CNP Assurances has acquired its first agroforestry estate in Gers with the expertise of Société Forestière

The European Commission (EC) has today adopted a comprehensive review of EU insurance rules (known as Solvency II) so that insurance companies can scale up long-term investment in Europe's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic

Germany is set to experience the highest level of passive ETF growth in Europe, due to institutional investors’ continued use of index funds and new regulation

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is being urged to reassess its workplan and prioritise a post implementation review of IFRS 17

Aegon and Vienna Insurance Group AG Wiener Versicherung Gruppe (VIG) have been informed that the Budapest Metropolitan Court has rejected their joint appeal challenging the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior's decision to block VIG's acquisition of Aegon's Hungarian business

Prudential has announced a share offer to raise up to 5% of its issued share capital, or approximately 130.8 million shares, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE) through a concurrent Hong Kong public offer and international placing

Twelve investment consulting firms, representing assets of around US$10trn, have launched the Net Zero Investment Consultants Initiative (NZICI), committing to support a global goal to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner

Liberty Mutual Insurance has commited to a 50% reduction of Scope 1 and 2 global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 2019 levels by 2030, taking another step in its long-term strategy toward a low-carbon future

Rothesay has recorded a Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR) coverage ratio of 202% at 30 June 2021, with a surplus capital of £3.6bn

A group of investors with £10.4trn AUM, which includes Amundi, Legal & General Investment Management and HSBC Global Asset Management, has set out a blueprint for oil and gas companies to achieve net-zero

Sumitomo Life Insurance Company has invested JPY 10bn in a gender bond issued by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

Phoenix Group (Phoenix) has provided £50m in long-term financing to Barcud Cyf, a not-for-profit Welsh Housing association to build around 1,000 new energy efficient, affordable homes for people across the mid and West Wales region

Chesnara’s recently announced acquisition of Sanlam Life & Pensions UK highlights the return of consolidation activity in the European life insurance sector via smaller deals, Fitch Ratings has said

European insurers support future solutions to expand the current climate-related taxonomy, but have argued the priority must be its completion and supporting the transition

Willis Towers Watson (WTW) has announced the launch of its latest version of strategic asset allocation software, Optimum SAA

Sun Life has announced the appointment of Alanna Boyd as senior vice-president and chief sustainability officer

Solvency II’s Matching Adjustment (MA) provisions should allow assets with ‘predictable returns’ rather than just ‘fixed returns’, ABI director of regulation Charlotte Clark has said

French life insurance net inflows for July 2021 were positive at +€1.1bn, up €1.4bn compared to July 2020, and exceeding the €1bn threshold for the seventh month in a row

Stress on the commercial mortgage loan (CML) portfolios of US life insurers alone will not drive rating downgrades, given strong industry capitalisation, current loan quality and historical loss experience, Fitch Ratings has said

The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company has invested around JPY 16.5bn in a blue bond issued by the Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Phoenix has appointed Valeria Piani as head of stewardship, a newly formed position, as the company further enhances its responsible investment and stewardship expertise

Solvency II is not a challenge, but rather “a success” and “an opportunity”, EIOPA's new chairperson Petra Hielkema has said

Over £1trn held by around half of UK institutional investors is exposed to “significant” climate risks, new analysis from LCP has found

The Danish pension and insurance sectors have adopted common and clear measurements for CO2 emissions following the creation of the government’s climate partnerships, Insurance and Pension Denmark has revealed

US insurers’ CLO exposure increased by around 23% to $192.9bn in book/adjusted carrying value (BACV) from about $156.9bn at year-end 2019, according to the NAIC’s Capital Markets Bureau

SCOR intends to reduce its excess liquidity from 16% to 9% by year-end, and is actively diversifying invested assets into value-creation assets which are expected to represent over 10% of total invested assets by the end of 2022

Achmea is investing €4m in the Land Life Company reforestation programme which will offset the CO₂ emissions of its operations

Baloise Group has successfully placed a CHF senior green bond for a size of CHF 200m in alignment with its newly established Green Bond Framework

The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) is in support of extending the EU Taxonomy ‘beyond green’ but has stressed that a black-list based approach must be avoided

Total assets of insurance companies in China rose by RMB 1.64trn (7.4%) to RMB 24trn from the beginning of the year to the end of Q2 2021

AXA IM Alts has announced the successful close of an approximate €400m collateralised loan obligation (CLO), known as Adagio EUR CLO IX

Zurich is taking global measures to accelerate cuts in carbon emissions from its operations, reflecting the urgent need to respond to the climate crisis

Global P&C premiums are expected to more than double to US$4.3trn in 2040 from US$1.8trn in 2020, according to Swiss Re Institute’s sigma study

The US life/health industry improved its risk-adjusted capitalisation in 2017-2019 due to strong growth in available capital, particularly in 2019, according to a new AM Best report

The Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), in collaboration with the UN-convened Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), has announced the launch of a working group comprising leading insurance and reinsurance companies to develop the first global standard to measure and disclose insured greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions

UNIQA’s investment income increased by 42.8% to €307.2m in H1 2021 (January to June 2020: €215.1m)

Norwegian life insurance companies’ total profit increased from 0.1% of average total assets (ATA) in H1 2020 to 0.6% of ATA in H1 2021, mainly as a result of increased investment income, the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway, Finanstilsynet, has said

The aggregate unadjusted debt-capital ratio of publicly traded P&C insurers and reinsurers in the US has been recorded between 22% and 25% since the beginning of 2013, latest figures show

CNP Assurances has signed the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge and has set new targets over the next five years to protect biodiversity

Munich Re has launched a green subordinated bond with a volume of €1bn

Ping An Insurance has denied it has been ordered by the regulator to halt sales of property-related alternative investments, following a report published by Reuters

Zurich intends to exercise its option to redeem CHF 200m of subordinated debt

Petra Hielkema has started in her new position as chairperson of EIOPA today

The Federal Insurance Office (FIO) of the US Department of the Treasury (Treasury) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit public input on FIO's future work relating to the insurance sector and climate-related financial risks

Nippon Life Insurance Company has decided to sign green loan agreements with Japan Logistics Fund and IINO Kaiun Kaisha

Storebrand has entered into an agreement to acquire Capital Investment, a Danish real estate asset manager and investment advisory headquartered in Copenhagen

Fitch Ratings has completed a review of approximately 70 insurance groups that has resulted in favourable actions for about 80% of the cohort, mainly outlook revisions to stable from negative

Finnish pension insurance company, Elo, generated a return of 7.8% in H1 2021, equating to €2,007.5m

Columbia Threadneedle Investments is to appoint Richard Watts as chief investment officer (CIO), EMEA, as part of the expansion of its leadership team following the completion of the acquisition of the BMO Financial Group’s EMEA asset management business, expected in Q4 2021

AIA has formed a strategic partnership with global investment manager, GLP, to invest in the global logistics real estate industry and related opportunities

China Life chose to outsource its investments in senior credit bonds due to the “complicated and challenging” external environment and an “unsteady and imbalanced” domestic economy in H1 2020

Swiss Re has signed the world’s first and largest 10-year carbon removal purchase agreement with direct air capture and storage worth US$10m

A new report by the French bank Societe Generale makes the case that insurers who reduce coverage for the oil and gas sector could become eligible for an additional ‘green’ valuation premium

Storebrand Livsforsikring AS ("the company") has successfully completed the issuance of a Restricted Tier 1 bond issue in the amount of SEK 900m, with a substantial oversubscription

Global insurance M&A activity held steady in H1 2021, with the number of completed deals globally dipping to 197 compared with 201 in H1 2020

Norway’s KLP generated a return of NOK 7.2bn in the first half of 2021, it has revealed

Net income for the US life/annuity (L/A) insurance industry soared in the first half of 2021 on reduced expenses, rising to $18bn from $1bn in the same prior-year period, according to a new AM Best report

The US P&C industry has recorded a 6.4% increase in net investment income in H1 2021, compared with the same prior-year period, AM Best has reported

Almost 40% of Asian institutional investors plan to make significant cuts to domestic fixed income allocations over the next three years, instead turning their attention to international asset and alternatives markets, thus creating huge opportunities for asset managers

Aegon has completed its share buyback program to "neutralise the dilutive effect of the 2020 final dividend paid in shares and certain share-based variable compensation plans for senior management", as announced on 7 July 2021

Premiums in Luxembourg’s life insurance market have increased by 30% over H1 2021 compared to an identical period in 2020 due to products with guaranteed returns (growth of 32.67%) and products in units of account (growth of 29.57%)

The general insurance industry in Japan is projected to grow from JPY11.1trn (US$104.1bn) in 2020 to JPY12.6trn (US$133.1bn) in 2025, in terms of gross written premiums (GWP), according to GlobalData

AIG Life & Retirement has announced that Tim Heslin has been named president, US life insurance

Prudential Financial has made a $200m commitment through the Prudential DEI portfolio to private equity investments constructed with a diversity, equity and inclusion lens

The Australian life insurance industry was valued at $24.1bn in 2020 in terms of GWP

US life insurers’ net portfolio yield decreased by 103bps, from 5.32% in 2010 to 4.29% in 2019, New England Asset Management (NEAM) has said

NN Group is to sell its asset manager NN Investment Partners (NN IP) to Goldman Sachs Group for total cash proceeds of €1.7bn

Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) has recorded a solvency ratio of 267% as at 30 June 2021 and €37.5bn in investments

US publicly traded life/annuity (L/A) insurers have seen their aggregate unadjusted total debt-to-capital ratio decline since 2011 to 24.1% at year-end 2020, with total debt outstanding decreasing by around $8bn (or 8.1%) to $91.4bn

The European reinsurance sector is experiencing favorable pricing conditions and growing revenues, as improving market conditions bolster underwriting profitability, Moody’s Investors Service has said in its latest report

Fifty-five percent of institutional investors and wealth managers are “very concerned” about the threat of inflation, with almost half (47%) of professional investors stating institutional investors will increase their allocation to gold for hedging benefits

Ageas’s insurance net result has increased from €491m to €521m year-on-year, according to its financial statements as at 30 June 2021

Fidelis has appointed Victor Riega as its first head of sustainability

Zurich has announced the successful placement of CHF 200m of senior unsecured notes

US insurers and fund advisers should consider newly proposed guidance from insurance regulators on funds’ use of derivatives in the context of regulatory capital treatment of a fund’s units, shares or interests, law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel has said

Assets under management in China grew by 34% in 2020 and net inflows increased 21.8% year-on-year, highlighting a “huge opportunity” for managers that can capitalise on it, Cerulli has said

The PRA has written to CFOs of life and general insurers introducing a qualitative questionnaire aimed at supporting the development of potential Solvency II reforms

HSBC Holdings has agreed to acquire French insurer Axa's Singapore assets for $575m

Global insured losses from natural catastrophes have hit $40bn in the first half of 2021, estimates from Swiss Re have indicated

The European Commission has granted the competition law clearance for the acquisition of Aegon’s businesses in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) by Vienna Insurance Group (VIG)

Willis Towers Watson (WTW) has reached an agreement to sell its reinsurance arm Wills Re to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co (Gallagher)

QBE Insurance Group’s strong H1 results have reduced the uncertainty of a recovery in the insurer's financial performance, Fitch Ratings has stated

Aviva has announced it is to commence a share buyback programme of its ordinary shares for up to a maximum aggregate consideration of £750m

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) has announced that its broker-dealer, MML Investors Services (MMLIS), has entered into a placement agent agreement with technology and investment solutions provider, NYDIG, for a bitcoin fund

The Talanx Group has announced that its gross written premiums rose by 9.4% year-on-year to €24.1bn in the first half of the year

Northwestern Mutual has announced a new $100m impact investing fund to deliver on the company's commitment to addressing inequality and the racial wealth gap in the US

Regulatory changes allowing certain German funds to invest up to 20% of their assets in cryptocurrencies could see demand for cryptocurrencies increase, Fitch Ratings has stated

The direct written premiums for the top 10 insurers in the South Korean life insurance industry grew by 4.1% in 2020 after declining at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.3% during 2015-19, GlobalData has found

Around two thirds of institutional investors have increased their use of sustainable thematic investment strategies in the past three years, according to a new Coalition Greenwich study

French life insurance net inflows for the month of June 2021 were positive at €1.4bn, exceeding the €1bn threshold for the sixth month in a row

Mercer has announced a global expansion of its sustainable investment (SI) capabilities by an additional 30% to meet growing demand from clients looking to manage investment risk and return linked to climate change and ESG drivers

The Prime Minister and the Chancellor have called on the UK’s institutional investors to create a green ‘Investment Big Bang’ for long-term growth

US insurance companies reported high-yield bond exposure with a book/adjusted carrying value (BACV) of $286bn as of year-end 2020, an increase of 25.7% compared to year-end 2019, latest research published by AM Best has shown

AIG’s total consolidated net investment income for Q2 2021 was $3.7bn, up 9% from $3.4bn in the prior year quarter primarily due to strong private equity returns, partially offset by lower gains on fair value option bonds

Australian insurers are well positioned to withstand a very severe economic downturn while still meeting their commitments to policyholders, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has said

Sun Life's net income has increased by 73% to $900m in Q2 2021 compared to a year earlier, due to market related improvements and higher interest rates

Legal and General (L&G) has reported a 14% growth in its operating profit to £1.079m for H1 2021, compared to £946m for the same period in 2020

New German rules on institutional investment in crypto assets will ‘open the gates’ for mass adoption of the asset class, Global Digital Finance (GDF) has said

The PRA has today written to the largest PRA-regulated life and general insurers setting out the timelines and high-level scope for the Insurance Stress Test 2022 exercise

More institutional investors are looking to outsource aspects of the investment process due to increased regulation and complexity, according to Mercer Germany

Generali’s solvency ratio has increased by 7 percentage points from 224% to 231%, according to its latest consolidated results as at 30 June 2021

Hiscox has reported a $133.4m profit in H1 2021 compared to a $138.9m loss in H1 2020

Caisse des Dépôts and CNP Assurances have announced the signature of a binding agreement with Engie for the acquisition of an additional 11.5% stake in GRTgaz

European insurers’ exposures to macro risks remain at a high level, while all other risk categories remain at a medium level, EIOPA has said

Eighty per cent of hedge fund managers expect institutional investors to increase their allocation to quant strategies in the next 12 months, new research has shown

Lloyd’s of London has set out how the insurance industry will partner with critical industries to support and accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy, with the launch of its new report Insuring a sustainable, greener future

Fifty-three global investors under the direction of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) have set a new baseline of expectations for companies to produce net-zero transition plans, ensure director accountability and link to AGM shareholder vote

Folksam’s target of reducing the carbon footprint of equities, corporate bonds and real estate by 29% by 2025 remains fixed despite its investment in steel company SSAB increasing the firm’s carbon footprint by 5%

The British American Tobacco UK Pension Fund has completed a second buy-in with Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), insuring a further £400m of pension liabilities

Aegon UK is now firmly committed to a 50% reduction in its carbon emissions by 2030

EU insurers’ IFRS 17 financial statements will not be as helpful for users as they could be, as they will lack certain profitability information unless they routinely show accounting data for cohorts of contracts grouped by origination year, Fitch Ratings has argued

European insurers are calling on EIOPA to minimise any detrimental impacts resulting from an immediate switch from IBOR-based to OIS-based risk-free rate curves subject to appropriate liquidity and proximity preconditions

The French Insurance Federation (FFA) believes that many proposals from EIOPA concerning the ongoing Solvency II 2020 review appear disputable, not only in terms of efficacity, but also in terms of need and impact

New Zealand's Reserve Bank – Te Pūtea Matua – is welcoming views on an interim Solvency Standard for insurers, which will determine the minimum amounts of capital that insurers must hold

Low bond yields created difficult conditions for Beazley in H1 2021, as the return for the fixed income part of the insurer’s portfolio was close to zero

Aon and Willis Towers Watson (WTW) have agreed to terminate their proposed $30bn (£21.5bn) merger following an “impasse” with the US Department of Justice

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published a consultation on the amendments of supervisory reporting and disclosure requirements under Solvency II

Forty-seven per cent of European insurers are expected to increase their allocations to emerging market debt over the next 12 months, according to a new report from Cerulli Associates

Covéa Insurance has announced the appointment of Adrian Furness as its new chief executive officer

Allianz has established a new division for Global Commercial insurance, effective from 1 July 2021

New York Life has announced a $50m investment to support the preservation of affordable housing rental properties throughout the US, via an equity investment with IMPACT Community Capital

Hiscox has announced that its group chief executive, Bronek Masojada, has informed the Board of his intention to retire at the end of the year, after 21 years in the role

Total assets under management in the life insurance arm of Skandia amounted to SEK 570bn in June 2021, compared with SEK 519bn at the turn of the year, and the solvency ratio amounted to 190%, compared with 171% at the beginning of 2021

Rothesay has launched its Pathway to Net Zero plan with commitment to a 20% reduction in the carbon intensity of its investment portfolio by 2025

Aspen has appointed Aileen Mathieson as group chief investment officer (CIO), effective 15 November 2021

The PRA has launched its Quantitative Impact Study (QIS) for the Solvency II review

A total of 25% of UK life insurers’ total available capital (TAC) was supported by Solvency II-eligible subordinated debt at end-2020, but overall capital quality has weakened over the past few years, Fitch Ratings has said

Zurich UK has switched almost $1bn of its investment portfolio into a new ESG benchmark as it continues to take action to curb carbon emissions

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published its supervisory statement on Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) in the context of COVID-19 pandemic

MAPFRE has seen its total written premiums grow by 6.2% in the first half of the year, the company has announced

Liberty Mutual Insurance will be applying for regulatory approval to acquire Malaysian insurer AmGeneral Insurance Berhad (AmGeneral)

The number of private equity (PE) owned US insurers totalled 117 at year-end 2020, with the total cash and invested assets for these insurers recorded at $487bn in book/adjusted carrying value (BACV), up from $344bn at year-end 2019

Athene Holding Ltd (Athene), an affiliate of Apollo Global Manageemnt, Inc., has acquired Foundation Home Loans

Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has announced its commitment to be net-zero by 2050 across all sources of emissions, including within its £50bn investment portfolio which backs pension payments to the company’s 275,000-policyholders

Four in five institutional investors plan to increase their exposure to fixed income assets over the next three years, according to Aviva Investors

Travelers has made a strategic minority investment in Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published a statement on supervisory practices and expectations in case of breach of the Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR)

ESG factors were considered the primary driver in 13% of AM Best’s global rating actions during the 12-month period ending in March 2021

Conning has announced the addition of a range of ESG and climate-change indices into its GEMS® Economic Scenario Generator software

Sampsa Ratia has been appointed director in charge of real estate investments at Varma

The Net Zero Asset Managers initiative has expanded to 128 investors managing $43trn with 41 new asset managers, representing $6.8trn in assets joining

Global life and P&C insurers are planning to accelerate their use of automation over the next five years, according to a new survey

Lloyd’s has appointed Eleanor Bucks to the newly created role of chief investment officer, established in order to build and lead the marketplace’s new investment platform for the market

Zurich has announced that Urban Angehrn, group chief investment officer (CIO) since July 2015 and a member of the group’s executive committee, has tendered his resignation

The European Commission (EC) has approved Aon’s planned $30bn acquisition of Willis Towers Watson (WTW), conditional on the former’s compliance with divestment measures

Eight of the world’s leading insurers and reinsurers have established the UN-convened Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) as founding members, committing to transition their insurance and reinsurance underwriting portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050

MAPFRE has launched its first renewables fund, MAPFRE Energías Renovables I FCR, further leveraging the ongoing strategic alliance with Spanish energy company, Iberdrola, towards creating sustainable investment products

Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) has announced it will implement a global exclusion policy that includes a dedicated coal policy and will target controversial weapons

Hitting the Paris climate targets won’t be possible without a carbon removal the size of oil and gas, Swiss Re has said

Skandia has announced plans to increase its green investments as it becomes the first Swedish company to join the Danish public-private Climate Investment Coalition (CIC)

EIOPA has proposed methodological steps which support the need to formalise an approach to re-assess and, where needed, recalibrate parameters for the natural catastrophe risk module of the Solvency II standard formula on a regular basis

The PRA has published a consultation paper (CP) setting out its proposed changes to the Solvency II reporting requirements and expectations

The European Commission (EC) has published its new Sustainable Finance Strategy

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has unveiled its Climate Change Roadmap for the insurance and long-term savings industry

Forsikring and Pension (Insurance and Pension Denmark) has outlined six proposals designed to support greater investment in the Danish green transition, and particularly in Power to X (PtX) work

European insurers’ median return on assets (ROA) lowered from 0.59% in 2019 to 0.38% in 2020 and the median return on excess of assets over liabilities decreased from 7.9% in 2019 to 5.5% in 2020, according to EIOPA’s latest Financial Stability Report

Moody’s Investors Service has raised its outlook for the UK life insurance sector to stable on the expectation that capital levels and earnings will remain robust over the next 12 to 18 months, as the UK economy recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the bulk annuity market remains buoyant

Sweden's Skandia has invested SEK 1.5bn in P Capital Partners Transition Partner Fund, a new credit fund with a focus on sustainability

Norwegian life insurer, KLP, has divested NOK 275m from 16 companies with connections to Israeli settlements in the West Bank

China’s insurance industry’s total assets increased by 13.3% in 2020 to RMB23.3trn (US$3.5trn), up from 12.2% in 2019, despite slower premium growth during the pandemic, Cerulli has said

The life insurance industry in India is projected to grow from INR5.7trn (US$81.4bn) in 2019 to INR8.0trn (US$98.5bn) in 2024, in terms of gross written premium (GWP), according to GlobalData

NN Group has agreed to acquire MetLife’s business activities in Poland and Greece, for a total consideration of €584m

Institutional investors’ concerns that investing sustainably may hamper performance have fallen for the fourth consecutive year, as the COVID-19 crisis sharpened the focus on this space, Schroders Institutional Investor Study 2021 has found

The UK Government wants to see a Solvency II regulatory regime that is more "proportionate and flexible", providing a "sound foundation" for insurance firms to provide long-term capital to the economy including investment in long-term productive assets

Groupama successfully placed its first subordinated green bonds for a principal amount of €500m

Baloise has become a partner of the Swiss Climate Foundation

The private equity industry has significantly increased its exposure in the US life/annuity (L/A) insurance industry over the last decade, with private equity-owned or sponsored insurers’ admitted assets growing to $604.1bn in 2020 from $67.4bn in 2011, according to a new AM Best report

AIA Group has agreed to invest RMB12,033m (US$1,860m) through its wholly-owned subsidiary, AIA Company Limited, for a 24.99% equity stake, post investment, in China Post Life Insurance

The current low interest rate environment raises concerns that US life insurers “will overreach” for yield and “increase their downside risk to a large market shock,” Fitch Ratings has said

SCOR has announced an upcoming strengthening of its fossil fuel exclusion policies

Columbia Threadneedle Investments has announced the retirement of Colin Moore from the firm as global chief investment officer

Generali has updated its strategy for climate protection and plans to make €8.5-€9.5bn of new green and sustainable investments between 2021 and 2025

AXA, CNP Assurances and Aviva France are among a group of investors brought together by Finance for Tomorrow to launch the first investor coalition for a just transition to low-carbon economies

The top 20 global public insurance companies reported aggregate revenue of $1,923.9bn, a year-over-year (YOY) decline of around 5%, in their top-line performance in 2020

New Zealand’s insurance industry has recorded an investment return of 4.9% for March 2021 up from 4.6% a year earlier

Global insurance industry group ClimateWise, convened by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, has released a white paper exploring the potential contribution of innovative insurance products in the transition to a net-zero economy

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has amended the Decision on the collaboration of the insurance supervisory authorities of the Member States in the European Economic Area

New York's life insurers generally have greater exposure to carbon intensive sectors than P&C and health insurers, a new report published by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS or NYSDFS) has revealed

Finnish pension insurance company, Elo, achieved an investment return of 3.9% in Q1 2021, equal to €996.4m, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Sven Lixenfeld will succeed Patrick Dahmen and take over responsibility for the life insurance and investment management board division in the private and corporate insurance Germany division of the Talanx Group on 1 September 2021

Covéa is targeting an acquisition of AXA’s non-life reinsurance operations, which would be the Bermuda headquartered AXA XL Re division

Generali has placed a new Euro denominated Tier 2 bond due in June 2032

All but one of the 18 reporting members of Insurance Europe showed an increase in their investment portfolio in 2020, preliminary figures have shown

MS&AD has adopted a policy to no longer insure or invest in new coal power plants, becoming the first Japanese insurer to make this move

At the invitation of the Prince of Wales, Lloyd’s has brought together leaders from a number of the largest and most influential global insurance firms to form an Insurance Task Force (ITF) as part of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, to drive progress as a group and accelerate the pace of industry transitions towards a more resilient and sustainable future

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is to publish a narrow-scope amendment to IFRS 17 'Insurance Contracts'

Norway’s largest life insurance company, KLP, has divested NOK 9m from Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited on the basis of the company's connection to Myanmar's military, which breaches the fund's responsible investment policy

MetLife is to originate $500m in social and environmental impact investments by 2030

Swiss Re has reduced its shareholding in Phoenix Group Holdings, acquired in the sale of ReAssure in 2020, by selling an approximately 6.6% stake for £437m through an accelerated bookbuilding process

Private equity holdings by the US insurance industry grew by 14.8% in 2020, with the life/annuity insurance industry seeing its highest value in five years, at $71.7bn, according to a new AM Best report

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has appointed Marion Le Morhedec as global head of fixed income, effective immediately

Just 2% of asset managers ‘never’ incorporate climate risk into their decision-making process, latest research has shown

Aviva and WWF have started a new climate-focused partnership to focus on shifting the financial sector to net-zero, and are calling on the Government to mandate UK regulated financial institutions to develop credible transition plans that align with net-zero and the Paris Agreement

Korean non-life insurers DB Insurance, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, Hanwha General Insurance, and Hana Insurance, which have provided nearly half of the total US$52bn coal underwritings by Korean insurance companies, have said they will now cut ties with coal power

A number of sustainable investment funds in Luxembourg and Switzerland have been accused of greenwashing by Greenpeace

Folksam has increased its ownership in steel company SSAB, corresponding to 5.2% of the voting rights and 2.1% of the share capital

Sixty-two per cent of European insurance company CFOs expect to participate in M&A in the next two years, up from 40% in early 2020, Moody’s Investors Service’s has said

China's reinsurance market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.8% during 2019-24, according to GlobalData, following the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission's (CBIRC) recently proposed revisions to the reinsurance regulatory regime

Phoenix Group has become the first UK insurer and the largest insurer to date, to join the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF)

Insurance Europe has published its response to a roadmap consultation by the European Commission on its supervisory data strategy for the EU financial system

Insurance Europe and Invest Europe have published a joint position paper calling on the European Commission to make improvements to SII to remove unnecessary barriers that undermine insurers’ ability to invest in long-term equities

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to block Aon’s proposed $30bn (£21.5bn) acquisition of Willis Towers Watson (WTW)

The Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform (TIGRR) has reported its recommendations to the Prime Minister on how the UK can reshape its approach to regulation

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) is planning a Quantitative Impact Study (QIS) for the Solvency II review, and has warned insurers of the high-quality data they will soon be expected to share in a tight window

Phoenix Group has discontinued talks regarding the potential sale of its European businesses, Phoenix Europe

Sam Woods has been reappointed by Her Majesty the Queen as deputy governor of the Bank of England with responsibility for prudential regulation, and chief executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) will divest from four companies, including insurer AIG, due to their insufficient action to address the risks posed by climate change

Moody’s Investors Service has changed its outlook for the global life insurance sector to stable from negative for 2021

Eighty-four per cent of European institutional investors are starting to adopt thematic approaches in their portfolios, according to a survey by Vontobel Asset Management

Six US insurers in Q1 2021 picked up shares of digital currency investment vehicles offered by Grayscale Investments, LLC, S&P Global Market Intelligence has said

Insurance commissioners Mike Kreidler of Washington and Ricardo Lara of California have formally asked all insurers that are currently required to report to them annually on climate change to start reporting their climate risks in alignment with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)

Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has provided £175m (€203m) of senior secured
debt funding, as sole investor, for a further 18 solar parks

Investors managing more than $41trn in assets have released a new joint statement to all world governments urging a global race-to-the-top on climate policy and warning that laggards will miss out on trillions of dollars in investment if they aim too low and move too slow

State Street has appointed Jason Knight as global head of the firm’s insurance segment

Varma has invested €230m in the Sustainable Climate Corporate Bond Funds of State Street Global Advisors

Private debt is to take on a “more significant role” in investors’ portfolios in 2021, according to NN Investment Partners (NN IP)

Aon’s $30bn bid for Willis Towers Watson is expected to get the EU antitrust go ahead by early July, according to reports

French insurers, Covéa and SCOR, have announced the signing of a settlement agreement following a series of legal battles

The regulatory risk-based capital (RBC) ratios of non-life insurers in Sri Lanka is expected to normalise in the medium-term, according to Fitch Ratings

Schroders and German insurer, Gothaer, are to jointly offer an ESG orientated open real estate fund

Legal & General has agreed a £17m full scheme buy-in transaction with John Good & Sons Limited Pension Scheme

Two insurance regulators have called on US insurers to start reporting their climate risks in alignment with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, António Guterres, has said that Glasgow COP26 must “signal the end” of coal

Phoenix Group has announced the appointment of Michela Bariletti as new chief credit officer within its asset management team

French mutual insurer, Macif, has confirmed its intention to raise Euro subordinated debt in the capital market to finance part of its Aviva France acquisition

The Bank of England (BoE) has published details of its Climate Biennial Exploratory Scenario (CBES) to explore the financial risks posed by climate change for the UK’s largest banks and insurers

Insurers are supporting French tech companies with investments that will reach €3.2bn by the end of 2021, according to the French Insurance Federation

Aegon UK has announced that it has now moved more than £5bn of its workplace default assets into ESG strategies

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has declared that Danish firm, Gefion Insurance, has failed

The total cost facing the global insurance industry to implement IFRS 17 is estimated to be between $15bn and $20bn, according to Willis Towers Watson (WTW)

The US property & casualty (P&C) industry saw its net underwriting income fall in first-quarter 2021 by 53% as compared with the same prior-year period, according to preliminary financial results

DWS Group and Assicurazioni Generali SpA are among the suitors that have submitted initial bids this week for the asset management arm of NN Group NV

The demand for equity funds reached an all-time high in Q1 2021, according to the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA)

French net life insurance inflows were positive for the month of April 2021, at €1.6bn, and reached €6.4bn for the first four months of the year, the French Insurance Federation has said

The trend of alternative investment managers (Alt IMs) partnering with and/or investing directly in life insurance companies is expected to continue, Fitch Ratings has said

Trans Mountain insurer and Lloyd’s of London syndicate Argo Group has pledged to cut ties with the existing Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline when its current insurance policy expires on 31 August 2021, and to not insure the Trans Mountain Expansion Project

Intact Financial Corporation (Intact) has announced the successful completion of its joint bid with Tryg A/S (Tryg), to acquire RSA Insurance Group for a total cash consideration of approximately £7.2bn

Insurance Europe’s general assembly has unanimously voted to extend the mandate of Andreas Brandstetter as president for a further three years

PPM America (PPM) has announced the addition of senior managing director, Andrew Coupe, who will lead the firm’s newly expanded US Insurance distribution efforts

Groupama Asset Management has appointed Xavier Hoche as chief investment officer (CIO)

The Association of Mutual Insurers and Insurance Cooperatives in Europe (AMICE), has announced that Galit Saar, head of group regulatory affairs and senior adviser for the Swedish mutual Länsförsäkringar AB has been elected to the AMICE Board by AMICE’s Annual General Meeting of members

Germany’s life insurance coverage ratio has been recorded at 374%

Large Swiss banks and insurance companies will now have to provide qualitative and quantitative information about risks they face from climate change, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has said

NFU Mutual has selected Invest|ProTM from Financial Risk Solutions (FRS) to support the investment administration of its £6bn unitised life insurance business

Tokio Marine Holdings has announced its new initiatives for achieving carbon neutrality for its business activities by 2050 by reducing CO2 emission toward 2030 and by increasing the share of renewable sources in its power consumption

US insurance companies had $36.9bn in ETFs in general accounts as of 31 December, an 18.4% increase from the year before, according to a report from S&P Dow Jones Indices

The European Council has appointed Petra Hielkema as the chairperson of EIOPA

The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has announced the addition of five new members managing nearly US$1trn of assets between them

American International Group (AIG) has named Geoff Cornell chief investment officer, replacing Douglas Dachille who is leaving the company, effective 30 June

Superior capital-adjusted returns under Solvency II and resilient performance during the COVID-19 crisis is making Asian investment grade bonds particularly attractive to European insurers

Insurance companies are lagging behind the finance sector’s push to embrace ESG investment, with few of the world’s largest insurers considering climate change, biodiversity loss and human rights violations in their underwriting decisions

Over three quarters (78%) of European institutional investors and wealth managers expect to see an increase in the use of ETFs to access Chinese asset classes over the next three years

The availability of data is the single greatest test UK financial sector firms expect to face over the next five years in order to address climate risk, according to a survey of leading financial institutions by Willis Towers Watson (WTW)

Allianz Holdings CEO Jon Dye is to step down after eight years at the end of November 2021, and will be replaced by Colm Holmes, currently CEO of Aviva General Insurance

UNIQA’s investment income increased by 67.4% to €150.1m in Q1 2021, compared to the same period in 2020

The PRA is considering ways in which the process of obtaining authorisation for new insurers can be made more efficient whilst still ensuring appropriate prudential standards

Forty-five per cent of European institutional investors and wealth managers expect more corporate credit downgrades and defaults over the next nine months, new research commissioned by fixed income ETF provider Tabula Investment Management Limited has said

The PRA has today published its 2021/22 Business Plan, setting out its strategy, workplan, and budget

A Solvency II (SII) capital charge of 100% should apply to any equity and corporate bond investments in new fossil fuel assets among (re)insurance companies, Insure Our Future has argued

The Bank of England (BoE) has unveiled plans to make its corporate bond purchase scheme (CBPS) more 'green' as the UK government aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050

MS&AD Insurance Group has set a goal of net zero CO2 emissions by FY 2050 to resolve the global risk of climate change

US insurers reported holdings of Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) capital stock with a book/adjusted carrying value (BACV) of $6.3m in 2020, up from $5.2bn in 2019, latest figures published by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) have shown

Results from the climate change stress tests carried out by the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution show very modest financial impacts for French financial institutions, Fitch Ratings has said

The UK government is consulting on amendments to the insolvency arrangements for insurers, which would enable authorities to better manage insurer distress in an orderly manner

Royal London has announced the appointment of Vidur Bahree as group investment director

Fitch Ratings has revised its rating outlook for the US life insurance industry to stable from negative

SCOR CEO Denis Kessler has decided to relinquish, for personal reasons, his duties as CEO at the end of this current term of office, which is due to expire at the General Meeting of 30 June 2021

Climate scenario analysis will be key to net-zero success, BoE executive director Sarah Breeden, has said

ABI director general Huw Evans is to stand down from his current role at the end of the year

Italian insurance group Unipol Gruppo has selected the Moody’s Analytics Climate Pathway Scenario Service to facilitate its efforts to embed climate risk into its Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA)

Manulife Investment Management has named Christoph Schumacher as global head of real assets, private markets, responsible for defining the firm's private real assets strategy and growth of investment solutions

Phoenix Group Holdings has confirmed that it is in "advanced discussions" in respect of a potential sale of its European businesses, following rumours and press speculation

Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) has issued an update to its coal policy, following a report exposing its insurance of coal power plants in the Czech Republic and other EU countries

Total assets of China’s insurance companies amounted to RMB 24.3trn at the end of Q1 2021, up by 4.1% from the beginning of the year, latest figures have shown

Japan Post’s net income rose by 10.2% in the year to end-March 2021, its latest financial results have revealed

CNP Assurances has reported a consolidated SCR coverage ratio of 217% as at 31 March 2021 versus 208% at end-2020

Resolution Life has completed its recent round of capital raising, adding a further c.$1.6bn

Swiss Life Holding AG (Swiss Life Holding), Swiss Life (Liechtenstein) AG (Swiss Life Liechtenstein), Swiss Life (Singapore) Pte. Ltd (Swiss Life Singapore) and Swiss Life (Luxembourg) S.A. (Swiss Life Luxembourg), collectively known as the Swiss Life Entities, have admitted to conspiring with US taxpayers to hide assets and income in offshore accounts

Insurers are “predestined partners” for the green transformation of the economy and sustainable infrastructure, GDV general manager Jörg Asmussen has said

The US insurance industry reported $7.5trn in total cash and invested assets at year-end 2020, an increase of 7.7% compared to year-end 2019

Beazley has recorded an investment return of $27m for Q1 2021 compared to a loss of $55m in the same period last year

Aon and Willis Towers Watson (WTW) have signed a definitive agreement to sell Willis Re and a set of WTW corporate risk and broking, and health and benefits services, to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Gallagher) for $3.57bn

Aegon NV has reported a significant decline in net profit for Q1 2021, though still ahead of market expectations

Zurich’s Swiss Solvency Test (SST) ratio rose by 19 percentage points over Q1 2021 to 201%, driven by favourable market conditions and the successful placement of US$1.75bn of subordinated debt

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has joined UN Environment Programme’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative (PSI)

KLP has secured “solid returns” of NOK 4.7bn in Q1 2021, with value-adjusted returns on customers’ funds of 1.5% and a book return of 1.4%

Everest Re has announced that Jim Williamson, executive vice president and group chief operating officer will assume additional responsibilities as the head of the Everest reinsurance division effective immediately

Aegon has announced that Maarten Edixhoven will step down as CEO of Aegon the Netherlands and member of the management board

Skandia is investing SEK 600m in a new bond issued by the City of Gothenburg

The general insurance industry in India is projected to grow from INR1.9trn (US$27.7bn) in 2019 to INR2.9trn (US$36.4 bn) in 2024, in terms of gross written premium (GWP), according to GlobalData

Italian total life and non-life premium income was €143.4bn in 2020, a decrease of 4.3% compared to 2019, according to Italy's IVASS

French net life insurance inflows were positive at +€1bn in March 2021, the French Insurance Federation (FFA) has said

Manulife has announced a net zero emissions by 2050 commitment across its full range of investments and operations

Metlife’s net investment income has been recorded at $5.3bn for Q1 2021, up 74% from Q1 2020, driven by increases in the estimated fair value of certain securities that do not qualify as separate accounts under GAAP and higher variable investment income primarily due to higher private equity returns

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has launched its 2021 insurance stress test for the European insurance market today

Storebrand has delivered a quarterly profit of NOK 870m in Q1 2021, driven by continued growth in assets under management (AUM) and insurance premiums

Insurers’ exposures to macro risks remain at a high level while all other risk categories remain at a medium level, according to EIOPA’s Risk Dashboard based on the fourth quarter of 2020 Solvency II data

Talanx has recorded a return on investment of 3.5% in Q1 2021, up from 2.7% a year earlier

Insurance Asset Management is delighted to present a must-attend day and evening of networking, discussion, and celebration of the UK and global insurance investment space; designed for insurance companies, providers and individuals alike

Allianz has become the majority shareholder in Jubilee General Insurance Limited in Kenya

Against a background of increased legislative and regulatory scrutiny of companies’ sustainability practices, investor pressure is emerging as another important driver of environmental, social and governance (ESG) action, particularly for reinsurers, new research from AM Best has suggested

Green bonds are the most popular choice of sustainable fixed-income options for institutional investors, according to NN Investment Partners (NN IP)

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has progressed its work on the comparability assessment project – an initiative that will ascertain whether the Aggregation Method (AM) provides comparable outcomes to the Insurance Capital Standard (ICS)

Talanx Group is aiming to reduce CO2 intensity in its liquid investment portfolio by 30% by 2025, it has announced

Dutch insurers’ overall financial profiles were resilient to the coronavirus pandemic, Fitch Ratings has said

BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) has appointed Olivier de Larouzière as chief investment officer for global fixed income

French insurers have been urged to speed up their response to climate change by France’s banking regulator (ACPR)

EIOPA has launched a consultation on Interbank Offered Rates (IBOR) transitions

Zurich took a 40-point hit on its solvency ratio over 2020, its Financial Condition Report 2020 has revealed

The risk management among UK life insurers of illiquid assets is of “particular concern” to the PRA, with latest figures showing MA portfolios have increased since the start of 2018 by 30%, to around £335bn

Finnish pension insurance company, Elo, returned close to €1bn in the first quarter of 2021, it has revealed

Varma recorded the best quarterly investment result in the company’s history in January-March 2021, with a return on investments at 6% ( Q1 2020: -10%) or €3bn and the total value of investments growing to €52.9bn

Just 27% of insurers are aligning their underwriting portfolios with a net zero carbon world, suggesting insurers’ transition plans are currently focused on their investments, new research published by CDP has shown

Aon is set to gain conditional EU antitrust approval for its pending $30bn mega-merger with Willis Towers Watson (WTW) without having to propose additional concessions, sources have told Reuters

The hedge fund industry is lagging its peers when it comes to integrating ESG investment factors, a new survey conducted by bfinance has found

Total premiums in the Austrian non-life insurance sector grew by 2.8% in 2020, down from 4.4% in 2019, but still higher than the country’s GDP growth

Arch Capital has confirmed it has not and will not issue any insurance policies covering the Adani Carmichael coal mine

New York Life has announced a $1bn impact investment initiative with the aim to address the racial wealth gap by investing in underserved and undercapitalised communities over the next three years with a focus on supporting small businesses, affordable housing, and community development

Hiscox has announced that Kevin Kerridge will succeed Steve Langan as CEO of Hiscox USA, effective from the 15th May 2021

AXA has allocated €2bn to the Prêts Participatifs Relance to strengthen SME capital in France

Generali Global Infrastructure (GGI) has appointed Jonathan Aiach as investor relations director

France’s non-life insurance segment SCR ratio decreased only slightly in 2020 to 265%, down from 270% at year-end 2019, due in part to strong ALM programmes that limit the impact of interest rate movements

Standard Life Aberdeen is to change its name to Abrdn

A short-term disruption in infrastructure investment as a result of COVID-19 is occurring, a report by Swiss Re has shown, however the reinsurer noted that the long-term trend has remained the same

Travelers has announced its commitment to become carbon neutral across its owned operations by 2030

Italian life and non-life insurers’ exposure to the country’s government debt “remains considerable”, despite efforts to reduce it, AM Best has said

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released for consultation its draft guidance to banks, insurers and superannuation trustees on managing the financial risks of climate change

The calculated ultimate forward rate (UFR) in 2022 for the euro will be 3.45%, EIOPA has said

The European Commission (EC) has adopted a package of measures to help improve the flow of money towards sustainable activities across the European Union

Eighty-three per cent of global insurers now evaluate ESG in their investment processes, in comparison to just 32% in 2017, latest figures have shown

Russell Investments has pledged to manage carbon-neutral portfolios by 2050

HSBC Asset Management has appointed Paul Griffiths as its new global head of institutional business

BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) has appointed Alex Bernhardt as global head of sustainability research within its sustainability centre

Seven of the world’s leading insurers and reinsurers, working together with the UN Environment Programme, are currently in the process of establishing a Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA)

Munich Re expects to report a preliminary net profit of around €600m for the first-quarter of 2021, which is significantly above analyst consensus, cited as €466m, and well above Q1 2020’s €221m

Around 25% of German life insurers rely on transitional measures to meet the solvency requirements under Solvency II, according to Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin)

Using a total portfolio approach and active management of Chinese assets will allow institutional investors gain the long-term diversification and expected return benefits from adding these assets without a negative impact on their overall sustainability profile, new research has shown

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has issued an Opinion on the supervision of the use of climate change scenarios in the Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) addressed to national supervisory authorities

Chinese life insurers’ credit exposure to defaults “remains a key risk” with rising defaults in China’s credit markets occurring, according to Fitch Ratings

Publicly traded US P&C insurers performed “unexpectedly well” in 2020 despite extraordinary negative factors, generating operating income of $82.1bn, according to a new AM Best special report

Swiss Re has reported a group solvency ratio of 215%, marking a decrease of 17 percentage points year-on-year, as measured by the Swiss solvency test (SST)

Invesco has been named as an alternatives partner for Canopius Group

UNIQA’s capital requirement ratio was measured at 170% on 31 December 2020, despite a sharp decline in interest rates

The life insurance industry in Malaysia is projected to grow from MYR50.70bn (US$11.98bn) in 2020 to MYR65.86bn (US$15.68bn) in 2025, in terms of gross written premium, according to GlobalData

Statutory capital for Fitch Ratings’ universe of life insurance companies grew 5.8% in 2020 to $437bn from $413bn as of year-end 2019

MassMutual will transition both its portfolio and operations to net zero, advancing a decarbonised economy

Länsförsäkringar's investments in green, social and thematic (sustainability-oriented) bonds on behalf of customers increased by approximately SEK 7.5bn in 2020

Canada Life has appointed Lindsey Rix as UK CEO following the departure of Doug Brown late last year

Tokio Marine Kiln (TMK) has publicly committed to not participate in ‘any future underwriting’ of Adani’s Carmichael coal mine and rail project

Willis Towers Watson Investments is targeting net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at the latest, with at least a 50% reduction by 2030, in its fully discretionary delegated investment portfolios

Aviva Singlife Holdings Pte, the holding company established following the merger of Aviva and Singapore Life Pte, has appointed Kim Rosenkilde as group chief investment officer

The FCA is looking to consult “by mid-year” on proposals for TCFD-aligned disclosures by asset managers, life insurers and FCA-regulated pension providers

State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) has appointed Gerben Lagerwaard as head of continental Europe, global institutional group, effective immediately

Over two thirds of institutional investors (67%) expect the level of allocation into commodities to increase during 2021, according to new research with 150 European institutional investors and wealth managers with a combined AUM of $292.8bn

Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has appointed Macquarie Asset Management to manage a new US privately-sourced debt mandate

The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) is increasing its focus on climate change matters with the introduction of a regulatory and supervisory team specialising in the licensing
and supervision of innovative business model proposals to address climate change risk and the associated protection gap

The emergence of COVID-19 in 2020 added new challenges to publicly traded life/annuity (L/A) insurers and led to a 31% drop in net income to $14.3 billion, according to a new AM Best special report

New Zealand has become the first country to introduce a law requiring banks, insurers and investment managers to report the impacts of climate change on their business

Hiscox has appointed Robert Dietrich as the new CEO of Hiscox Europe

Athora’s assets under administration grew to €83bn during the year ending 31 December 2020, a rise of €68bn

Varma has invested €200m in the sustainable ETF by the global asset management firm BlackRock

Total capital dedicated to the global reinsurance industry measured US$658bn at year-end 2020 reflecting 7% year-on-year growth

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance is planning to spend up to 500bn yen ($4.5bn) on mergers and acquisitions through 2023, creating an M&A fund with a focus on North America, Nikkei has learned

The European insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published the results from its yearly study on the modelling of market and credit risk (MCRCS)

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released for consultation a package designed to address concerns regarding the increased use of offshore reinsurers by life insurers

BlackRock Real Assets has successfully achieved a US$4.8bn final close of Global Renewable Power Fund III (GRP III or the Fund) with commitments from over 100 institutional investors, including leading public and private pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations and family offices from over 18 countries globally

Iberdrola and MAPFRE are collaborating closely in the energy area having signed a strategic alliance to make joint investments in renewable energies in Spain

MPs and peers have criticised LV= of being “less than candid” with its 1.25 million members about a £530m plan to sell the mutual insurer to Bain Capital

Aviva has completed a £26m bulk purchase annuity buy-in transaction with the trustees of the Association of British Insurers Pension & Assurance Scheme

Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) subsidiary Farmers Group, Inc. (FGI) and Farmers Exchanges have completed the acquisition of MetLife’s property and casualty (P&C) business in the US for a purchase price of US$3.94bn

BlackRock has hired Paul Bodnar to lead its sustainable investing platform and its global initiative to help clients create more sustainable, more resilient investment portfolios

Campaigners are targeting Generali and Zurich in two separate appeals for climate action

Hungary's interior ministry has blocked a planned takeover of Dutch insurer Aegon's AEGN.AS Hungarian arm by Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) VIGR.VI

Amundi has entered into exclusive negotiations with Société Générale for the acquisition of Lyxor for a total cash consideration of €825m, or €755m excluding excess capital

The European CLO market has witnessed some of the busiest monthly activity in a decade due to favourable market conditions

A negative outlook on the UK non-life insurance segment has been maintained by AM Best

Crédito Agrícola Vida (CA Vida) will use Moody’s Analytics RiskIntegrity™ for IFRS 17 solution to address the new IFRS 17 accounting standard

AXA has announced the successful placement of €1bn of subordinated green bonds due 2041

French net life insurance inflows in February 2021 were positive at +€1.6bn, despite an uncertain economic and financial environment, the French Insurance Federation (FFA) has said

The structural demand growth of the bulk annuity market is likely to persist over the next three to five years, Fitch Ratings has said

Financial institutions, national competent authorities and market participants should prepare for an expected deterioration of asset quality in 2021, three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) have said in their first joint risk assessment report of 2021

Institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds (SWF) gradually increased their exposure to risk assets as financial markets rebounded last year, according to new research

Folksam Group has published new climate targets for 2025 for its investment portfolios, where the climate footprint from equities, corporate bonds and real estate will be reduced by 29%

The United States and the United Kingdom have held the first meeting of the Joint Committee established under the U.S.-UK Agreement on Prudential Measures Regarding Insurance and Reinsurance (the Agreement)

Mercer has targeted net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 for UK, European and Asian clients with discretionary portfolios and the majority of its multi-client, multi asset funds domiciled in Ireland

Vaudoise has seen its turnover increase by 3.2% to 1.18bn Swiss francs

The vast majority of institutional investors and wealth managers plan to increase their exposure to alternative asset classes in the next two years

Lloyd's of London has reported a loss of £900m for 2020 following a surge in claims due to the coronavirus crisis

Zurich is implementing a 25% cut in carbon intensity planned for listed equity and corporate bond investments by 2025

A national supervisor’s focus on an insurer’s corporate governance structures should be risk-based and proportionate to the characteristics of each company, European insurers have argued

The Allstate Corporation has agreed to a transaction in which Wilton Re will pay $220m to acquire Allstate Life Insurance Company of New York

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has published a consultation document to seek views on what the board's priorities should be over the next five years

European institutional investors predict that inflows into Chinese fixed income will increase in 2021, according to a survey by NTree

BlackRock and Vanguard are among 43 investment firms managing more than $22.8trn of assets that are joining the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, according to a statement today

China Life Insurance is looking to continue increasing its exposure to longer-term government bonds, but is concerned about a potential rise in onshore credit defaults

Legislative amendments on the group-wide supervision (GWS) framework and regulatory regime of insurance-linked securities (ILS) business have become effective today, Hong Kong’s Insurance Authority (IA) has said

AllianzGI has joined the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative

Sun Life has over $60bn invested in assets and businesses that support the transition to a low-carbon and more inclusive economy

A letter spearheaded by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is asking AIG, Berkshire Hathaway, Chubb, Liberty Mutual, Travelers and other US insurers to explain how their fossil fuel underwriting and investment policies align with their sustainability commitments

Aviva has agreed to sell its entire shareholding in Aviva Poland to Allianz for a cash consideration of €2.5bn

Cattolica Assicurazioni has seen its solvency ratio boosted from 161% to 187% as at 31 December 2020, thanks to the capital increase of €300m subscribed by Generali last October

Around 6% of Norwegian life insurance and non-life insurance companies’ equity and bond investments are climate sensitive, calculations made by Finanstilsynet have shown

French insurers had €2,658bn of assets under management last year, up slightly on 2019, the French Insurance Federation (FFA) has said

Aon has committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2030

Green bond issuance has hit a new monthly record in March, boosted by sovereign issuance

State Street Corporation has announced that it has appointed Vincent Georgel-O’Reilly as regional segment head for alternatives in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA)

Vontobel Asset Management has announced the expansion of its fixed income team with four new hires across its Zurich and New York offices

Storebrand has issued a new 30.5NC10.5 €300m green subordinated bond issue with a fixed coupon of 1,875% p.a

The US life/annuity (L/A) insurance industry saw its net income cut nearly in half in 2020, to $24bn from $45bn

Italian insurer Generali has submitted a bid for the Polish assets of London-based insurer Aviva

The Hartford today announced that its board of directors has unanimously rejected rival insurer Chubb’s unsolicited proposal to acquire the US insurer for $23.24bn

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has shortlisted three candidates for the role of chairperson, replacing Gabriel Bernardino

A project investigating how it is possible to use AI and machine learning to find patterns between environmental indicators and environmental controversies is now underway, Länsförsäkringar Liv has said

The majority of Bermudian insurers have not planned or implemented changes to business strategy in response to climate change, but the vast majority have incorporated it as part of their risk management framework, a new report published by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) has shown

New insurance regulations have been passed in Trinidad & Tobago after a decade of consideration, with some market participants believing this potentially could lead to some companies becoming acquisition targets in the long term

The Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) has joined the United Nations Global Compact – the world’s largest corporate responsibility and sustainability initiative

The life insurance industry in Australia is projected to decline at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.9% from AU$34.8bn (US$23.6bn) in 2020 to AU$33.3bn (US$22.7bn) in 2025, in terms of gross written premium (GWP), due to the macroeconomic challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and structural reforms, according to GlobalData

The International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) has set up an ad hoc working group to discuss ESG transparency of asset-backed securities (ABS)

Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) has successfully placed sustainability senior notes with an aggregate principal amount of €500m with institutional investors in Austria and abroad

Chubb has approached rival The Hartford with an unsolicited $23.2bn takeover offer

The implementation of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority's (EIOPA) latest proposals on the review of the Solvency II regulatory framework by the European Commission (EC), the European Council and the European Parliament could decrease the risk-taking capacity of EU insurers by around €60bn, Insurance Europe has argued

The total investment portfolio managed by insurers in Europe grew 4.2% to €10,433bn in 2019, after a 1.6% decline in 2018

The outlook for Italian life insurers has changed to stable from negative, following the easing of immediate pressure from the worsening financial market conditions in the first part of last year, Moody’s Investors Service has said

Sun Life has set a goal to invest an additional c.$20bn in sustainable investments over the next five years across its general account and third party investments

AM Best has become the first credit rating agency to become a signatory of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) FI Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI)

Generali is studying an acquisition in Russia worth nearly €2bn ($2.4bn), Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore has reported

AIA is to pull out of all coal investments by 2028

The PRA favours a shift towards more rule-making as part of proposed reforms to the architecture of financial regulation as “we enter the brave new world of post-brexit Britain”, deputy governor for prudential regulation and chief executive officer of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), Sam Woods has said

MAPFRE is foreseeing a solvency ratio close to 200%

The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) has provided six key recommendations as part of its response to the European Commission’s consultation on the creation of a European Single Access Point for financial and non-financial information publicly disclosed by companies

Proposed tightening of EU solvency rules have been criticised by a Danish industry association as they could limit investments, including those made as part of the green transition

Swiss Re has announced a carbon reduction target for its investment portfolio of 35% by 2025

Aviva has completed its tender offer for notes totalling £1bn, in a bid to reduce debt

Talanx saw its gross written premiums increase to €41.1bn for financial year 2020, up from €39.5bn a year earlier

MAPFRE is forecasting premium growth of 3% over 2021, as well as net earnings of more than €700m

Insurance Europe has said there is “no need” for a separate COVID-19 supervisory statement regarding the own risk and solvency assessment (ORSA)

Mexico’s insurance companies are expected to remain able to meet regulatory capital requirements despite a downswing in the credit quality of fixed income investments, which is being driven by action on the country’s sovereign debt rating and issues at its heavily indebted oil company

Zurich is ending relationships with its carbon-intensive clients, it has said

AXA has revealed that Antoine Gosset-Grainville will be the new chairman of its board of directors, effective April 2022, upon the retirement of current chairman Denis Duverne

The majority (79%) of institutional investors and wealth managers expect to see an increased allocation to metal exchange traded commodities (ETCs) over the next two years

The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has welcomed Germany’s insurance industry association GDV as a supporting partner – the first insurance industry association to become a supporter of the Alliance

The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) has urged the European Commission (EC) to reflect the “game-changer” recommendations on sustainability reporting by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG)

Leading European insurers are being urged to cease underwriting gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in order to be in line with a 1.5°C pathway

Legal & General's operating profit dipped 3% to £2.22bn in 2020 from £2.29bn in 2019

The number of credit rating downgrades in the US P&C industry fell by more than half the number seen in the previous year, with affirmations also rising despite more-frequent disasters and pandemic spread, according to a new AM Best special report

Cécile Fresneau has been promoted to take the helm of QBE European operations’ insurance division, overseeing the business in Europe and international markets in addition to the UK

Eighty-five per cent of institutional investors and wealth managers who already have an allocation to Bitcoin plan to increase their investment in the cryptocurrency over the next two years

Asset managers face “significant” compliance costs to adapt to the new EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure rule which starts to take effect from today, a new report published by Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) has said

The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) has launched its Net Zero Investment Framework, with 21 asset owners using it to commit to achieve net zero alignment by 2050, or sooner.