Archive

  • Life insurers stuck with the riddle of the risk margin

    01 December 2015

    Of all the innovations of Solvency II, the risk margin threatens to be the most painful for UK life insurers. The transitional benefit will provide relief against it on 1 January, but in the long run it may do more harm than good. Hugo Coelho reports

  • "The HLA creates more instability than it subtracts" – Axa's Thimann

    13 October 2015

    Christian Thimann, head of public of affairs at France's largest insurance group, is critical of regulators' plans to tackle systemic risk in the insurance sector. He talks to Hugo Coelho

  • The threat from cyber: Are insurers heading for a meltdown?

    05 January 2015

    The recent establishment of a dedicated cyber insurance agency in London by former US homeland security secretary Tom Ridge demonstrates its growing popularity. But as the prevalence of recent high-profile hacking incidents demonstrates, this is not a class without its dangers, as Marcus Alcock investigates

  • The broad view

    21 October 2014

    Tom Wilson, CRO of Allianz, talks to Marcus Alcock about the need for supervisors to adapt as well, his difficulty with traditional insurance being deemed systemically relevant, and the trials and tribulations involved in submitting a trial IMAP which is over 100,000 pages long

  • Bracing for the liquidity squeeze

    16 September 2014

    The push by regulators for the central clearing of derivatives is a serious issue for life insurers that rely on swaps for duration matching. As Hugo Coelho explores, they could be vulnerable to cash collateral calls if interest rates spike

  • Insurance asset managers grapple with Solvency II challenges

    06 June 2014

    Solvency II will impact how insurers manage their assets, but the effects will depend on their size and the business mix. Christopher Cundy and Hardeep Dhillon report from InsuranceERM's Insurance Asset Risk conference

  • Generating return in a cold climate

    03 May 2013

    Low interest rates are prompting insurers to look to further afield in their hunt for yield. For those with resources and dedication, two major areas of focus right now are corporate loans and infrastructure lending. But are these the assets of the future that many say they are? Sarfraz Thind reports