US insurers record double-digit decrease in foreign investments

Written by Adam Cadle

12/05/2025

US insurers’ exposure to foreign investments (bonds and stocks) decreased by more than half over the last decade ending 2024, to about $260bn in BACV, down from almost $675bn in BACV at year-end 2025, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

The NAIC said this trend may be due in part to various geopolitical events over the last few years, including the Russia-Ukraine war, turmoil in the Middle East, and increased trade tensions between the US and China, to name a few. In addition, climate risk, the COVID-19 pandemic, and macroeconomic influences such as interest rate trends may have also influenced investment decisions away from foreign investments.

Foreign investments were 3% of total cash and invested assets at year-end 2024, decreasing from 12% in 2015.

The majority of US insurers’ foreign investments were bonds, almost 90% of which were corporate bonds; foreign stocks comprised a much smaller but increasing proportion.

While exposure among P&C insurers has been increasing, life insurers still accounted for the majority of the industry’s foreign investments, at three-quarters of the total, followed by P&C insurers at 23%.

Large insurers, or those with more than $10bn in AuM, accounted for 83% of total US insurer foreign investments.

The UK, Canada, and Australia continued to be the largest three country exposures, which is consistent with previous years, and represented about half of total US insurers’ foreign investments at year-end 2024.

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