US insurers’ exposure to municipal bonds rises by 7% to $505.4bn

Written by Adam Cadle

13/10/2023

US insurers’ exposure to municipal bonds increased by 7% to $505.4bn at year-end 2022 from almost $472bn at year-end 2021, latest data published by the NAIC has revealed.

Municipal bonds were the third largest bond type for US insurers at year-end 2022, at 10% of total bonds, preceded by corporate bonds, asset-backed securities (ABS), and other structured securities. In the previous year, municipal bonds were the second largest bond type.

P&C companies accounted for half of US insurers’ exposure to municipal bonds, followed by 43% with life companies. Large insurers, or those with more than $10bn AuM, accounted for about 60% of US insurers’ municipal bond exposure.

An overwhelming majority of municipal bonds held by US insurers were the highest credit quality, evidenced by NAIC 1 designations.

There are no related documents to show at this time.

Portfolio optimisation in today’s challenging market environment

Adam Cadle speaks to Dr Laura Ryan, Head of Research at Ardea Investment Management, about the firm’s insurance asset allocation optimisation tool and the reasons for developing it

The role ETFs can play in the ESG journey for insurers

Justin Wheeler, Head of UK iShares Asset Owner Distribution at BlackRock, and Mark Guirey, Head of EMEA Insurance Segment and UK Asset Owner Client Coverage at MSCI, discuss the drivers behind growth in this area, market reactions to COVID-19, and the role of indexing