Nordic financial services firm, Nordea, has completed the purchase of Danish insurance company Topdanmark’s life and pensions business, Topdanmark Life

Allianz Global Investors has announced that Jenny Zeng will join the firm in the New Year to succeed David Tan as CIO Asia fixed income

A number of global insurers have signed up to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) 'Advance', a collaborative stewardship initiative on social issues and human rights

Registration is now open for the 2023 Sustainable Investment Summit, a one-day conference offering pension funds, insurance companies, charities, and corporates, the opportunity to both learn and network alongside their peers at such a key time for the sustainable investment industry

The proportion of SFDR Article 8 and 9 unit-linked funds on insurers’ platforms in Europe is expected to grow by an average of 15 percentage points to 32% over the next 12 to 24 months, therefore creating opportunities for external asset managers, latest research by Cerulli has shown

Zurich's subsidiary, Zurich Investments Life S.p.A., has completed the sale of its life and pensions back book, composed of both traditional and unit-linked policies, to the Portuguese insurance company GamaLife – Companhia de Seguros de Vida, S.A. (GamaLife)

Dutch insurer, a.s.r., has launched and priced a €1bn subordinated Tier 2 capital instrument

The share of investments managed by German insurance companies based on ESG criteria has increased to 88% up to 82% in 2021, according to latest figures published by the German Insurance Association (GDV)

The financial leverage of Europe’s leading insurers rose to a record high of 28.2% on average in H1 2022, according to Moody’s

Twenty-eight per cent of professional investors believe institutional investors will dramatically increase allocations to arbitrage hedge funds, while 46% believe they will slightly increase them over the next 12 months, new research published by Managing Partners Group (MPG) has shown

SCOR has completed a £1.7bn longevity reinsurance transaction covering the pensions of over 15,000 members of the defined benefit section of the Balfour Beatty Pension Fund

Dutch insurer, Achmea, has printed a €500m green senior bond, the inaugural issuance under its Green Finance Framework (GFF)

Aviva Investors has made an £80m (€91.5m) investment in UK social housing provider Cross Keys Homes (CKH), on behalf of Aviva UK Life’s annuity business

Total assets of Chinese insurance companies amounted to RMB 26.7trn at the end of Q3 2022, an increase of RMB 1.8trn and up by 7.3% from the beginning of the year, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has revealed

Just 6% of institutional investors globally say that asset managers excel in communicating and evidencing their ESG approaches, indicating there is an opportunity for other asset managers to step forward as investors look to shake-up their investment manager line-ups, research published by Coalition Greenwich has revealed

Norwegian life insurers have recorded significantly weaker results in Q1 to Q3 2022 compared to the same period last year, with profits before tax falling from NOK 8.5bn to NOK 432m, figures published by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (Finanstilsynet) have shown

AM Best is maintaining a stable market segment outlook on the US life/annuity insurance industry for 2023, citing factors that include favourable earnings, strong liquidity profiles and strong levels of risk-adjusted capitalisation among carriers

Pictet Asset Management (Pictet AM) has strengthened its fixed income offering with the recruitment of four private debt specialists

Credit fundamentals will worsen in the French non-life insurance sector while remaining broadly unchanged in life in the next 12 months, as insurers adapt to new market and macroeconomic regime, Fitch Ratings has said

Schroders has strengthened its Asia fixed income team with the appointment of a credit specialist

DWS head of the investment division Stefan Kreuzkamp is stepping down, effective the end of 2022, and is leaving the company by mutual agreement after 24 years

The winners of the Insurance Asset Management Awards 2022 were announced last night at a gala ceremony in London

Germany’s largest public insurer and seventh largest primary insurer, Versicherungskammer Group, has joined the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA), and committed to making its investment portfolio climate-neutral by 2050

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has published liquidity metrics as an ancillary indicator for its Global Monitoring Exercise (GME)

The UK’s Solvency II reform is likely to drive investment portfolio restructuring, AM Best has said, with the agency also emphasising that the expansion of asset options for UK annuity writers should assist the industry in sourcing assets to meet expected high demand for pension risk transfer (PRT) solutions over the coming years

The Helvetia Venture Fund is acquiring a stake in the start-up Urban Connect

BlueOrchard Finance has launched a listed impact strategy for Daido Life Insurance of the T&D Insurance Group

CNP Assurances has strengthened its commitment to biodiversity by supporting the launch of a thematic fund initiated by La Banque Postale Asset Management with Tocqueville Finance, with a €120m investment

European insurance M&A deals for 2022 continue to run at an all-time high of 292, compared to 280 in Q1-Q3 2021 and 190 during the same period in 2020, as investors pursue opportunities to deploy unspent capital despite geopolitical tensions, economic turmoil and the rising cost of debt financing, according to FTI Consulting

Alexander Sarrigeorgiou, chairman of the Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies, and chair and CEO of Eurolife, has been elected vice-president of Insurance Europe, with a mandate running until June 2025.

AM Best is maintaining its negative market segment outlook on Argentina’s insurance market, citing a difficult macroeconomic environment

The US pension risk transfer market is expected to close at $27bn in Q3, the largest Q3 on record and the second largest in market history, according to Legal & General Retirement America's (LGRA) latest Pension Risk Transfer Monitor

Legal & General has agreed a £400m buy-in with the TT Group (1993) Pension Scheme, securing the benefits of circa 5,000 retirees and deferred members

EIOPA has underlined its commitment to supporting the insurance and pensions sectors in tackling climate change as the the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) draws to a close

Varma has revealed it is starting to monitor more closely the amount of financing that banks acting as its investment brokers provide to companies that rely on coal and oil in their operations

CNP Assurances has confirmed its acquisition of the shares held by Caixa Seguridade in CNP Consórcio S.A. Administradora de Consórcios, raising its shareholding to 100%

Baloise has confirmed it has successfully issued a six and a half year senior bond with a coupon of 2.20%, for a total size of CHF 225m

The Chancellor has announced new plans to reform the regulations around Solvency II rules.

In his Autumn Statement today, Jeremy Hunt said the move will be part of a bid to unlock “tens of billions of pounds” of investment from the UK’s insurers

Annuity sales have been on a tear in 2022 largely due to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate rises, which have allowed insurers to raise crediting rates on their fixed and indexed annuities, according to Cerulli

The general insurance industry in Singapore is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.2% to 2026, GlobalData has stated

abrdn has announced the launch of its Inflation Linked Infrastructure Debt (ILID) fund, an evergreen, UK-focused strategy for institutional investors

The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company has announced a $50m investment in a farmland strategy fund managed by Nuveen Natural Capital

Ageas has announced that Wim Guilliams is to succeed Christophe Boizard as the firm’s CFO

The three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), the EBA, EIOPA and ESMA, have today published a Call for Evidence on greenwashing

Just 56% of investors are either “very” or “quite” satisfied with their overall performance so far, a new study by bfinance has indicated

Insurance Ireland has welcomed the publication of the third implementation report of the Action Plan for insurance reform

Talanx has reported that it is on course to achieve its targets for the year, having significantly increased its its premium income and consolidated profit in the first nine months of the year

EIB Global, the dedicated arm for outside the EU of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group and Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) have announced a $100m investment for renewable energy projects

AIG has announced that it has entered into an agreement to secure Peter Zaffino’s employment until 10 November 2027

The interest rate applicable to earnings-related pension insurance contributions is to rise to 2.45% at the beginning of next year, according to Varma

PIC and Octopus Real Estate have announced they are to build a £115m retirement community in Hertfordshire

Enstar has announced that one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries has closed its loss portfolio transfer transaction with specialty insurance underwriter, Argo Group

Varma has made a €50m investment in an emerging markets corporate bond fund

Insurers are contributing up to $5.5trn per year to global financial resilience through insurance claims and benefit payouts, the Geneva Association has estimated

Aviva has reported that the value of new business (VNB) in the UK and Ireland life insurance space totalled £466m in Q3, a figure up 46% on last year

The Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative has announced that a total of 86 asset managers have disclosed their initial targets for the proportion of assets managed in line with achieving net zero by 2050, the largest group of firms to date

Baloise and UBS have strengthened their strategic partnership within the shared home and living ecosystem by increasing their stake in homeowner platform, Houzy

The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has welcomed plans for a UN roadmap to prevent net zero from being undermined by “false claims, ambiguity and greenwash”

Munich Re has reported that it achieved a profit of €527m in Q3, taking its total to €1.90bn for the first nine months of the year

Seventy-six per cent of European asset managers believe that highlighting the ESG capabilities in their marketing will grow in importance in the next two years, according to a new study

Fitch Ratings has stated that the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA) stance on capital calls will not affect instrument ratings

Generali has reached an agreement with Portuguese postal services group, CTT Group, for the distribution of life and P&C policies through the CTT Group network

M&G has announced an investment in medical diagnostic company, Osler Diagnostics

The solvency capital requirements for insurers in the UK may be relaxed in the near future following the September 2022 mini-budget, although UK insurers are not coming close to the existing limits, according to analysis by GlobalData

a.s.r. has acquired the Strekdammen wind farm from Pondera and Rebel

Monument Re has announced that its Isle of Man subsidiary, Monument International Life Assurance, has completed the acquisition of the closed book portfolio of Zurich International Life’s Singapore long-term life insurance business

Schroders has announced the appointment of Willem Schramade as its new head of sustainability client advisory

Talanx has announced it is expanding its activities in its core market of Turkey through a planned acquisition and joint venture with the Fiba Group, one of Turkey's largest companies

The Bank of England (BoE) has increased interest rates by a further 0.75%, marking the largest single rise to rates for 33 years

Insurers’ underwriting and investment strategies are to be increasingly influenced by ESG considerations in the coming years, a new report from Fitch Ratings has stated

Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has announced a £200m investment that will finance the construction of 667 residential apartments in Birmingham on an existing brownfield site

LGIM Real Assets has announced a £70m investment in Saxon Weald in the form of sustainability-linked financing

AIA has announced that its value of new business (VONB) increased by 7% in the third quarter to $741m

New mandate activities among Asian institutional investors are emerging in H2, according to a new report from Cerulli

The Chinese life insurance industry is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.3% a year until 2026, according to forecasts from GlobalData

EIOPA has published a new methodology for “assessing value for money” in the unit-linked market

Robeco has announced the launch of a new biodiversity strategy

Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has invested £50m in debt issued by the University of Bath

Lemonade has announced that it has joined the Association of British Insurers (ABI) as its latest member

Swiss Re has reported a net loss of $285m for the first nine months of 2022, driven by a $442m net loss in the third quarter

Varma has reported that half of its investments in the period between January and September generated positive returns

Nippon Life has announced a new ¥400m blue bond investment issued by Japanese seafood company, Maruha Nichiro Corporation

Proposed rules by the FCA to tackle "greenwashing" are credit positive for asset managers, Moody’s Investors Service has said, as “it will create a more robust labelling and disclosure framework for UK asset managers and boost consumer confidence in sustainable investing, supporting the industry’s growth and revenue expansion”

Aegon has reached an agreement with a.s.r. to combine its Dutch pension, life and non-life insurance, banking and mortgage origination activities with a.s.r.

Finnish pension insurance company, Elo, has reported negative returns on its investments of -4.9% for the first nine months of 2022

China's largest insurer by market value, Ping An Insurance Group, has reported a 31.5% fall in third-quarter profit on weak investment income

Chubb’s net income fell from $1.83bn in Q3 2021 to $812m in Q3 2022, its latest financial results have shown

Aflac Incorporated has announced that Eric Kirsch, executive vice president and global chief investment officer; president of Aflac Global Investments, will retire on 31 March 2023

Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has made its fourth investment, of £40m, in secured debt issued by mhs homes, a provider of social housing based in Kent

CNP Assurances has said a major effort by its European subsidiaries will help it meet its target of €25bn in green investments before end-2025, and it is also committed to doubling its impact investments to €1bn within the same timeframe

Danish insurer, Topdanmark, saw its life and pension business deliver growth in premium income of 6.5% during the first three quarters of 2022, its interim report has revealed

Dai-ichi Life has prepaid Tranche B (JPY 144bn) of its perpetual subordinated loan which was recapitalised on 8 october 2015, and at the same time refinanced with a new, perpetual subordinated loan worth JPY 64bn in order to strengthen its capital base

Financial organisations in the Netherlands have developed and published guidelines for the more than 50 financial institutions that signed the Climate Commitment in 2019

The Chinese general insurance market is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.2% from CNY 1,367.7bn ($212.1bn) in 2021 to CNY 1,943.1bn ($304.4bn) in 2026, in terms of direct written premiums, GlobalData has said

The vast majority (95%) of pension schemes have seen their buyout position improve following recent market volatility, with 23% seeing an improvement of more than 20% in their position, according to research by XPS Pensions Group

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has told insurers and banks “further progress is needed by all firms” in embedding climate risk management, and repeated its observation around the lack of robust data to support the process

Travelers has reported a 20% fall in quarterly profit, hurt by hurricane-related claims and lower returns on its investments

Allianz, AXA and Axis Capital have ranked best for their coal exit policies, according to Insure Our Future’s annual scorecard, whilst Aviva, Hannover Re and Munich Re have come out on top for their oil and gas exclusions

A £13m full scheme buy-in has been agreed between Legal & General (L&G) Assurance Society Limited and the Jarvis Limited Pension Plan

The Singapore life insurance industry is estimated to grow by 13.3% in 2022, in terms of gross written premiums (GWP)

The general insurance industry in the Netherlands will be worth €77.6bn by 2026, GlobalData has stated

Phoenix Group has announced a £111m investment in IP Group by way of long maturity private loan notes

AXA IM has announced its commitment to become a net-zero asset manager for its operations by 2050, with an interim target of reducing emissions by 26% by 2025

Talanx AG has issued two bonds with identical terms and conditions with a total volume of €1.25bn

Eight in 10 investors plan to increase their exposure to ESG strategies over the next two years, PwC’s Asset and Wealth Management Survey has revealed

Assets under management (AuM) at the world’s 500 largest asset managers reached a new record of over US$131trn in 2021, according to new research published by Thinking Ahead Institute

Less than a third (28%) of global asset owners with climate-related targets set these targets at asset-class level, research from Ninety One has revealed

The US insurance industry reported $295bn in high-yield bond investments at year-end
2021, an increase of 3% compared to year-end 2020, amid the credit markets recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NAIC has said

Crédit Agricole Assurances is enhancing its commitments for a low-carbon economy

Aegon has successfully completed the divestment of its 50% stake in the Spanish insurance joint venture with Liberbank to Unicaja Banco

Zurich intends to repurchase €500m of 4.25% fixed-to-floating dated subordinated notes due 2043

Zurich has announced the appointment of Penny Seach to the role of group chief underwriting officer

Rothesay has reported a 7% reduction in the carbon intensity (CI) of its investment portfolio

The Taiwanese life insurance industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.3%, according to calculations from GlobalData

Scottish Widows has become the first investor in BlackRock's newly launched BlackRock Global Corporate ESG Insights Bond Fund

The Sierra Club, BankTrack and a coalition of 22 advocacy groups have sent an open letter to the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM), urging it to update expectations for its members to reflect the latest Race to Zero criteria on net-zero

Resolution Life and Blackstone have announced a strategic partnership to support the continued growth of the former

PIC is to provide £102m of debt financing to support the delivery of new rolling stock to Corelink Rail Infrastructure Limited (Corelink), which will lease the trains to the operator of the West Midlands rail services

US publicly traded insurers have reported more than $200bn of unrealised losses on their fixed income portfolios through Q2 2022, as rising interest rates have diminished bond values, according to AM Best

The Bank of England (BoE) has today widened the scope of its daily gilt purchase operations to also include the purchase of index-linked gilts

The Bank of England (BoE) has increased the daily buying limit of its bond intervention from £5bn to £10bn, in an attempt to calm fears of a pension fund sell-off

Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has invested £55m as debt in Clanmil Housing Association (Clanmil)

Varma has joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which promotes emission reduction targets based on science

Ardea Investment Management has launched a new software application which allows insurers to optimise their asset allocation across the three competing objectives of return, market risk and regulatory capital as defined under the Solvency II framework

The total US life/health industry’s admitted assets of $8.1bn at the midpoint of 2022 represents a 6.1% drop compared with the same point in 2021, according to a new Best’s Rankings report

The US property/casualty industry’s six-month net premiums written rose 10.3% to $387.25bn in the first half of 2022 as several insurers made big positional gains, according to a new Best’s Ranking report

The sudden need for pension funds to put up large amounts of extra collateral due to tumbling gilt prices will lead more UK DB pension funds to favour pension risk transfer deals with life insurers over LDI arrangements with asset managers, Fitch Ratings has said

Zurich has announced today that Raul Vargas has been appointed CEO of Farmers Group, a wholly owned subsidiary, and as a member of the Zurich Group Executive Committee

Munich Re will no longer invest in or insure contracts/projects exclusively covering the planning, financing, construction or operation of new oil and gas fields, new midstream oil infrastructure and new oil fired power plants, as of 1 April 2023

A total £18bn of bulk annuities and longevity swaps were disclosed in H1 2022, according to Aon’s UK Risk Settlement Market Update, and the firm expects 2022 to be the fourth year in a row that the market surpasses the £25bn mark for bulk annuities

L&G’s solvency coverage ratio (SCR) is estimated to be between 235-240% as at 30 September 2022, the insurer has said, up at least 23 percentage points from HY 2022 (212%)

Nearly two out of three (64%) US and UK institutional investors are ‘very confident’ about alternative asset managers fund raising plans for alternatives over the next 18 months, new research from Ocorian has shown

Former capital and investment director at LV=, Emily Penn, has joined Macquarie Group as managing director

Gothaer has invested €10m in GreenTech company Wegatech

Almost two-thirds (64%) of institutional investors say access to the best ideas and managers is one of the most important benefits of hiring a fiduciary manager (FM) or outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO), according to a CoreData Research study of neatly 300 global institutional investors

French life insurance premiums amounted to €8.6bn in August 2022, down by €1.5bn compared to August 2021, France Assureurs has revealed

Generali has held informal deal talks with Guggenheim Partners on a range of options including a full acquisition of the US investment firm’s asset management business, sources have said

The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), through the Joint Committee, have developed regulatory technical standards on the content and presentation of information to be provided about the exposure of financial products to investments in fossil gas and nuclear energy

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has set out its strategy for 2023-2026, which aims to strengthen the resilience and sustainability of the insurance and pensions sectors

US insurers’ common stock exposure increased to about $1.2trn at year-end 2021, representing a 21% increase from year-end 2020, figures published by the NAIC have shown

PIC has agreed to invest £105m to forward fund a new 130,000sq ft net-zero in operation office to be let to the Government Property Agency (GPA) for 25 years

LV= has appointed Adam Ruddle into the role of chief investment officer

UK insurers’ strong liquidity and robust capital positions, supported by the Bank of England’s intervention in the gilts market, will allow them to navigate the current volatility and illiquidity in swap and bond markets, Moody’s has stated

Canopius Group has appointed Adhiraj Maitra as group head of sustainability

Private equity insurers now have a 10% share of the US life/annuity’s total assets, more than double the share from five years ago, AM Best has said

Eighty per cent of institutional investors expect strong growth in non-UK fund managers seeking to list overseas on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) over the next 18 months, according to new research from Ocorian

Neuberger Berman has announced the hire of Eric Karlson, who joins the firm as managing director and portfolio manager in the private placement debt team focusing on asset-backed securities (ABS) and structured transactions

Sixty per cent of global insurers are now reporting inflation as their top market concern, with 79% planning to review their long-term SAA and almost half (48%) reviewing risk appetite thresholds this year, latest research published by BlackRock has revealed

AllianceBernstein (AB) has made five hires to its global insurance team as part of a significant growth plan for the asset manager’s insurance capabilities and client base across the US and EMEA

Just Group has become a signatory to the Asset Owner Diversity Charter (AODC) joining 21 other signatories with combined AuM of over £1trn

French bank insurer, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, has initiated a review in order to create an asset management division

The South Korean reinsurance industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7% from KRW9.6trn ($8.4bn) in 2021 to KRW 13.4trn ($11.9bn) in 2026, in terms of gross written premiums (GWP), supported by climate change and positive regulatory developments, GlobalData has predicted

Factor investors, including institutional investors, expect factor-based strategies to outperform in an inflationary environment with slow economic growth, and also believe the current market environment makes factor investing in fixed income more attractive as a better way to manage volatility and diversify portfolios

The Japanese life insurance industry is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.6% from JPY29,427.8bn ($274.9bn) in 2021 to JPY33,545.4bn ($313.3bn) in 2026, in terms of direct written premiums, GlobalData has said

LV= has appointed David Hynam as its chief executive, subject to regulatory approval, and will join LV= on 26 September 2022

Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) has appointed Mauro Gerli as head of institutional, Switzerland, and will open a representative office in Zurich on the 1 October 2022

HSBC Asset Management has announced its policy to phase out coal-fired power and thermal coal mining from its listed holdings

The UK’s Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has confirmed that later this autumn the government is to bring forward an "ambitious deregulatory package" to "unleash the potential of the country’s financial services sector", including scrapping EU rules from Solvency II to free up billions of pounds for investment

The management board chairman of R+V Versicherung AG, Norbert Rollinger, is the new CEO of the German Insurance Association (GDV)

Asia-Pacific (APAC) life insurers will remain disciplined in asset and liability management as interest rates rise, Moody’s has said

The Bank of England has raised UK interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to 2.25% in an attempt to combat soaring inflation amid the cost of living crisis

Valuation uncertainty is expected to be even greater for securitised private assets than sub-prime m mortgages, the BoE’s executive director for insurance Charlotte Gerken has said

Varma has signed the 2022 Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis petition

UK life insurers’ fundamentals were strong in H1 2022, despite high inflation and capital market volatility, Fitch Ratings has said in a new report

Total cash and invested assets for private equity (PE) insurers decreased by around 3% to $472bn in book/adjusted carrying value (BACV) as of year-end 2021, according to latest figures published by the NAIC

Nippon Life has made a syndicated loan agreement valued at ¥950m with Sumitomo Chemical Company

Federated Hermes has appointed Michaelis Ditsas as investment director – fixed income

Franklin Templeton has appointed Heneg Parthenay as head of insurance EMEA

US insurers’ CLO exposure increased by 12% to $216.3bn as of year-end 2021, from $192.9bn at year-end 2020, latest figures published by AM Best have shown

Delaware Life has arranged a $400m credit facility with Fundamental Renewables, the clean energy investment arm of Fundamental Advisors (Fundamental)

Post Advisory Group, the $15.6bn AuM global high yield, senior loan and structured credit specialist investment team of Principal Global Investors, has appointed Kevin Farley as a portfolio manager for its CLO and structured credit platform

Prudential has been selected alongside MetLife to participate in a $16bn pension risk transfer (PRT) transaction with International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), the second-largest PRT ever in the US market

The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) has called for input on the development of its Climate Resilience Investment Framework

The UK pension risk transfer (PRT) market completed £12bn worth of buy-ins and buyouts over the first half of 2022, up from £7.8bn in H1 2021, analysis from LCP has revealed

The European Commission (EC) has adopted a formal opinion requiring the Slovak insurance supervisory authority (Národná banka Slovenska, NBS) to fully comply with Solvency II

The average comprehensive solvency ratio of Chinese insurance companies at the end of Q2 2022 was 220.8%, and the average core solvency ratio was 148.1%, figures published by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) have revealed

Insurance Europe is calling on the EU to prioritise setting climate standards over social ones, in putting forward its ESG taxonomy

Almost nine in ten (88%) institutional investors have increased their allocation to assets and investment products that aim to provide a hedge against inflation in the past six months, research from Tabula Investment Management has revealed

Gothaer has signed the global investor declaration to governments on the 2022 climate crisis

MetLife Investment Management (MIM) has named René Zeidan a director in its institutional client group, where he will be responsible for institutional client strategy and the delivery of investment solutions to clients in Europe

US insurers continue to have minimal investment exposure to the insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bond markets, despite it seen significant growth in recent years, AM Best has revealed

Financial institutions and supervisors are again being warned by the three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA - ESAs) to be prepared for a deterioration in asset quality in the financial sector

Net income for the US life/annuity (L/A) insurance industry increased by 62% in H1 2022, rising to $20.9bn from $12.9bn in the same prior-year period, according to AM Best’s latest financial review analysing the market

Swiss Re’s Group CIO and country president Switzerland, Guido Fürer, has decided to retire effective 31 March 2023, after 25 years with the company and having served as group CIO for a full decade

PIC’s investment portfolio fell by £7bn in H1 2022, from £51.1bn to £44.1bn

MetLife has appointed Ben Cushman as head of global regulatory policy

European life consolidation activity picked up following a slow start to 2022 with four acquisitions announced within less than two months, Fitch Ratings has said, bringing the year-to-date deal volume by liabilities to around €60bn

Groupama has strengthened its commitment to the climate by joining the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA)

Just Group has completed a £484m full scheme buy-in with the Barloworld UK Pension Scheme, insuring the beneits of around 3,000 pensioners and 1,800 deferred members.

State Farm is to make a $1.2bn equity investment in smart home and small business security brand, ADT, and therefore will acquire around 15% of the company

BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) has announced the appointment of Mark Richards as head of flexible & absolute return within its multi-asset, quantitative & solutions (MAQS) investment division

Global specialty (re)insurance group Chaucer, in collaboration with Moody’s, has rolled out a ESG Balanced Scorecard across investments, underwriting, and operations

US insurers will continue to increase their fixed income ETF holdings, according to Fitch Ratings

Eastspring Investments has appointed Bill Maldonado as chief investment officer

The quality benchmark indicator for annual solo Solvency II reporting among European insurance and reinsurance companies rose from 82% in 2016 to 94% in 2020, according to EIOPA

The Malaysian insurance industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.4% from MYR 73.1bn ($17.6bn) in 2021 to MYR 109.6bn ($26.7bn) in 2026, in terms of written premium, led by the life insurance and pension segment, GlobalData has estimated

Legal & General (L&G) has agreed a £21m full scheme buy-in with the Kesslers Group Pension Plan

The UK life insurance regime is about to undergo “potentially significant change” that could have a “far-reaching” impact on defined benefit (DB) pension scheme endgame strategies and members, according to Cardano

Direct Line has appointed former Lloyd’s of London head of treasury and investment management, Nicola Hartley, as director of investment and capital management

Aviva Investors has bolstered its liquidity team, with the appointment of Alastair Sewell as liquidity investment strategist

Zurich intends to exercise its option to redeem £450m of subordinated debt

Several European insurance sector outlooks could move to ‘deteriorating’ if high inflation persists and interest rate rises become more significant, Fitch Ratings has said

US insurer Chubb has hired the former Singapore chief executive of Sun Life, Belinda Au, as the president of its life insurance unit in Hong Kong

Gothaer Asset Management has appointed Janine Spieker as its new head of real estate

Total assets of Chinese insurance companies amounted to RMB 26.6trn at the end of Q2 2022, an increase of RMB 1.8trn and up by 7% from the beginning of the year, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has revealed

Prudential has appointed Don Guo as group chief investment officer

Forty-three per cent of global institutional investors expect fixed income performance to deteriorate further over the next 12 months, with 13% expecting a significant decline, a new report published by Aeon Investments has revealed

Insurers in Europe are exploring fixed income asset classes in which they generally have little experience, thereby creating outsourcing opportunities for external asset managers, according to latest research published by Cerulli

The global specialty insurance market is expected to hit $243.7bn by 2028, a new report has suggested

Vaudoise Insurance Group has announced that it achieved a consolidated profit of CHF 66.8m in H1

Sompo International has announced the sale of its Endurance at Lloyd’s (EAL) run-off business to RiverStone Holdings Limited

Axa has completed the sale of is Malaysian operations to Generali, in line with plans to strengthen its position in the “high potential” Asian economy

The US life/health insurance industry saw a higher number of credit rating upgrades in H1 2022 compared with the same prior-year period, with improved capitalisation levels a driving force, AM Best has said

Institutional investors are increasingly focusing on Vietnam, specifically its technology and financial services sectors, according to latest research

Swiss Life has successfully placed a €700m senior bond with investors in the European market, with maturity in 2029 and a 3.25% coupon

MetLife Investment Management (MIM) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Affirmative Investment Management (AIM), a specialist global environmental, social and corporate (ESG) impact fixed income investment manager

Finnish pension insurance company, Elo, made a return of -4.5% in the first half of 2022

The market segment outlook for Taiwan’s non-life industry has been revised to negative from stable by AM Best, as a resurgence of COVID-19 has led to significant losses on pandemic-related insurance policies

Germany’s third largest insurer, Talanx, is the latest (re)insurance company to confirm to the #StopEACOP Coalition that it will not (re)insure the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)

The volume of the UK PRT market is expected to reach around £12bn in H1 2022, representing a 50% increase compared to the same period in 2021, according to L&G's Global PRT Monitor

Japanese insurer, Dai-ichi Life, has invested JPY 500m in JEPLAN, a company that uses proprietary recycling technologies to promote the circulation of PET bottles and other resources

Japan’s general insurance market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3% from JPY11,155.4bn ($101.6bn) in 2021 to JPY12,920.7bn ($133.1bn) in 2026, in terms of gross written premiums (GWP), driven by a rise in commercial insurance lines, GlobalData has said

Global investment firm, KKR, has led a significant structured investment in Arevia Power (Arevia), a US renewable energy developer, through its managed insurance accounts

Dedicated reinsurance capacity in 2021 increased to $568bn, driven by an increase of nearly 11% from traditional reinsurance capacity providers, according to AM Best

The implementation of the Korean Insurance Capital Standard (K-ICS) starting 2023, together with IFRS 17, will squeeze insurers’ capital buffers, Fitch Ratings has said

Barings has appointed Ken Griffin as the firm’s head of insurance solutions, effective immediately

Some 95% of institutional investors in Europe and the US agree with the view that the bespoke nature of alternative credit presents a viable option for investors to make a positive social and environmental impact by educating smaller companies in the financing market, according to latest research published by Aeon Investments

Varma’s returns on unlisted investments in H1 2022, such as private equity investments, hedge funds and real estate and infrastructure investments, compensated for the weak performance of the listed equity and fixed income markets in the same period, according to its latest financial statement

General insurance premiums in Europe are expected to grow at a lower rate of 4.9% in 2022 compared to 7.8% in 2021, according to latest figures from GlobalData, as rising inflation will impact the ability of policyholders to pay higher premiums

Pan-American Life Insurance Group (PALIG) has appointed Lisa Baudot as chief investment officer

Ceres, the not-for-profit environmental organisation, together with 64 institutional investors with nearly $10trn AuM, is asking companies to engage in sustainable water leadership

UNIQA’s net investment income fell by 31.2% to €211.2m in H1 2022 due to a €127m impairment of Russian bonds as well as additional impairments on the investment in RBI amounting to €28m

The US insurance industry’s exposure to derivatives in notional value reached $3trn at year-end 2021, representing an increase of 6.2% compared to year-end 2020 and 29.2% compared to year-end 2017, latest figures published by the NAIC have shown

French life insurance premiums amounted to €11.9bn in June 2022, down by -€ 1.4bn compared to June 2021, latest figures published by France Assureurs have shown

The volume of M&A in the global insurance industry has reached its highest rate of growth for ten years, up 9.5% to 242 compared to 221 deals in H2 2021, Clyde & Co’s Insurance Growth Report 2022 has revealed

Total reinsurance gross premiums written by the top 50 global reinsurers increased in 2021 by 9.8% to US$353bn from US$321bn in the previous year, according to AM Best, with Munich Re retaining top spot for a second-straight year

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a statement encouraging issuers and holders of outstanding Libor-linked bonds to transition to fair alternative rates

Insurance and Pension Denmark (I&P Denmark) has welcomed a new law that has been submitted for consultation specifically aimed at insurance and pension companies

Talanx Group is investing over €60m in the purchase of 28 new, passenger-friendly trams for Rostock’s local transport network

Progress made by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) in developing either an overarching climate risk regulatory framework or discrete portions of a framework by the end of 2022 seems unlikely, according to a report by McDermott Will & Emery partner Thomas Dawson

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company has purchased a total of AU$105m education bonds issued by the Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Zurich has announced the successful placement of £1bn of dated subordinated notes

The hospital liability (MedMal) portfolio of German insurer Basler Sachversicherungs-AG, an entity of the Baloise Group, has been acquired by Compre

Just over one third (35%) of US asset owners are likely to start using or increase their use of investment consultants, as asset owners address the increasing complexity of portfolio management, incorporate ESG principles into their portfolios, and mitigate ongoing market volatility, new research from Cerulli has shown

US institutional investors should be eyeing commodities, namely those classified under the energy basket, for inflation protection and as a means of capital preservation in the current market environment, Cerulli has said.

Total Italian life and non-life premiums amounted to €37.5bn in Q1 2022, according to IVASS

MetLife Insurance Cos. saw its total life insurance issued jump by 93% in 2021 to $301.44bn, moving it up five spots to top a list of carriers ranked by that metric, according to a Best’s Ranking report looking back on the prior year’s performance, according to this week’s BestWeek

Phoenix Group recorded £1.6bn of bulk purchase annuity (BPA) premiums in H1 2022 across six transactions, a 280% increase on the same period in 2021, according to the group's half-year results

Bulk annuity insurers are currently reporting the “strongest pipeline of annuity auctions for some years” and pension schemes may need to compete harder amid insurer capacity concerns, according to Aon’s latest UK Risk Settlement Bulletin

The Insurance Asset Management Awards 2022 shortlist has been announced

The Boots Supplementary Pension Plan has completed a £50m full scheme buy-in with Legal & General (L&G) Assurance Society, covering the retirement benefits of more than 110 members

Aegon has forecast full-year operating capital generation of around €1.4bn ($1.44bn), from about €1.2bn previously

Just Group has invested £466m in illiquids in H1 2022, including infrastructure, private placements, social housing, commercial mortgages, ground rents and income strips

The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) has reiterated its strong support for the US-developed aggregation method (AM) for group capital assessment

M&A transactions in the global reinsurance sector will be limited into 2023 amid investor concerns over macroeconomic risks and heightened catastrophe losses linked to climate change, Fitch Ratings has said

Aviva’s adjusted operating profit rose by 14% in the six months to 30 June from £725m to £829m

L&G has confirmed it has a “strong and active” risk reduction pipeline of around £25bn

Exposure drafts of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) proposed by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) should be “simplified” to be “operationally practical” according to Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM)

Eighty per cent of institutional investors in Europe are requesting data on their exposure to energy transition risks and physical climate risks, according to Cerulli Associates

Berkshire Hathaway has reported a $43.8bn loss in Q2 2022, due to tumbling US stock prices

South Africa’s oldest non-life insurer, Old Mutual Insure, has selected Sapiens to provide it with an enterprise-wide consolidated view of the organisation’s data and to support its reporting and analytics needs

WH Smith Pension Trust has completed a £1bn full scheme buy-in with Standard Life, insuring the liabilities of 12,950 members

The Bank of England (BoE) has confirmed a further increase to its base rate to 1.75%

US insurers had $647.7bn in book/adjusted carrying value (BACV) of mortgage loans at year-end 2021, which was a 3% increase from $626.5bn in BACV at year-end 2020

Phoenix Group has announced that it is to acquire Sun Life UK from Sun Life Financial for £248m, subject to regulatory approvals

MetLife’s net income for Q2 2022 fell to $103m from $3.4bn in Q2 2021, with net investment income down by 32% to $3.6bn

Swiss Re has announced the launch of its new investment advisory company and wholly owned subsidiary Swiss Re Insurance-Linked Investment Advisors Corporation (SRILIAC), a SEC registered investment adviser

Robeco has appointed David Thomas as senior portfolio manager to complement the investment team of the forthcoming RobecoSAM Biodiversity strategy

AXA’s gross revenues rose to €55bn in H1 2022, up 1% from H1 2021’s €53.8bn.
Its underlying earnings hit €3.9bn for the quarter, up 4% (+7% organic growth and -3% from disposals) from H1 2021’s $3.6bn

Hiscox has reported an investment result loss of $214.1m for H1 2022 compared to a profit of $61.9m a year earlier, due to interest rates rising sharply, credit spreads widening and equity markets selling off

Aflac has reported net investment gains of $564m for Q2 2022, compared to $89m a year ago, with the latest result driven by net gains from certain derivatives and foreign currency activities of $618m and net gains from sales and redemptions of $15m, both driven by foreign exchange

Generali’s net result fell to €1,402m in H1 2022, compared to €1,540m in H1 2021, due to impairments on Russian investments

EIOPA has published the final version of the application guidance on climate change materiality assessments and climate change scenarios in the Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA)

Athora has completed the acquisition of Italian life insurer, Amissima Vita

Insurers’ exposures to macro, market and digitalisation risks are currently the main concern for the insurance sector, EIOPA’s latest Risk Dashboard based on Solvency II data from Q1 2022 has shown

Schroders has appointed Whitney Sweeney as investment director, sustainability, in its investment team

Swiss Re has returned to profitability in Q2 2022, with a net income of US$405m, as a result of strong results in life and health reinsurance and corporate solutions, as well as robust underwriting performance in P&C resinsurance

Liberty Mutual Insurance has completed its acquisition of Malaysian insurer AmGeneral Insurance Berhad (AmGeneral) following the receipt of regulatory approval in Malaysia and signing a purchase and sale agreement with AmBank Group (AmBank)

Cattolica Assicurazioni’s CEO Carlo Ferraresi will resign as director and CEO of the company on 1 September 2022 to assume the position of group chief risk officer at Assicurazioni Generlai S.p.A

Voluntary disclosures as part of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) are “not very detailed” the Joint Committee of the three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) has said

Ping An has upgraded its proprietary ESG evaluation system to meet the group’s rising demand for high quality ESG scoring data

Eighty-five per cent of institutional investors are concerned about further rises in interest rates in the fixed income market, with 80% also worried about rising inflation

Skandia has reported total returns amounting to -4.8% for H1 2022 compared to 10% in the same period last year, according to its latest financial figures

Gothaer has begun an exclusive cooperation with solar supplier Ecoplant, as part of an initiative launched at the end of 2021 to support small and medium-sized companies in the energy transition

The value adjusted return (including unrealised value changes) of Norwegian life insurance companies in Q1 2022 was -2.7%, down from 5.3% in the same period in 2021, according to the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (Finanstilsynet)

European investors are turning to infrastructure investments, including indirect exposure via equities, amid rising inflation, according to Cerulli

CNP Assurances is to acquire Swiss Life’s 34% stake in Assuristance, the holding company of Filassistance International

A consortium of Crédit Agricole Assurances (CAA) and Vauban Infrastructure Partners (Vauban), along with Telefónica Group are to establish Bluevia Fibra S.L. (Bluevia), a new fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) company in Spain, for €2.5bn

Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has concluded a full scheme buy-in with the trustee of the Medway Packaging Pension Scheme, covering £52m of liabilities for 425 pensioners and 150 deferred members

Chesnara has announced the acquisition of the insurance portfolio of Nederlandsche Algemeene Maatschappij van Levensverzekering "Conservatrix" N.V. (Conservatrix), a specialist provider of life insurance products in the Netherlands that was declared bankrupt on 8 December 2020

Beazley’s H1 2022 pre-tax profits have fallen by 87% to $22.3m compared with a profit of $167.3mn for the first half of 2021, which it said was partly due to $193m in investment losses driven by an “unusual” trading environment.

Thailand’s insurance industry is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.7% from THB890.4bn ($27.8bn) in 2021 to THB1,1129.3bn ($36.1bn) in 2026, in terms of GWP, according to GlobalData

The High Court has ruled that the Government’s net-zero strategy as it currently stands breaches the Climate Change Act and needs to be strengthened

Current Solvency II proposals published by the UK government would not achieve the suggested release of 10-15% of capital for re-investment, according to the ABI

US insurance companies invested $45.4bn in ETFs as of year-end 2021, up by 15% from 2020, according to latest figures published by S&P Dow Jones Indices

Robeco has expanded its sustainable multi-asset solutions team with the appointment of Aliki Rouffiac as sustainable portfolio manager

French insurer, INTÉRIALE Mutual, has selected Clearwater Analytics to streamline its investment accounting operations

Mortgage loan holdings for the US life insurance industry grew by 6.6% in 2021, to $639.8bn, in line with the 10-year average, after depressed growth of 3.8% in 2020, according to AM Best

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing and reporting is facing existential questions associated with a lack of standardisation, regulation and common purpose

Direct Line’s solvency capital ratio fell by an estimated 7 percentage points in H1 2022 due to the mark to market effect of widening credit spreads on the group’s investment portfolio

Denmark’s Topdanmark has reported a loss on investments of DKK 437m in the first half of 2022

LV= chief executive Mark Hartigan has confirmed his intention to step down as interim chief executive and a member of the board

AXA Germany has entered into an agreement with Athora Germany to sell a portfolio of €16bn of life and pensions insurance reserves in Germany

Buy-in and buyout market volumes are expected to be around £25bn in the second half of 2022, analysis from Hymans Robertson has revealed

The life insurance industry in India is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3% from INR 7trn ($92.3bn) in 2021 to INR 11.4trn ($150.6bn) in 2026, in terms of gross written premums, GlobalData has said

The general insurance market in Taiwan is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4% from TWD220.2bn ($25.5 billion) in 2021 to TWD286.9bn ($31.3bn) in 2026, in terms of gross written premiums (GWP), GlobalData has estimated

European insurance premiums in 2021 grew beyond pre-pandemic levels in most of the 27 markets included in a new report by Insurance Europe

A record-breaking total premium volume of over $7trn in nominal terms by year-end 2022 in the annual world insurance market, has been forecast by Swiss Re, with strong global insurance market growth in both 2022 and 2023 expected

Increasing yields and rising inflation may put pressure on European insurers’ private investment programs in the short term, but increased market volatility, regulatory requirements, and growing ESG reporting standards may create opportunities for asset managers, according to Cerulli

Volatility in Dutch insurers’ Solvency II ratios is expected to increase, Fitch Ratings had said, due to the insurers’ exposure to fluctuating equity and real-estate prices, widening credit spreads, and potential credit deterioration

IAG, Australia and New Zealand’s largest general insurer, has joined the United Nations convened Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) as part of its overall commitment to achieving net-zero

Legal & General's estimated solvency ratio at 30 June has been noted at around 215%, up at least 25 percentage points from the year-end 2021 figure, as a result of higher interest rates and strong cash flows from its businesses

Storebrand’s reported solvency ratio for Q2 2022 is expected to be around 195%

Groupama has allocated 100% of its first green subordinated instrument valued at €500m to green projects, including green buildings, infrastructures, and forests

Fitch Ratings has published a Global Insurance Regulatory Field guide, covering insurance regulatory requirements across 45 jurisdictions and highlights the issues likely to be of relevance to users of both its Insurer Financial Strength ratings, and ratings of debt and hybrid instruments issued by (re)insurers

Brexit provides the UK insurance industry with an opportunity to rewrite the insurance regulations inherited from the EU, and boost investment in the economy, but should not be treated as a “free lunch”, BoE deputy governor Sam Woods has argued

European insurers are adopting differing approaches to going green, with size and location among the factors at play, according to Cerulli’s July 2022 issue of The Cerulli Edge – Global Edition

Impact investing is now viewed among the key pillars of sustainable investing, alongside integration and positive screening, Schroders Institutional Investor Study 2022 has found

The average revenue growth of the top 20 global public insurance companies by revenue in 2021 stood at 9.5% while the total premiums earned growth rate was 8%

IFRS 17 will not affect insurers’ business models in the near term, Fitch Ratings has said, with the ratings agency arguing that Dutch insurer ASR’s recent accounting announcement supports this

Cattolica's chief investment officer Massimo Di Tria has been appointed chief financial officer of asset and wealth management at Generali

Insurers have a “big tool kit” at their disposal to respond to inflation, for example through inflation-linked investments, reserve adjustments, repricing of risk, product innovation, productivity increases and loss prevention, the annual meeting of the Geneva Association Economic Forum (GAEF) heard recently

Baloise Group has successfully placed a CHF 110m senior green bond due in July 2028 in alignment with its existing Green Bond Framework

AXA is further committing to its membership of the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA)

Mexico’s general insurance industry is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.5%, from $18.2bn in 2021 to $26.1bn in 2026, according to latest figures published by GlobalData

French insurer, Macif, is excluding from its future investments the main companies developing new oil and gas production capacities, as well as those whose turnover is more than 5% from unconventional hydrocarbons

Columbia Threadneedle has completed the rebrand of BMO Global Asset Management (EMEA), bringing together its products and savings plans, website and legal entities under a single global brand

Reinsurance buyers faced “a near-perfect storm” during the renewals period in June, a report published by Aon has stated

Phoenix Group has invested €60m in Italian gas network, Societa Gasdotti Italia S.p.A (SGI)

AXA UK has announced that Scott Wheway has decided to step down as Chairman of the Board

Allianz has announced a new multi-year partnership with cyber insurance and security provider, Coalition

Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has announced it is making a commitment to invest up to £200m in equity to fund the development and operation of around 10 new retirement communities across the UK

Insurance Europe has welcomed the European Commission’s proposals for a new EU system to avoid double taxation

Prolonged uncertainty about the investment environment in China could lower capital efficiency and reduce the effectiveness of policy moves toward market liberalisation, Moody's Investors Service has stated

Helvetia Group has increased its stake in Caser by around 10% and now owns 80% of the Spanish insurer

The new EU covered bond directive and associated amendments to national laws will strengthen credit standards for Spanish, Italian, French and German covered bonds, Moody’s has stated

The FCA’s changes to MiFID II research rules have left investors unclear as to how they implement them practically, the European Leveraged Finance Association (ELFA) has warned

Hiscox has confirmed the appointment of Stéphane Flaquet as the group’s chief operating officer

Germany’s non-life insurers are continuing to demonstrate their resilience to natural catastrophe events, Fitch Ratings has stated

The Sovereign Wealth Fund of Gabon (FGIS) has joined the UN-convened Net-zero Asset Owner Alliance

Phoenix Group has provided £90m of long-term funding by means of a private placement to regulated social housing provider, Alliance Homes

Gallagher has announced it is expanding into Ireland with the acquisition of INNOVU Group Holding Company Limited

Nippon Life Insurance Company has announced a ¥20bn investment in the Nissay Japanese Equity Climate Transition Strategy Fund

Zurich has agreed to sell its legacy traditional life insurance back book in Germany to Viridium Holding AG

AM Best has revised its outlook on Japan’s life insurance market segment to stable from negative, as overall business conditions for the life insurers have improved compared to earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic

Legal & General has completed a c.£21m full-scheme buy-in with Barnett & Hall Holdings pension scheme

Lloyd’s has announced the re-appointment of Bruce Carnegie-Brown for a third term as Lloyd’s chairman, effective June 2022 and running to June 2025

European insurers entered 2022 in good financial conditions and solid capital buffers with a median SCR ratio of 216% after gross written premiums for both the life and non-life business grew throughout 2021, according to EIOPA’s June 2022 Financial Stability Report

Carbon pricing must be supported by a mix of policy instruments including international coalitions to provide predictable price signals to businesses and ensure a just and equitable transition for consumers, a new position paper by the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has argued

The European Council has mandated EIOPA to prepare a report on the assessment of risks related to biodiversity loss by insurers, along with natural disasters and climate related risks, consistently with the European Green Deal, as part of the Solvency II review

Hymans Robertson has boosted its responsible investment (RI) team with several new members. The new appointments have been made to meet increasing client demand for support in developing and implementing RI strategies

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme Inger Andersen has outlined six key asks of the insurance industry to build on its achievement so far in driving towards a net-zero economy and sustainable future

Legal & General Capital (LGC) has made a further £8m investment into the Kensa Group, a UK manufacturer and installer of ground source heat pumps, bringing its total investment to £15.7m over two years

Creating a new layer of federal oversight would neither enhance nor standardise the climate-related disclosures US insurers make to investors, the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) has said in a letter sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Varma is setting a goal to cut its entire investment portfolio’s absolute emissions by 25% by 2025 and by 50% by 2030 compared to the level at the end of 2021

The total value of UK buy-in and buyout deals in 2021 was £27.7bn, according to Hymans Robertsons’ Half Year Risk Transfer Report, with £20.9bn worth of transactions taking place in the second half of the year

The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) has published a new component for the Net Zero Investment Framework (NZIF), providing guidance on aligning and managing infrastructure portfolios with the goal of achieving net-zero by 2050.

EIOPA has welcomed the consultation paper (CP) of the IAIS on detailed criteria for the aggregation method (AM) and insurance capital standard (ICS) comparability assessment

Sixty-two per cent of institutional investors are expected to reduce their exposure to fixed income during 2022, according to new research from Aeon Investments

The total cost faced by the global insurance industry to implement IFRS 17 is now estimated to be US$18-24bn, an increase of 20% compared to the original estimates made in 2021, according to Willis Towers Watson’s (WTW) latest survey entitled IFRS 17: Will we make it?

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has announced two new hires in its global credit team, with Charles Fianko joining as portfolio manager, and Monique Carter as a solutions strategist, effective on 29 June and 26 May respectively

European alternative asset managers reported a 23% increase in their assets under management in 2021, reflecting strong investor demand as pandemic-related pressures eased, Moody’s has said

Varma has invested approximately €50m in the Corporate Bond ESG Paris Aligned Climate ETF launched by BlackRock

The House of Fraser Beatties & Jenners Pension Scheme has completed a £600m buyout with Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), covering 3,850 deferred members and 5,050 pensioners

Seven out of 10 professional investors forecast institutional investors will hold 60% of digital assets within seven years, according to a survey by Grayscale Investments

Helvetia has successfully placed two senior bond tranches totalling CHF 400m on the Swiss capital market

The general insurance and long-term savings industry is making significant progress in setting transparent net-zero targets and joining the UN’s ‘Race To Zero’ campaign according to the ABI’s updated Climate Change Roadmap

The Net Zero Asset Managers initiative has announced that 83 asset managers have now set initial targets, with 39% of their assets ($16trn) now committed to be managed in line with achieving net-zero by 2050 or sooner

Schroders Capital has recruited Mark Bruen as head of private credit solutions in its private asset solutions team

Mutual/cooperative insurers are now responsible for more than one-third of all insurance in Europe, with a market share of 33.4% in 2020, representing premium income of €469bn, according to AMICE

Asia-Pacific’s life insurance industry recorded 7% growth in 2021, the highest since 2016, due to increased insurance awareness as macroeconomic imbalances highlighted the importance of financial security in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, GlobalData has said

Overall credit fundamentals of Japanese life insurers are likely to remain healthy in the financial year ending March 2023 (FYE23), Fitch Ratings has said

Total cash and investments of US insurance companies grew by $456bn in 2021 or around 7% year-over-year, reaching a record of over $7trn, according to latest analysis published by Income Research + Management

LV= has today announced the appointment of Simon Moore as its new chair

The US insurance industry’s exposure to Schedule BA assets exceeded $500bn in 2021, according to latest figures published by the NAIC

US insurers’ exposure to bank loans increased by around 32% to $97.2bn in book/adjusted carrying value (BACV) at year-end 2021, from $73.9bn at year-end 2020, according to latest figures published by the NAIC

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has issued a new set of green finance guidelines expanding the requirements for ESG risk assessments by Chinese financial institutions

The Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA) has decided to end its monitoring of Finnish pension insurance company Elo

Zurich's ESG rating has been upgraded to AAA from AA by MSCI

Insurance companies allocated almost $1bn to new hedge fund investments in 2021, according to AM Best

The general insurance industry in India, which grew by 5% in 2021, its slowest growth during the last decade, is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.9% from INR2,172.03bn ($29.39bn) in 2021 to INR3,484.35bn ($41.78bn) in 2026, in terms of gross written premiums (GWP), GlobalData has forecasted

Stephan van Vliet has been appointed group chief investment officer at Zurich

Preparation for the new IFRS 17 regime varies significantly by country and insurer in the MENA region, analysis by AM Best has shown

Moody’s Investors Service has changed its outlook on Dutch property & casualty (P&C) insurers to stable from negative as rising premiums help offset claims inflation

The US property/casualty industry saw a 4.6% increase to $3.3bn in net underwriting income in the first three months of 2022 over the same prior-year period, according to preliminary financial results

Relying on regulation, in isolation, in the bulk purchase annuity (BPA) sector to ensure security of policyholder benefits is not enough, Bank of England, executive director, insurance, Charlotte Gerken has said

Sompo has become the first Japanese insurer to rule out insurance for the development of new oil sands and exploration of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)

Australia’s general insurance industry recorded a significant investment loss of A$942m for the year ended 31 March 2022 – driven by unrealised losses on interest bearing investments due to a sharp increase in bond yields during the March quarter

The implementation of a new US GAAP accounting standard known as Long Duration Targeted Improvements (LDTI), effective 1 January 2023, is expected to have limited ratings implications for Fitch-rated life insurers, despite the likely material decline in many life insurers’ reported GAAP shareholders’ equity as a result of LDTI, Fitch Ratings has said

Prudential has appointed Anil Wadhwani as CEO, and said he would assume the role in February 2023

Italian life and non-life insurance premiums hit €150.6bn in 2021, an increase of just over 5% compared to 2020

The return on Swedish life insurance companies and occupational pensions was -4.1% in Q1 2022, according to Insurance Sweden

US insurance companies' private equity investments grew in 2021 by 25.8% to $117.4bn, from $93.3bn in 2020 - the biggest year-over-year increase in recent years, according to AM Best

Munich Re has successfully placed its first green subordinated bond on the US market with a volume of US$1.25bn

Climate risks over time could lead to an average drag on annual profits for UK insurers and banks of around 10-15%, particularly if these risks are not managed effectively, PRA chief Sam Woods has warned, following the BoE’s 2021 Climate Biennial Exploratory Scenerio (CBES) published this morning

Waystone has been chosen as platform operator for the Lloyd’s of London investment platform

After the labelling of gas and nuclear as ‘green’ under the EU taxonomy, UKSIF has voiced its concerns that the UK may follow the same path

The UK’s latest supervisory climate stress test for insurers and banks is the world’s toughest yet, Fitch Ratings has said, with some institutions’ capital ratios under the 30-year scenarios likely to fall close to, or even below, regulatory minimums

The significant US equity market declines thus far in 2022 will have a “material impact on the BACV of US insurer common stock holdings”, particularly for P&C insurance companies who own 76% of the industry’s common stock holdings, the NAIC has said

Zurich has agreed to sell its business in Russia to 11 members of the unit’s team

Nippon Life has invested ¥2.6bn in transition bonds issued by Kyushu Electric Power

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has issued a recommendation to a Slovakian insurance company under the supervision of Národná banka Slovenska (NBS) over non-compliance with Solvency II rules

COVID-19 had a limited impact on US life/annuity insurance companies’ operating performance, according to AM Best, and those insurers with an assessment of very strong have not reported an operating loss in two decades

Generali’s net earnings decreased by 9.3% to  €727m in Q1 2022 compared to Q1 2021 due to the impact of €96m related to Russian fixed income instruments directly held by the group and €40m for the stake in Ingosstrakh

Aviva Investors has appointed Sam Tripuraneni as head of sustainable outcomes

M&G Investments has appointed Rana Modarres as impact director within the firm’s Catalyst team

SCOR has announced its first underwriting exclusions on oil

Aviva has recorded total general insurance sales of £2.1bn, up 5% on Q1 2022 and its best first quarter general insurance sales in a decade

Nippon Life has announced its director and managing executive officer Akiko Osawa has been appointed as a member of the Steering Group representing the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance

Just 35% of insurers have adopted advanced climate data analysis tools such as machine-learning-based pricing and risk models, and only 8% are on course to achieve climate resiliency, a new report has revealed

The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) has approved the adoption of the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts for use by UK companies

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, has issued a public statement on the Transparency on implementation of IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts

The Government has halted plans to force corporates to disclose environmental impacts, removing the proposals from the Queen’s Speech

Key players within the US insurance sector are actively trying to weaken or delay emerging climate-related insurance regulation at both a federal and state level, new analysis from climate think tank InfluenceMap has shown

Ping An has helped to develop China’s first ESG disclosure standard, the “Guidance for Enterprise ESG Disclosure”, published by the China Enterprise Reform and Development Society (CERDS)

Zurich expects to exceed all its 2022 financial targets, as it has reported a double-digit first-quarter rise in premiums and said its losses from the Ukraine conflict were likely to be immaterial

PIC has completed a £130m debt investment with Raven Housing Trust, which will be used to finance the development of 630 homes by 2026

Seventy-two per cent of institutional investors expect the regulatory environment for crypto/digital to improve and become more constructive over the next two years, according to Nickel Digital Asset Management

Helvetia has reported a SST ratio of 260% for 2021, up from 193% the prior year

Gothaer is to invest an additional €200m in impact investments every year, it has announced in its latest sustainability strategy

The Insurance Capital Standard (ICS) “could augment the analysis of insurers’ capital by serving as a comparator benchmark across geographies”, Fitch Ratings has said

Dutch institutional investors, including insurers, have increasingly turned their attention to riskier high-yield (HY) bonds over their investment grade counterparts over the past two years, with most of the former abroad, according to De Nederlandsche Bank

French life insurance net inflows reached a level not seen in more than 10 years in Q1 2022, according to France Assureurs

US insurance companies reported $8trn in total cash and invested assets at year-end 2021, an increase of 7% compared to year-end 2020

US insurers’ EM investments totalled $42.1bn in bonds and stocks at year-end 2021, representing an approximate 2.5% decrease from $43.2bn at year-end 2020 and a decreasing trend in total exposure since 2018

The solvency ratio of the Italian insurance sector reached 260% at the end of 2021, compared to 243% in December 2020, and total premium income rose by 4%, Banca d’Italia’s Financial Stability Report has said

Mediterráneo Vida (MedVida) has signed terms to acquire CNP Partners, the Spanish subsidiary of the French group CNP Assurances

abrdn has appointed Raf Choudhury as investment director on the Asia Pacific Multi-Asset Investment Solutions (MAIS) team, further strengthening its offering for wholesale and institutional investors, financial advice groups and investment platforms in Australia and Asia

Varma has reported a negative return of -1.9% in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022

Greek insurer Ethniki Insurance has appointed Achilles Sofroniou as its chief investment officer

European green, social and sustainability (GSS) bond issuance will reach between €1.4trn and €1.6trn by 2026, accounting for close to 50% of the total European bond issuance

Sanlam and Allianz have agreed to combine their current and future operations across Africa to create the largest Pan-African non-banking financial services entity on the continent

Macif has reported a turnover of €5.9bn for 2021, up 6.8% on the prior year

More than half of asset managers in Europe intend to prioritise growing the number of strategic partnerships they have with insurers over the next three to five years, Cerulli’s latest issue of The Cerulli Edge - Global Edition has shown

The UK government’s proposals to ease capital requirements under post-Brexit reforms of Solvency II are still unlikely to prompt life insurers to increase their risk appetites enough to affect their ratings, Fitch Ratings has said

The Insurance Asset Management Awards 2022 are now open to entries from firms across the insurance asset management space serving clients in the UK

The European insurance sector remains resilient, but macro-related risks are currently the main concern for the industry, remaining at a high level in current assessment reflecting the Russian invasion to Ukraine, EIOPA’s latest Risk dashboard has revealed

Nationwide Pension Fund, the closed defined benefit scheme for Nationwide Building Society, has completed a £172m buy-in with Canada Life

Rothesay has seen its total investment return fall from £4.6bn in 2020 to £48m in 2021

Markus Aho will take on the role of Varma’s chief investment officer on 1 June, and at the same time will become a member of Varma’s executive group

Allianz has committed to stop insuring and investing in new oil and gas fields, new oil power plants, new midstream oil infrastructure, and practices relating to the Arctic as of January 2023

The UK’s insurance industry will be able to invest tens of billions of pounds more in long-term UK infrastructure and green projects under proposals published today

MEAG has launched a new European core office property fund, with Munich Re and MAPFRE partnering as seed investors

MAPFRE has joined the Net-Zero Emissions Insurance Alliance (NZIA) with the aim of achieving greenhouse gas emission neutrality by 2050

Finnish pension insurance company Elo has announced that its investments returned -1.9% in the first three months of 2022, 5 percentage points below the 3.9% return recorded at the end of December 2021

NN Group has completed the acquisition of MetLife’s businesses in Poland, following the approval obtained by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego, KNF) on 14 April 2022

Finnish pensions insurer, Veritas, has detailed its sustainability work for 2021, which includes the development of its climate roadmap

The gap between the volume of responsible investment assets held in equity and other areas such as fixed income, real estate, and private markets will continue to narrow, according to Cerulli Associates

HM Treasury has launched a new UK Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT), with Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glenn, co-chairing alongside Aviva CEO Amanda Blanc, to develop the "gold standard" for UK businesses’ climate transition plans