCP's Charl Cronje suggests some ideas that may help