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Lloyd's Savage highlights benefits of Solvency II readiness
02 October 2013Luke Savage, director of finance and operations at Lloyd's, tells InsuranceERM about the market's reaction to low investment yields, its capital management plans, how it could yet be designated "systemically risky" - and why it's disbanded its Solvency II team.
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Hopes build for better treatment of infrastructure investment under Solvency II
27 September 2013Infrastructure investments provide a great match for insurers' liabilities, but Solvency II's crude view of the investment risk means money is not flowing as fast as it could. Milliman and JP Morgan Asset Management set out the justification for a review
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Leasing and trade finance could spice up insurers' portfolios
18 September 2013The traditional bond markets are no longer satisfying insurers' desire for a secure, stable investment income. Portfolios need to be developed to include other new core asset classes and there are opportunities aplenty for the more nimble insurers, says Yasheen Rajan.
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Low interest rates challenge regulators as well as insurers
05 July 2013Current economic policies are creating market distortions that insurers and their regulators should tackle sooner rather than later, says Daniel Hofmann, advisor to the chairman of Zurich Insurance Group
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Protests against FTT build up steam
21 June 2013Europe's Financial Transaction Tax has now been adopted by 11 states. Many insurers argue that the tax will make running their businesses more difficult and costly -- to the detriment of their customers. With less than six months left until the official implementation date, Sarfraz Thind looks at whether the industry has time to make its voice heard
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Generating return in a cold climate
03 May 2013Low 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
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Separating country risks from national finances
19 April 2013The use of sovereign ratings as a stand-in for country risk is proving problematic for many insurers and credit analysts, say Marcel Heinrichs and Ivelina Stanoeva
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How the matching adjustment helps insurers in a crisis
28 February 2013Daily solvency monitoring offers valuable insights into an insurers' risk profile and its regulatory capital requirements – and demonstrates the potential power of the matching adjustment. Matthew Cocke, Russell Osman and Russell Ward explain
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Learning from Japan's 'lost decades'
24 January 2013With much of Europe mired in a deepening recession, the parallels with Japan's 'lost decades' become ever more acute. Paul Fulcher and Teoman Kaplan explore whether European insurers can learn from their Japanese peers in how to deal with a prolonged state of stagnant economic growth and low interest rates
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From the Talmud and Markowitz to a holistic picture of risk
10 January 2013Systems thinking helps risk modellers develop a more dynamic, responsive analysis of complex systems. Matt Cocke and Richard See-Toh track developments from 4 BC to today's ERM approach