Exposures to climate-related assets among global insurers’ investments “remain significant”, the IAIS has said, with the figure estimated at 37% of reported assets

The gap between asset managers’ climate assertions and evidence of action remains “painfully wide”, according to analysis from Redington

The Superior Pension Fund has completed a £10m bulk annuity deal with Just Group, insuring the pension liabilities for 78 members

LV= has completed the next stage of the transition of assets to BlackRock.

In April 2023, BlackRock was appointed as LV’s primary asset manager to replace Columbia Threadneedle Investments. In this next phase, all existing Smoothed Managed Funds (SMF) and Flexible Guarantee Investments in US and emerging market equities as well as a portion of the Asia Pacific ex Japan equities, will be moved to BlackRock funds

The UN-Convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has made strides on two crucial elements for working on net-zero commitments – creating a transition plan and aligning lobbying and advocacy

Institutional investors are set to increase their exposure to credit as the sector becomes more attractive with most believing they are currently underexposed, a new report from Downing LLP has found

Haag-Streit UK’s legacy defined benefit (DB) pension scheme has secured an £18m full-scheme buy-in with Aviva

The trustees of the Hyde House Association Limited Pension and Assurance Scheme have completed a £60m buy-in with Just Group, covering all of the scheme's remaining uninsured liabilities

a.s.r. has the intention, subject to market conditions, to issue a Euro-denominated green senior bond, following investors calls commencing today

Achmea has published an update to its Climate Transition Plan, setting interim targets to reduce CO2 emissions associated with its insurance policies

River and Mercantile has rebranded to River Global

Nippon Life has agreed a deal worth ¥210bn (£1.1bn) to acquire Nichii Holdings, the parent company of medical care provider, Nichiigakkan

Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) has announced that the SDG Loan Fund has successfully mobilised over $1.1bn in private capital to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in emerging and frontier markets

The Thales UK pension scheme has agreed a £2.7bn buy-in with Rothesay, securing the benefits of over 16,000 members, including 10,512 pensioners and dependants, and 5,915 deferred members

The Spanish operating environment will stabilise in 2024 leading to neutral sector outlooks for both life and non-life insurance, Fitch Ratings has said

Total assets of euro area insurance corporations decreased to €8,163bn in Q3 2023, from €8,270bn in Q2 2023, according to statistics published by the European Central Bank

US insurers’ total exposure to common stock decreased from around $1.2trn at year-end 2021 to $1trn at year-end 2022, latest figures published by the NAIC have shown.

Oslo Pensjonsforsikring (OPF) made a negative return of 0.4 per cent in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023, it has revealed

Dutch institutional investors kept their investments in high-risk bonds roughly the same over the past 12 months, a break from previous years

The FCA has confirmed a substantial package of measures to improve the trust and transparency of sustainable investment products and minimise greenwashing

Askews Retirement Scheme has secured an £11m full-scheme buy-in with Legal & General (L&G), covering the benefits of all 86 scheme members

Investment fund distributors are easing up on ESG requirements for asset managers on their platforms in the face of concerns about performance, questions about regulations and reporting standards, and lower demand from end investors, according to Coalition Greenwich

The French insurance sector is in a good position to withstand weak macroeconomic prospects due to resilient credit fundamentals and effective management decisions, Fitch Ratings has said

Nuveen has expanded its global responsible investment strategy and stewardship teams with the hires of Sasha Miller and Enrico Colombo

DWS has appointed Dan Robinson as EMEA head of alternative credit in a firm commitment to accelerate its private credit footprint

AIA Group has published its first Climate Transition Plan

EU policymakers have “fallen short” of delivering the Solvency II regulatory framework needed to “hold insurers accountable for the damage they pose to people and the planet”, ShareAction senior EU policy officer, Caroline Metz, has argued

European insurers face substantial unrealised losses on fixed income investments exceeding €500bn due to rapidly soaring interest rates in 2022, S&P Global Ratings has said

The IAIS has launched a second public consultation on climate risk, aimed at promoting a globally consistent supervisory approach to address climate-related risks in the insurance sector

Paolo Gazzola has joined DWS as head of insurance advisory for the EMEA region (ex. Germany & Austria)

The Co-operative Pension Scheme has secured a £4bn buy-in with Rothesay, securing the benefits for almost 50,000 members, including 17,655 pensioners and dependants, and 31,896 deferred members

The trustee of the Boots Pension Scheme has agreed a £4.8bn full buy-in with Legal & General (L&G), marking the UK's largest single transaction of its kind by premium size

The winners of the Insurance Asset Management Awards 2023 were announced last night at a gala ceremony in London

Ninety-two per cent of European life insurers plan to increase their allocation to investments with a positive environmental and social impact, a survey commissioned by AlphaReal has revealed

Norway’s Folksamgruppen is the sole investor in NOK 250m of green bonds issued by Nacka municipality

The European Commission’s proposal for an ESG rating regulation should extend to ESG data to fulfil the “urgent need”, Insurance Europe and PensionsEurope have stated

Assets managed by Asian institutions shrunk for the first time in a decade in 2023, Coalition Greenwich has found

Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) has signed a purchase agreement to acquire 35% of the Hungarian holding company, VIG Magyarország Befektetesi Zrt

The UK Asset Owner Roundtable has published its findings in a new report and called for urgent action from the entire stewardship chain to address the ‘misalignment issue’ identified in the review

MetLife has completed a risk transfer transaction with retirement and life insurance company, Global Atlantic Financial Group

BlackRock has announced the launch of its new flagship securitised fund, the BlackRock Senior Securitised Fund (BSSF), in its existing specialist strategies fund range

Legal & General has invested £23m into Advanced Electric Machines (AEM), a provider of sustainable motor manufacturing primarily for the automotive industry

The US PRT market volume for Q3 is expected to hit $10bn, according to Legal & General Retirement America's (LGRA) latest US Pension Risk Transfer Monitor, following the largest first half on record for the market at $22.5bn in deal volume

Nippon Wealth Life has decided on a policy to transfer a part of its securities investment functions to Nissay Asset Management Corporation (NAM)

Demand in the UK defined benefit (DB) buyout pension market has continued despite changing dynamics in the past 18 months, analysis from Aon has found, with over half (55 per cent) of schemes targeting buyout

European insurers’ appetite for lower rated corporate debt, equities and illiquid assets is expected to diminish, Moody’s has said, with purchases of sovereign and highly rated corporate bonds to increase

Aviva's GI gross written premiums (GWP) rose 13% in the first nine months of the year, ignoring the effect of exchange rates, to £8bn

Asset managers must adopt a consistent, transparent, and outcomes-oriented climate engagement strategy, which recognises that climate change poses systemic risks to asset owner portfolio returns, if asset owners are to be consistently represented, the UN-Convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA) has argued in its latest paper

US insurers’ exposure to foreign investments decreased y-o-y by 17% to around $360bn at year-end 2022, from $436.7bn at year-end 2021, according to the NAIC

UK inflation has fallen to 4.6% for the year to October, a sharp fall from 6.7% in September, new figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed

The Chinese life insurance industry is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9% over 2024-28, from CNY4trn ($597.1bn) in 2024 to CNY5.6trn ($893.2bn) in 2028, in terms of direct written premiums, according to GlobalData

Specialist secure income manager, AlphaReal, has deployed £350m of long income real estate backed investments over nine months on behalf of Just Group, with a significant social infrastructure focus

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva, has appointed Oskar Geldof as its new head of BeNeLux

The Japanese life insurance industry is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.0% from JPY37.1trn ($289bn) in 2024 to JPY40.2trn ($359.5bn) in 2028, in terms of gross written premiums, according to GlobalData

The Bank of England (BoE) has published the latest phase of the System-wide Exploratory Scenario (SWES) with bank and non-bank participants provided a hypothetical stress scenario

US insurance companies’ exposure to high-yield bond investments declined 8.8% to $269bn compared to the prior year, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has revealed

Talanx Group generated a group net income of €1,279m in the first nine months of 2023 and has lifted its full-year earnings forecast to “significantly more than €1.5bn” on the basis of its strong operating performance, a record figure for the firm.

The trustees of the Deutsche Bank Defined Benefit (DB) UK Pension Scheme have completed a £500m buy-in with Legal & General Assurance Society, securing the benefits of around 2,000 retirees and deferred members

Insurers operating in the Lloyd’s of London market are the world’s biggest underwriters of fossil fuel projects, research published by Insure Our Future has found

Oil and gas are “not the problem” for the climate, but the carbon emissions arising from them are, UK net-zero minister Graham Stuart has said

Ninety-six per cent of institutional investors and wealth managers across Europe, with combined assets of over €150bn under management, said the number of fixed-income indices will increase over the next two years

PGIM Investments has appointed Rochus Appert as country head of Switzerland

European insurers’ exposures to macro, market and digitalisation risks are currently at a high level and the main concern for the sector, EIOPA’s latest Insurance Risk Dashboard has said

The UK will need around £1.3trn to meet its infrastructure goals, but only £700bn in funding is currently secured from a mixture of public and private sources, leaving a £615bn shortfall by 2030, a report by the ABI has revealed

UK defence secretary Grant Shapps has warned Aviva against any “immoral” withdrawal of backing for defence companies

Just Group has agreed a £32m buy-in with the Air France (UK) Pension Scheme, securing pension liabilities for almost 200 members of the scheme

Swiss Re has reported a net income of US$2.5bn in the first nine months of 2023, with a profit of US$1bn in the third quarter

Zurich has announced a strategic alliance with Kotak Mahindra Bank, through the proposed acquisition of a 51% stake in Kotak Mahindra General Insurance for US$488m

Aviva has agreed an £80m buy-in deal with the Rotork Pension & Life Assurance Scheme, covering the pension benefits for 406 current pensioners and dependants in the scheme

Nearly three-quarters of institutional investors will increase their allocations to private debt and structured credit in the next 12 months as they respond to challenging economic conditions, according to Aeon Investments

China is easing investment rules allowing insurers to make longer-term investment in shares

US life/annuity (L/A) insurers increased their borrowing through the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) program by 22% in 2022, as they looked to capitalise on enhanced yields in the higher interest rate environment, according to a new AM Best report

Almost two-thirds (64%) of UK institutional real estate investors are considering moving their investment abroad, according to research from Gallagher

Finnish mutual pensions insurance company, Ilmarinen, made a return of 3.3% in the first nine months of 2023, equivalent to €1.9bn

Robeco has announced plans to openly share its sustainable investing (SI) data, becoming one of the first asset managers globally to do so

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has appointed Rémi Lambert as chief investment officer (CIO) for Architas

Regulators have authorised Helvetia Global Solutions to underwrite non-life insurance business in the UK, with the move to come into effect tomorrow (1 November)

Varma delivered an investment return of 2.8% for the period January-September 2023, boosted by a strong performance from its unlisted private equity and hedge fund investments

Nordic insurance group, Sampo, has filed an application for a group partial internal model to the Swedish FSA

Resolution Life has announced that its Bermudian reinsurance platform, Resolution Re, has entered into the UK Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) market with its inaugural reinsurance agreement

Seven out of 10 major Japanese life insurance firms plan to boost their investments in domestic government bonds, according to their asset management plans for H2 2023

The Bayer Group Pension Plan has agreed a £280m buy-in with Canada Life, securing the benefits of more than 1,300 retirees

A group of over 20 NGOs coordinated by ShareAction through the European Responsible Investment Network (ERIN), has published a manifesto for the EU elections calling on policymakers to make sustainable finance a top priority of the 2024-2029 EU agenda

Nearly half (48%) of defined benefit (DB) pension scheme sponsors have buyout as their endgame strategy, but 45% of those are worried about a lack of insurer capacity or interest, according to Hymans Robertson

The pensions risk transfer market could hit a “boiling point” in 2023, Barnett Waddingham has said, after its analysis revealed that the market is on track to break previous records, estimating a total 2023 deal value of well over £40bn

Finnish pension insurance company Elo made a return of 2.7%, between 1 January and 30 September 2023

Rothesay has seen a 13% overall reduction of Carbon Intensity (CI) in its total £47bn investment portfolio since 2020, its annual ESG reports have revealed

Waterfall Asset Management has announced the expansion of its insurance asset management business

The Australian general insurance industry is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.1% from AU$86.8bn ($60.1bn) in 2023 to AU$123.1bn ($83.9bn) in 2027, in terms of direct written premiums (DWP), GlobalData has forecast

The British Red Cross Pension Fund and the Scottish Branch British Red Cross Society Retirement Benefits Scheme have agreed a £30m bulk annuity deal with Aviva, securing retirement benefits for around 360 members across both schemes

Members of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA) are making “solid progress” towards achieving 2025 emission targets, Günther Thallinger, board member, Allianz SE and NZAOA chair, has said

The defined benefit (DB) pension scheme of Landor Cartons Limited has completed a £6m full scheme buy-in with Just Group

The total assets under management (AuM) of the world’s 500 largest investment managers fell by 13.7% year-on-year between 2021 and 2022, according to research by the Thinking Ahead Institute (TAI)

Saudi Arabia’s general insurance industry is forecast to grow from SAR 56.8bn ($15.2bn) in 2023 to SAR 72.4bn ($19.3bn) in 2027, in terms of gross written premiums (GWP), GlobalData has estimated

Life insurers are facing a significant outflow of assets under management (AuM) ahead of the “largest inter-generational wealth transfer in history”, a new report has warned

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has said that it sees no need for it take over or assume any regulation of pension funds, and has not seen any new risks emerge that would change its current position on defined benefit (DB) superfunds

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has announced that vice minister for international affairs at the Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan, Shigeru Ariizumi, has been elected as its new executive committee chair

The UN-Convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has reported that its membership now covers over $9.5trn in assets under management (AuM)

Gothaer has announced a €20m investment in Munich-based venture capital firm, HV Capital

Ninety per cent of European insurers’ current operating models do not support future business needs, according to a new report by Clearwater Analytics

AM Best has maintained its stable outlook on Japan’s life insurance market segment, citing in part the prospects for higher premium income based on rising interest rates

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has begun its assessment of whether the Aggregation Method (AM) being developed by the US provides comparable outcomes to the global Insurance Capital Standard (ICS), and if so, will be considered an outcome-equivalent approach for implementation of the ICS as a prescribed capital requirement (PCR)

US private equity investor, J. Christopher Flowers, is warning life insurers that the dramatic increase in their private credit investments may create systemic risk for investors

Eighty-six per cent of institutional investors and wealth managers will increase their allocations to multi-asset credit (MAC) strategies over the next two years in pursuit of a reliable and diversified source of income, according to Aeon Investments

Global alternatives AuM are expected to reach $24.5trn by the end of 2028, compared to an estimated $16.3trn at the end of 2023, according to Preqin’s Future of Alternatives 2028 report

CNP Assurances has announced the created of a Green & Sustainable Hub

abrdn has agreed to sell its European-headquartered private equity business to alternative asset management firm, Patria Investments

The UK buyout market is undergoing a “seismic shift”, according to analysis from LCP, which revealed a more than 50% increase in the number of defined benefit (DB) schemes approaching insurers for buy-in/out quotations compared to a year earlier

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

Security Benefit, the US insurance company set up by Chelsea FC owner Todd Boehly in 2015, held the largest exposure to US illiquid assets of any insurer in the country last year, data published by Fitch Ratings has shown

Allianz has agreed to acquire Tua Assicurazioni from Assicurazioni Generali for a consideration of €280m

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) executive board member, Steven Maijoor has said he is “concerned about the pace and the amount of action” taken by the financial sector in managing climate and environmental risks

US insurers’ exposure to collateralised loan obligations (CLOs) collateralised by bank loans and
middle market loans was $247.6bn in book/adjusted carrying value (BACV) at year-end
2022, representing a 14.5% increase from about $216.3bn at year-end 2021

European life insurers are optimistic that changes to regulation will make it easier to invest in secure income assets and private markets, new research has found

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group Pension Scheme has completed a £335m bulk purchase annuity deal with Standard Life, covering 1,740 members across the LSE and London Clearing House sections of the scheme

Länsförsäkringar is shaking up its fund range within unit-linked insurance with the addition of a new sustainability-orientated fund

Singlife has appointed Ortec Finance as its strategic asset allocation consultant

The Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) has launched a best practice Disclosure Framework for transition plans, which aims to support companies and financial institutions in contributing to the shift to net-zero

Around 30% of buy-in and buyout transactions were run on an exclusive basis in 2022, bypassing the traditional auction process, according to analysis by Hymans Robertson

Varma has become the first Finnish pension insurance company and the third pension firm in the world to receive official validation for its emission reduction targets, which are based on the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has outlined its strategic priorities for the period 2024 – 2026

The Green Technical Advisory Group (GTAG) has published its final piece of advice to the UK Government on the design and implementation of a UK Green Taxonomy

Ratings of US life insurers are not currently at risk from commercial real estate (CRE) exposure, given stable investment portfolios comprised of high-quality, diversified exposures, conservative underwriting, strong liquidity, and effective asset-liability management (ALM), Fitch Ratings said

More than two-thirds of global institutional investors and wealth managers say they are under-exposed to fixed income assets as yields continue to rise, research published by Managing Partners Group (MPG) has revealed

About one fifth (21%) of global institutional investors state they have no intention of making commitments to reaching net-zero across their portfolios, Schroders latest Institutional Investor Study has found

Cinven is considering a sale of German life insurer Viridium

Nuveen has appointed Kyrylo Sukhanenko as managing director, head of UK insurance

US insurance companies’ private equity investments slowed in 2022, rising just 3.3% in 2022 to $132bn, following a year of exceptional growth in 2021, according to a new AM Best report

Nearly 60% of institutional investors and wealth managers across Europe would prefer passive fixed income managers to integrate ESG considerations into their benchmark funds, even if this results in a degree of tracking error, research from Tabula Investment Management has found

Finalisation of the Insurance Capital Standard (ICS) is likely to be the most significant regulatory development for global insurers in 2024, Fitch Ratings has said

Generali has appointed Giulio Terzariol as CEO insurance, a newly created role with responsibility for all the insurance business units, with effect from January 2024

Canada Life has completed a £30m buy-in with the Andrew Sykes Group Pension Scheme, insuring the benefits of around 440 members, including 160 deferred members

US life insurer investment portfolio liquidity is to offset falling investment maintenance reserve (IMR) balances, according to Fitch Ratings

Leading European insurers are underwriting nearly a third of US coal production despite their net-zero commitments, a new report published by Insure Our Future has revealed

The CEOs of UKSIF, Principles for Responsible Investment and the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) have written to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak signalling deep concern with recent proposals to “backtrack on vital policy measures that support the UK’s transition to net-zero”

The PRA is consulting today on a significant package of reforms to the Matching Adjustment (MA), aiming to improve the flexibility for life insurers to make more productive, long-term investments in the UK economy while supporting safety and soundness and policyholder protection

The total cost faced by the global insurance industry to implement the IFRS 17 accounting standard is now estimated to be US$21-27bn, according to a worldwide survey by WTW

The first six months of 2023 saw over £22bn of premiums written in the UK bulk annuity market – a record for the H1 period, according to latest EY analysis

Finnish mutual pension insurance company, Ilmarinen, has become one of the 190 investors globally to join the Nature Action 100 initiative

Just Group has completed a £4m full-scheme buyout with the KGM Pension and Life Assurance Scheme, covering 14 deferred and 10 pensioner members

Ninety-seven per cent of Varma’s fund managers have said their responsible investment principles are either partially or fully aligned with the insurer

PIC’s new business premiums rose to £6.5bn in H1 2023, compared to £2.4bn a year earlier, with a record number of pensions insured, at 339,900, up from 302,220 for FY 2022

Sixty per cent of global insurers are planning to increase investment allocations to direct lending, and 57% to multi-alternatives within the private market space, according to BlackRock’s 12th annual Global Insurance Report

Net income for the US life/annuity (L/A) insurance industry decreased by 39.5% in H1 2023, dropping to $13.2bn from $21.9bn in the same prior-year period, according to AM Best

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are proposing new measures to boost diversity and inclusion across the financial services sector

The UN-Convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA) is calling on policymakers to boost support and unlock up to $275trn in climate investment opportunities by 2050

M&G has completed a £286m bulk purchase annuity transaction for 1,917 members of the Northern Bank Pension Scheme

Pension and life insurance policy manager, Chesnara, posted a swing to pretax profit for the first half of 2023 on insurance profits and positive investment returns

US life/annuity (L/A) insurers increased their holdings in mortgage loans by 8% in 2022, reaching $691.2bn, according to AM Best

L&G has agreed a £340m buy-in with the Cable and Wireless Superannuation Fund, securing the benefits of approximately 1,800 retirees and deferred members

The next wave of Solvency UK reforms could target the standard formula and proportionality, the PRA has suggested

European insurers maintained their solvency position during 2022 despite losses on fixed income and equity investments, according to the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) Joint Committee Reporton risks and vulnerabilities in the EU financial system

M&G has marked its return to the bulk purchase annuity (BPA) market with two buy-in transactions totalling £617m

Finnish pension insurance company, Elo, is searching for a new CIO due to Hanna Hiidenpalo leaving her duties

The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has published its final recommendations for nature-related risk management and disclosures for companies and financial institutions

Rothesay’s new business premiums were £1.9bn for H1 2023, up from £1bn a year earlier, according to its latest results, with the group currently in execution on over £9bn of additional new business

Ninety-eight per cent of European institutional investors and wealth managers believe that ESG data is important to informing their fixed income investment decision-making, with the majority also using more than one ESG data provider, research from Tabula Investment Management has revealed

Total bulk purchase annuity (BPA) premiums written by Standard Life doubled year-on-year in the first half of 2023, its half-year report has revealed

China’s new financial regulator, the National Administration of Financial Regulation (NAFR), has reduced the risk weighting it attaches to insurance companies’ holdings of blue-chip shares and tech stocks, encouraging them to invest more in the country’s lagging stock market

US insurance companies reported $293bn in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) at year-end 2022, an increase of 5.6% compared to year-end 2021, figures published by the NAIC have revealed

The US property and casualty (P&C) industry has continued to generate significant underwriting losses in the first half of 2023, despite strong premium growth, Fitch Ratings has found

Lloyd’s and Moody’s Analytics have collaborated to develop a solution that will help to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across managing agents’ underwriting and investment portfolios

Achmea Investment Management has announced that Maureen Schlejen has been appointed as the group’s new divisional chair

Alternative asset manager Blackstone has announced it is to merge its corporate credit, asset-based finance and its insurance groups into a single new unit, Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BXCI)

Insurance buyout remains the most popular destination for defined benefit (DB) pension schemes, despite growing interest in running on DB schemes and generating surplus for the benefit of members, research from XPS Pensions Group has revealed

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has appointed Pauline Plunkett as its new chief executive officer (CEO) for LGIM Managers (Europe) and managing director (MD) of Ireland

European insurers are calling on the EU to tackle “excessive” requirements around reporting

KKR is making a new investment of more than $1bn in USI Insurance Services and is set to become the largest single shareholder in the firm

Aviva has agreed to sell its 25.9% stake in Singapore Life Holdings to Sumitomo Life for a total consideration of £800m

Scottish Widows has completed a £340m partial scheme buy-in with the Ford Pension Scheme for Senior Staff

The Japanese general insurance industry is set to grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.4%, increasing from $89.8bn in 2023 to $116.5bn in 2027, in terms of gross written premiums (GWP)

Brookfield Asset Management has announced a strategic partnership with French bank Societe Generale (SocGen) to originate and distribute investments through a private investment grade debt fund

The global non-life run-off market remains “active”, PwC has stated, as figures showed that $9.4bn of estimated gross reserves were transacted across 37 publicly announced deals in the 12-month period to the end of the first half of 2023

The South Korean life insurance industry is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6% over 2023-27, from $154.2bn to $191.2bn, in terms of direct written premiums (DWP), according to GlobalData

Nomura has announced an equity investment into Prismic Life Reinsurance, a Bermuda-based life and annuity reinsurance platform

Beazley has switched its capital metrics and will no longer disclose its capital surplus positions above Lloyds ECR, instead using Group Solvency II coverage ratio as its key capital measure going forward

Allianz has announced its first net-zero transition plan, which substantiates the company’s long-term strategic climate commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 in its proprietary investment and P&C underwriting portfolios and already by 2030 within its own operations

The average eligible own funds ratio of 100 of the largest non-life insurers in the UK and Ireland is 180%, and total eligible own funds increased from £97bn at the end of 2021 to £101bn at the end of 2022, LCP’s seventh annual analysis of Solvency II reporting has revealed

Almost a quarter (23%) of institutional investors and wealth managers worldwide believe it is very likely there will be a bond rally in the next 24 months, according to new research published by Managing Partners Group (MPG)

MAPFRE’s solvency ratio stood at 197.3% at June 2023, including transitional measures, its latest financial figures have shown

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has appointed Jeroen Bos as global head of AXA IM Equity, effective 1 November 2023

Industry experts have hit back at concerns over the bulk annuity market's ability to keep up with record demand seen this year, telling the Work and Pensions Committee (WPC) that "there are no capacity issues in the buyout market"

Nassau Financial Group (Nassau), a leading provider of fixed annuities and asset management, and Fortress Investment Group (Fortress), a global investment management firm, have entered into a strategic partnership

Mercer has appointed Olaolu Aganga as US chief investment officer (CIO)

Insurance Europe has welcomed the EC’s proposal to improve the availability, integrity and transparency of ESG rating activities, whilst also laying out seven areas of improvement

IFM Investors has appointed Maria Nazarova-Doyle as head of sustainable investment

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) pension and assurance scheme has completed an £18.4m buyout with Just Group

FWD Group's H1 2023 investment result jumped to $124m from $33m a year ago, thanks in part to Apollo for making improved returns on assets backing its Japanese business

Total assets of euro area insurance corporations amounted to €8,267bn in Q2 2023, €18bn higher than in Q1 2023, according to figures published by the European Central Bank (ECB)

Macquarie Asset Management, on behalf of Just Group, has provided approximately £30m to help finance the development a new multi-purpose healthcare service facility to be operated by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

Prudential has been chosen to participate in a pension risk transaction with PSEG, fulfilling nearly $1bn of its pension plan obligations for approximately 2,000 retirees of PSEG Power & Other, a PSEG business segment

The AuM of Europe-domiciled funds that include ‘absolute return’ in their name declined by €6.1bn during the first seven months of 2023, reinforcing suggestions that the strategy is in an ongoing decline, Cerulli has said

Aviva has announced the appointment of Jason Storah as CEO of UK & Ireland GI, and Tracy Garrad as CEO of Aviva Canada

Aegon UK and Phoenix Group have been accepted as signatories to the UK Financial Reporting Council’s UK Stewardship Code

Just Group has completed a £290m buy-in deal with the ITB Pension Funds (Open Fund), meaning that all of the scheme members’ benefits have now been secured

Prudential has appointed Bill Maldonado as the CEO of Prudential’s asset management business, Eastspring Investments

The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has opened a public consultation on the fourth edition of its Target Setting Protocol

Asset owners, investment managers, banks and other financial institutions representing £1.5trn in AuM have warned that the UK Government’s recent rhetoric risks stopping the finance sector from making the transformative investments needed to reach net-zero and grow the economy

Finnish pension insurance company, Veritas, returned 2.4% on its investments between January and June 2023, its half-year report has shown

The UK pension risk transfer (PRT) market is on track for a record year in 2023, Legal & General's (L&G) PRT Monitor has found, reporting an “unprecedented” acceleration in demand

Improvements in DB funding levels have prompted pension trustees to start engaging with an insurer earlier than expected about the best ways to manage their illiquid assets, research from Standard Life has revealed

Institutional investors in Europe and Asia are at the forefront of adopting ESG investment strategies, while North America lags behind, according to a new blog published by Coalition Greenwich

Finnish pension insurance company, Elo, returned 2.8% on its investments in the first half of 2023, its half-year report has revealed

Senior Living Investment Partners (SLIP), a £200m partnership between PIC and Octopus Real Estate, has announced an investment in Brent Cross Town, north London

Aspen’s net investment income saw an increase of 46% to $129m in H1 2023 compared to H1 2022, as “a result of active repositioning of investments to take advantage of higher interest rates, with limited increase in investment risk”

The US pension risk transfer (PRT) market saw its highest ever volume of premium and number of transactions place in the first half of 2023, with $6.3bn placed in Q1 and $16.1bn placed in Q2, according to figures published by Aon

Direct Line has approached Aviva’s Adam Winslow about becoming its new CEO, according to reports

EIOPA's board of supervisors has appointed Teija Korpiaho, chief adviser of insurance supervision at the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanssivalvonta, FI-FSA), to EIOPA’s management board

Assets of insurance companies in the eurozone were valued at €8.3trn in Q1 2023, according to figures published by the ECB

Varma’s investments returned 2.6% in H1 2023 compared to -4.3% in H1 2022, due to US equities enjoying strong momentum

Ville Talasmäki has been appointed as group chief investment officer and group executive committee member of Sampo

Members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) have voted to adopt a change to the Life Risk-Based Capital (RBC) formula under RBC Blanks proposals 2023-09-IRE and 2023-10-IRE at the 2023 NAIC Summer National Meeting

Finnish pension insurance company, Ilmarinen, returned 3.7% on its investments in the first half of 2023, its half-year report has shown

The first half of 2023 saw record-breaking volumes in the bulk-annuity market, with at least £20.2bn of buy-ins and buyouts completed in the period, analysis by LCP has revealed

US insurance companies reported $727bn in BACV in mortgage loan as of year-end 2022, an increase of 8.6% from the prior year, the NAIC has revealed

The US P&C insurance industry’s 2022 gross yield on invested assets increased to 3.6% from 3% a year earlier and 3.1% in 2020, according to AM Best

The consumer price index (CPI) measure of inflation has fallen from 7.9% in June to 6.8% in July, the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data has revealed

Rothesay has agreed a £440m buy-in with the trustee of the P&O Pension Scheme, covering the retirement benefits of 5,300 members

Just Group has revealed a 154% rise in underlying operating profit from £68m in the first half of last year to £173m in the six months to 30 June this year

The number of private equity-owned US insurers identified by the NAIC Capital Markets Bureau increased to 137 as of July 2023, up from 132 at year-end 2021 and year-end 2022, and total cash and invested assets for the 137 increased by 13% to $533.7bn in BACV based on year-end 2022

Legal & General has recorded a 10% drop in assets under management (AuM) in the year to end June, its latest financial results have shown

Infrastructure investors, including insurers, could lose more than 50% of the value of their portfolio to physical climate risk before 2050 in the event of runaway climate change, EDHEC Infra & Private Assets has warned in its latest paper

The Roadchef Retirement Benefits Scheme has completed a £24m full scheme buy-in transaction with Canada Life, covering all 547 pensioner and deferred members of the scheme

Talanx’s group net income rose by 21% to €827m in H1 compared to a year earlier, the best half-yearly result in its history, and insurance revenue climbed to €20.9bn from €19.2bn in the same period

A surge in bulk annuity deals is anticipated over the next five years, with over four fifths (86%) of pension scheme trustees expecting to approach an insurer in the next five years, according to new research from Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group

Insurer M&A activity has dropped significantly after reaching a 10-year high last year, according to Clyde & Co’s latest Insurance Growth Report

Zurich has reported a group business operating profit (BOP) of $3.7bn, matching record H1 2022 levels and its highest ever return on equity (ROE) at 22.9%

New Zealand’s life insurers are “well placed” to withstand severe economic and insurance shocks, while continuing to pay out on policy claims, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s first life insurance stress test has revealed

Thirty-nine per cent of European institutional investors are considering increasing their allocations to liquid alternatives over the next 12 to 24 months, new research published by Cerulli has revealed

PIC has invested £38m of debt in freight and railcar leasing company, Streem Group, supporting its global decarbonisation strategy

The US insurance sector held $536bn in fossil-fuel related assets in 2019, according to a new report published by Ceres, ERM, and Persefoni

Japan’s life insurer, Nippon Life, will not invest in or finance nuclear weapons manufacturers under its new investment policy

The Joint Advisory Board of Appeal of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) has dismissed an appeal from Euroins Insurance Group AD against the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)

Company disclosures on climate change will be based on the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards, Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has announced

Rothesay has completed a £260m buy-in transaction with the Smith & Nephew UK Pension Fund

Japanese life insurers are set to benefit from rising bond yields set to be reinforced by the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) recent relaxation of its yield curve-control policy, Fitch Ratings has said

Hiscox has appointed Todd Isaac as chief investment and Treasury officer

The Bank of England (BoE) has announced another base rate rise which takes interest rates to 5.25%, their highest level since the global financial crisis 15 years ago

Real estate and life settlements are the alternative asset classes set to benefit the most as professional investors review allocations, according to new research from Managing Partners Group (MPG)

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has hired Mark Bodon as a senior portfolio manager on the emerging markets and Asian fixed income team

The value of CNP Assurances’ green investment portfolio rose by €700m to €25.9bn at 30 June 2023, compared with €25.2bn at end-June 2022

Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) has agreed a £5bn longevity swap with the BT Pension Scheme (BTPS), protecting the scheme from the cost of unexpected increases in the life expectancy of its members

The European Commission (EC) has adopted the first delegated act of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which set out cross-cutting standards and standards for the disclosure of ESG information

The world’s largest asset managers are "far off track" to meet their own 2050 net-zero commitments, according to a new study released by thinktank FinanceMap

The investment return for European life insurers fell to -22.1% in 2022 from 2% in 2021, driven by unrealised losses especially on fixed income assets, EIOPA’s latest Risk Dashboard has revealed

Mega-transactions are set to dominate the de-risking market during the second half of 2023, alongside deferred premiums and full-scheme deals, Standard Life has suggested

Just Group has completed a £7m buy-in with the Rannoch Food Group Pension Scheme, covering 46 deferred members and 10 pensioners

Total assets of Chinese insurance companies for H1 2023 were 29.2trn yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.6%, according to figures disclosed at the CBIRC’s banking and insurance industry data conference

Taiwan’s life insurance industry is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3% from TWB2.3trn ($77.7bn) in 2023 to TWD2.6trn ($91.6bn) in 2027, in terms of direct written premiums (DWP), GlobalData has revealed

AXA will no longer cover new gas fields as part of its updated energy policy

Canada Life has completed its first-ever deferred member buy-in worth £58m with an undisclosed pension scheme

Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, has concluded a £1.2bn bulk purchase annuity (BPA) transaction covering c. 20,200 members of the Mitchells & Butlers Pension Plan

Chubb has reported that Q2 net income jumped 50.7% to $1.79bn compared to the same quarter last year, with pre-tax net investment income rising by 28.9% to a record $1.14bn and adjusted net investment income rising by 30.6% to a record $1.24bn

Global renewable energy company, Low Carbon, has secured a £400m capital commitment from MassMutual, to be directed into large-scale renewable energy projects across the UK, Europe and North America

Private credit markets could act as a catalyst for ESG change, although more work is needed to develop robust ESG frameworks, analysis from LCP has suggested

The Dutch Banking Association, the Association of Insurers, the Dutch Fund and Asset Management Association, and the Pension Federation have published updated guidance for signatories of the Climate Commitment

Skandia made a return of 3.1% on its traditional life portfolio in the first half of 2023, its half-year report has revealed

Mercer has appointed David Morrow to the new role of insurance propositions leader for EMEA

Four broad ways exist in which the UK Government could allow relaxation of the matching adjustment (MA) rules under Solvency UK to include assets with highly predictable cash flows, PwC UK has argued

PIC has completed a £40m buy-in with the Qantas Airways Limited (UK) Retirement Benefits Scheme, covering all remaining uninsured members within the scheme

Ping An has seen the net profit of the group, life and health (L&H) insurance business and P&C insurance business increase by 33%, 54% and 14% respectively under IFRS 17

Fixed income exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are gaining ground due to incrementally higher yields and greater investor comfort levels, Cerulli has stated

Skandia has reported total returns amounting to 3.1% for the first half of 2023, compared to -4.8% in H1 last year

The Singer & James pension scheme has secured a £600,000 full scheme buyout with Aviva, marking one of the smallest deals in recent times

Swiss Re Capital Markets has successfully structured and placed the issuance of $250m of insurance-linked securities issued with respect to certain real estate funds managed or controlled by affiliates of Blackstone, under Wrigley Re

Aviva has announced that it has secured a £120m full scheme buy-in of National Transcommunication Limited (NTL) 1999 pension scheme, insuring the defined benefit liabilities for around 650 members

The trustees of the United Utilities Pension Scheme and the United Utilities Group of the Electricity Supply Pension Scheme have completed a £1.8bn buy-in with Legal & General Assurance Society Limited, covering around two thirds of the scheme’s liabilities

UK inflation has fallen to 7.3% in June in the latest Consumer Price Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) figures, compared to 7.9% in May, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found

Bain Capital Insurance, the insurance investing business of Bain Capital, has announced the final close of its inaugural private equity fund, Bain Capital Insurance Fund, at $1.15bn, above its initial target of $750m

Aon has announced Maria Johannessen as UK head of investment, effective immediately

The average premium earned by the top 20 global public insurers rose by 3.3% in 2022, GlobalData has revealed

Just Group has seen its retirement income sales more than double to £1.9bn in H1 2023, as soaring gilt yields fuelled corporate pension deals and sales of individual annuities

Eighty-five per cent of institutional investors will increase their allocations to illiquid assets over the next two years driven by inflation and rising interest rates, new global research published by Aeon Investments has found

The Green Finance Institute’s Nature Programme (GFI Hive) has launched the UK Financial Institutions for Nature Group (G-FIN)

Fitch-rated US and European life insurers are well-positioned to withstand the mounting challenges from rising losses and falling commercial real estate (CRE) valuations, Fitch Ratings has said

The trustees of the Hammerson Group Management Limited Pension and Life Assurance Scheme have completed a £90m bulk annuity transaction with Just Group, securing retirement benefits for all members of the scheme

Axa has confirmed it has completed the acquisition of Groupe Assurances du Crédit Mutuel España (GACM España)

The Legal & General (L&G) Clear Power (Europe) Fund has announced that it has completed the financing of three Spanish solar projects in partnership with NordLB

The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company has announced it has decided to invest approximately $50m (JPY 7bn) in the IFM net-zero infrastructure fund, managed by IFM Investors, which aims to accelerate the world’s transition to net-zero

One in six asset and wealth managers globally are expected to be swallowed up or fall by the wayside by 2027, twice the historical rate of turnover, according to PwC’s 2023 Global and Wealth Management Survey

United Utilities has insured £1.8bn in liabilities for its pension funds through a buy-in with L&G

WTW has announced the appointment of Punil Chaubal as the insurance investment advisory proposition leader in the UK

Bank loans were one of the fastest-growing asset types in 2022 for US insurers, the NAIC has revealed, increasing by 21% to $117bn in BACV from $97.2bn in 2021

The top three priorities for US asset managers this year include broadening product distribution, increasing their ability to offer personalised investment solutions, and creating new investment vehicles, according to Cerulli

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has launched a public consultation on its supervisory statement on the supervision of reinsurance concluded with third-country reinsurers

ACORE Capital has appointed Andrew Terry, former head of US insurance at Schroders, as a managing director

The global insurance industry is expected to demonstrate continued resilience over the next two years, with insurance premiums in non-life and life estimated to grow by 1.1% in 2023 and 1.7% in 2024, according to the Swiss Re Institute

a.s.r. and the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) are jointly opening the Research Centre for Sustainable Investments & Insurance (RCSII)

BP is in talks with insurers over a so-called buy-in deal for its £30bn pension scheme, the Financial Times (FT) has reported

The Autorité de contrôle prudential et de resolution (ACPR) has launched its second climate stress test covering the French insurance sector

Spanish insurer, MEDVIDA, has reached an agreement with VidaCaixa whereby it will manage part of Sa Nostra Vida’s life insurance portfolio

Aviva has gone live with Clearwater Analytics’ platform for investment accounting operations and regulatory reporting

Generali has acquired Conning Holdings Limited (CHL), a leading global asset manager for insurance and institutional clients, from Cathay Life, a subsidiary of Cathay Financial Holdings, one of the largest Asia-based financial institutions

Senior insurance industry leaders have come together to form a new Investment Delivery Forum which will act as a catalyst and facilitator for driving investment into UK infrastructure projects

Scottish Widows has passed the first of its core climate targets two years ahead of its 2025 deadline, although it has issued a "stark warning" amid concerns over a potential misalignment between investment managers and its voting guidelines

The FCA has told UK asset managers to increase their focus on liquidity risk.

The regulator said that as things stand, “gaps observed in liquidity management could lead to a risk of investor harm”

The UN Environment Programme has issued a statement on the relaxed rules of the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), launched two years ago

L&G’s adoption of global accounting standard, IFRS 17, will not alter its strategy, solvency, or dividend plans, the insurer said, as it remains on track to achieve its 5-year ambitions

Institutional investors, including insurers, are targeting dramatic increases in allocations to the life settlements asset class due to increasingly attractive valuations and consistent returns, new research has shown

Brookfield Reinsurance has entered into an agreement to acquire American Equity Investment Life Holding Company (AEL) for approximately $4.3bn

The Chubb Pension Plan and the Chubb Security Pension Fund, both of which are sponsored by subsidiaries of APi Group Corporation, have completed a £1bn buy-in with Standard Life

The ABI has appointed Zurich UK CEO Tim Bailey as its new President, and M&G chief executive, retail and savings, Clare Bousfield as its new deputy president

Aegon has completed the combination of its Dutch pension, life and non-life insurance, banking, and mortgage origination activities with a.s.r.

Economic models underpinning climate scenario modelling in financial services do not always reflect the threat climate change poses to the planet and society, a new report from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) has argued

WTW has appointed Anthony Plotnek to lead its recently merged private assets and capital management team within its insurance consulting and technology business

Aegon intends to move its legal seat to Bermuda, moving group supervision away from the Dutch Central Bank (DNB).

Italy’s top insurers and Germany’s Allianz have agreed a multi-billion euro rescue deal for Eurovita, IVASS has announced

The PRA is consulting on a major set of reforms to Solvency II with the aim of creating a new UK regulatory regime for insurance firms, known as Solvency UK

CNP Assurances and Abeille Assurances have invested in a green bond from SNCF Group

The American Optical UK (AOUK) Pension Scheme has completed an £11m full scheme buy-in, in a deal that has been highlighted as evidence that even the smallest of schemes can receive strong insurer engagement

Macif has announced ambitious new commitments while publishing an ESG-Climate report

Helvetia has unveiled a new climate strategy with long-term goals and specific measures, which it is now implementing systematically

AXA has released new decarbonisation targets for its insurance and investment portfolios as it publishes its 2023 climate & biodiversity report

Gothaer has revealed it invested €400m in thematic and impact investments last year, including US$100m into the Natural Capital Fund

The Mabey Pension Scheme has secured a £94m buy-in transaction with Just Group, completing the deal in the space of three months

Brookfield Reinsurance has announced a proposal to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of American Equity Investment Life (AEL) not already owned by the company, set at an aggregate consideration of $55 per AEL share

Global asset management firm, Invesco, has announced that it will implement a management fee reduction or fee waiver to three ETFs, reflecting its commitment to continually evaluate its product line and provide a better investment experience for its clients

Mosaic Insurance has raised its line size for political-risk coverage to $30m and extended its funding horizon to support critical financing schemes in developing economies

French reinsurer, SCOR, has announced that its board of directors have unanimously decided to appoint Fabrice Brégier as its non-executive chairman, with immediate effect

BNP Paribas has announced the launch of a new fund, BNP Paribas European Impact Bonds Fund 2, and has joined forces with Banque des Territoires to create the fund.

The general insurance industry in Thailand is to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7% over the next five years, GlobalData has stated

Oskar Buchauer has been appointed as the new chief financial officer (CFO) at Allianz Global Corporate Specialty SE (AGCS)

The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) has welcomed the publication of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards as an important step towards establishing a “global baseline” for climate-related disclosures

Insurance Europe’s Reinsurance Advisory Board (RAB) has confirmed the appointment of Gen Re chairman, Charlie Shamieh, as its new chair

The UK Government expects that reform of the Solvency UK risk margin will be in force in legislation by year-end 2023

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has launched the fourth and final public consultation on the Insurance Capital Standard (ICS) as a prescribed capital requirement (PCR) for International Active Insurance Groups (IAIGs).

European insurers remain resilient in a new period of high uncertainty and elevated financial stability risk, EIOPA has said

The outlook for Italian life insurers is negative, a report by Moody’s Investors Service has said, reflecting lower sales of saving policies and increased lapse risk as rising interest rates make other investment products more attractive.

Talanx Group has announced that it is investing in green electricity produced by a portfolio of 15 hydro plants located on three Swedish river systems.

The number of US insurers that were members of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) increased by 6% by the end of 2022, compared to the end of 2021.

NN Group has joined two investor engagement efforts, in an attempt to further strengthen its active ownership activities as a large investor.

Finnish pension insurance company, Ilmarinen, has invested €580m in a climate-focused equity exchange-traded fund (ETF), bringing its total new investments in ETFs since the start of April to €5.19bn

Nationwide Pension Fund has completed a £1.7bn longevity risk transfer transaction with Zurich Assurance and Prudential Financial Inc (PFI), covering the longevity risk for around 7,000 in-pay members in the UK

The investment portfolio value of Spanish insurance companies has fallen by 15% as a result of interest rate increases by central banks in 2022, a report by MAPFRE Economics has found

Almost a quarter (23%) of professional investors, including insurance asset managers, expect a dramatic level of de-risking to occur over the next couple of years, due to higher expected bond yields/yields from fixed income and a fall in expected equity returns

Achmea has mandated HSBC as structuring adviser for the issuance of a €300m 20.5 year non-call 10.5 year Tier 2 transaction

Proposals in Indonesia to substantially increase the minimum capital requirement (MCR) for insurance and reinsurance companies is expected to result in increase merger and acquisition (M&A) activities, according to Global Data.

Insurers’ ratings are likely to be resilient to a moderate fall in commercial real-estate (CRE) values, Fitch Ratings has said in a new report.

The first biomethane mutual fund in Europe has been launched by global insurance company, MAPFRE, alongside its partners Abante and IAM Carbonzero, who will act as the fund advisor and energy sector specialist.

Beneva, the first Canadian insurance company to join the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), is now pulling out of the consortium, it has announced

Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, has concluded a £80m Bulk Purchase Annuity (BPA) transaction with the MGM Assurance Staff Pension Plan

The Bank of England (BoE) has launched its first system-wide exploratory scenario (SWES) exercise, aimed at improving understanding of the behaviours of banks and non-bank financial institutions in stressed financial market conditions

M&G Investments (M&G) has appointed Manabu Fujita as its new head of M&G Investments Japan, joining from Schroders Investment Management (Japan).

Generali is set to strengthen its property and casualty insurance (P&C) position in Spain and Portugal after acquiring Liberty Seguros’ profitable operations from Liberty Mutual for €2.3bn.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) have published the Data Point Modelling (DPM) Standard 2.0, which aims to foster collaboration and harmonisation in the field of supervisory reporting

Five thousand companies in 20 climate critical sectors are now covered by Legal & General Investment Management’s (LGIM) climate engagement programme.

L&G has appointed António Simões to the role of group CEO

Allianz has announced that it has concluded the placement of a €1.25bn subordinated bond, as well as the partial buyback of its €1.5bn 4.75% subordinated bond callable in 2023.

One hundred per cent of insurance asset managers interviewed in a survey by Laser Digital have stated that they believe digital assets are a major part of the investment landscape

Zurich Insurance is in talks to buy up to 51% of India’s Kotak General Insurance, its first major move in the South Asian insurance market

WTW has appointed Diya Luke as global head of investments, with the aim of driving the growth strategy of the company’s investment business globally.

Finnish pension insurance company, Ilmarinen, has announced that it is an anchor investor in new climate-focused iShares exchange-traded funds (ETFs), launched by BlackRock, in the USA and Japan

The European Commission (EC) has put forward a new package of measures to build on and strengthen the foundations of the EU sustainable finance framework

Weak operating environments for Sri Lankan insurers raise near-term downside risks to their credit profiles, according to Fitch Ratings.

DWS has appointed Jessica Hardman as its head of UK operations, as well as chief executive officer for DWS Investments UK, subject to regulatory approval.

Climate Action 100+ has announced a new phase, running until 2030, that intends to inspire a global scale-up in active ownership, markedly shifting the focus from corporate climate-related disclosure to the implementation of climate transition plans

Lloyd’s insurer S.A. Meacock has implemented the Clearwater Analytics solution for investment accounting and reporting

Economist and notable figure in the insurance and reinsurance industry, Denis Kessler, has passed away at the age of 71

The United States Senate Committee on the Budget has launched an investigation into how the US insurance industry evaluates climate-related risks, decides to invest in or underwrite fossil fuel expansion projects that drive such risks, and prices policies that insure such projects

Danish pension company Velliv has stated that it is “not at all on target” for reducing its investment portfolio’s carbon emissions, but that it is working hard to meet its targets

Dutch pension reform, which sees all occupational pension schemes become defined contribution (DC) by 2028, will provide a significant growth opportunity for the country’s life insurers, according to Fitch Ratings

Scottish Widows has agreed a £400m full scheme buy-in with the Harrods Group Pension Plan, securing retirement benefits for around 1,900 pensioners and 2,100 deferred members

Slovakia’s regulator, Národná banka Slovenska (NbS), is to petition for the liquidation of parts of Novis Group, claiming that from October to July 2022, the insurer had performed insurance activities “imprudently in a way that harms interests of its clients and in a way that threatens its financial situation”

South Korean money market fund (MMF) AuM stood at a record KRW172.7trn at end-May 2023, up by 22% since end-September 2022, Fitch Ratings has revealed

Schroders Fund Management has been granted the public fund business licence by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to begin operation as a wholly foreign-owned public fund management company in mainland China

FWD Group has reported a value of new business of US$247m, up 35% compared to Q1 2022

MAPFRE has decreased its overall carbon footprint by 26% compared to 2019, which is 22.5 points above the target set for 2022 (3.5%)

Legal & General Retirement America (LGRA) and Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) have entered into a $309m pension risk transfer (PRT) transaction with PPG, a Pittsburgh-based Fortune 500 global leader in manufacturing paints, coatings and specialty materials

Japan Post Insurance, KKR, and Global Atlantic have announced their entrance into a strategic partnership

The overall credit fundamentals of Japanese life insurers will remain resilient in the financial year ending March 2024 (FYE24), Fitch Ratings has said

Dai-ichi Life has invested around 8.7bn yen in the Prologis Japan Core Logistics Fund, a logistics facilities fund managed by Prologis K.K, a global leader in logistics real estate that owns, manages, and develops logistics facilities

L&G has announced the funding of a £150m residential development in Belfast, Northern Ireland, committing to the largest residential investment in the region which will fund the development of 627 new homes

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have voted in plenary in favour of including institutional investors and asset managers in the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)

Illiquid assets, including property, mortgage debt and private equity holdings, account for around 22% of UK life insurers’ investments compared with 13% in 2017, Moody’s has revealed

Aviva Investors has appointed Monica Fan-Bradley as head of institutional sales (ex. Asia Pacific) within its global client solutions function

NN Group (NN) has made its stance on proprietary investments in the oil and gas sector stricter, to now also include conventional oil and gas activities

Gabriel Lundström is to take over as the new head of sustainability at Skandia from 1 September, leaving his position as head of ESG at SEB

The trustee of the Aegon UK Staff Retirement and Death Benefit Scheme has completed a £160m partial buy-in with Scottish Widows, covering the interest rate, inflation and longevity risk relating to around 500 members

Insurers, banks, and investment firms across the EU have made "misleading claims" about their sustainability credentials to investors, EU watchdogs said in progress reports on Thursday to crack down on greenwashing

Total assets of euro area insurance corporations amounted to €8,267bn in Q1 2023, €201bn higher than in Q4 2022, according to figures published by the European Central Bank

Bangladesh’s general insurance industry is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.8%, from BDT64bn ($620.8m) in 2023 to BDT89.8bn ($809m) in 2027 in terms of gross written premiums (GWP), according to GlobalData

Aegon UK has launched its ‘Climate Roadmap’, which sets out how the firm plans to reduce the carbon footprint of its investments and support its customers’ financial wellbeing in relation to climate change

The Solvency II (S2-MEX) framework for Mexican insurance has demonstrated solid value through the pandemic, rising interest rates and financial market volatility, according to a new Fitch Ratings report

AM Best is maintaining its outlook on Italy’s life and non-life insurance segments at negative

Conning has announced that Matt Daly, currently head of the corporate and municipal bond teams at the firm, will become head of Conning North America effective 30 September 2023

Lloyd’s has resigned as a member organisation from the Net Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA)

The amount of ETFs held by US insurance companies in their general accounts dropped by 23.5% (or $11.2bn) in 2022 to US$ 36.6bn, latest figures published by S&P Dow Jones Indices have shown

US insurers’ investment in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), including both agency-backed (agency) and private-label, totalled about $341bn in book/adjusted carrying value (BACV) as of year-end 2022, according to the NAIC, which was about 4% of total cash and invested assets, a 1.5% increase from 2021

The Dutch Federation of Pension Funds has sent a letter to the European Parliament urging it to adopt the proposal on including institutional investors in the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) during the plenary debate on 1 June

Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) has announced the creation of a new dedicated global SRI equity team as part of its competitive offering in equities

European investors have shown renewed interest in China equity funds since Beijing announced it was abandoning its zero-COVID policy, according to a report from Cerruli

MetLife has entered into an agreement with retirement and life insurance company, Global Atlantic Financial Group

The Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) has been holding talks today to discuss its future after three more companies – Allianz SE, Axa SA and Scor SE – pulled out in the face of growing political opposition in the US

Pacific Asset Management (PAM) has announced the appointment of Mary Murphy as global head of institutional sales

Generali confirmed all its 2024 business plan targets today, after its Q1 profits rose on a strong non-life performance which more than offset weakness in the insurer's life business

Phoenix’s current investment portfolio accounts for 99% of the group’s carbon emissions, the insurer’s first transition plan has revealed

Nassau Financial has become a signatory of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)

The Timpson Group Pension Scheme has completed a £100m full scheme buy-in with Just Group, securing the retirement benefits for 369 pensioners and 694 deferred members

AIG is to sell Validus Re for a total transaction value that is expected to exceed $4.5bn

Swiss Life Asset Managers (Swiss Life AM) has acquired a majority equity interest in Powy valued at €84m, a leading independent owner and operator of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in Italy and Spain

Swiss Re has joined Munich Re and Hannover Re in exiting the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA)

Mirova and Robeco have partnered to develop a global database of 'avoided emissions'.
‘Avoided emissions are emissions that are avoided by product innovations and which contribute positively to carbon reduction

Total assets of Chinese insurance companies were ¥29.4trn at the end of Q1 2023, an increase of ¥1.22trn from the beginning of the year, according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC)

The issue of climate change does not pose such “significantly or material” financial stability risks that the Federal Reserve should treat it separately in its supervision of the financial system, Fed Governor Christopher Waller has said

Nippon Life has decided to invest around JPY 3bn in Nissay Capital Sustainability Solutions Fund No.1 Investment Limited Partnership

German life and pension company, Alte Leipziger, is the first client to go live with SimCorp’s latest Taxonomy module

Following its huge success in previous years, the Insurance Asset Management Conference is back for its fifth year

The US bulk annuities market is expected to finish Q1 2023 with around $6bn in total market volume and surpass last year's record of $5.3bn, according to Legal & General Retirement America's (LGRA) Q1 2023 Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) Monitor

Leading Dutch insurers’ Solvency II ratios were around the 200% level at end-2022, mostly in line with the previous year, according to Fitch Ratings’ Insurance Rating Criteria

The Malaysian life insurance industry is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.2% from MYR57.5bn ($13.1bn) in 2023 to MYR70.3bn ($15.9bn) in 2027, in terms of gross written premiums (GWP), according to GlobalData

The British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) has agreed a £2.7bn buy-in with Legal & General (L&G), the fourth and final buy-in for the scheme, making it the largest scheme in the UK to have secured full insurance

Just Group has secured a £40m buy-in with the But Retirement Benefits Scheme.

Chaucer has promoted Simon Tighe to become its group head of ESG, in addition to his role as group head of investments & Treasury within the firm

China’s reopening, the gradual recovery of its economy and better consumer sentiment will boost insurers’ growth momentum in 2023, Fitch Ratings has said

Fifty-eight per cent of US asset managers believe the SEC should be responsible for setting standards around asset managers’ ESG standards and product definitions, according to Cerulli research

Insurers' exposures to macro and market risks are currently the main concern for the insurance sector, while all other risk categories are at medium levels, EIOPA's latest Risk Dashboard based on Q4 2022 Solvency II data has revealed

More than half (56%) of global institutional investors recognise that the current environment is unlike any they’ve seen before, with 59% either actively rethinking their portfolio strategy or reallocating to a greater degree than they typically do, a survey by Nuveen has revealed

Talanx has seen its insurance revenue and group net income grow in the first three months of 2023

Mayfair Capital Investment Management, the specialist UK real estate investment arm of Swiss Life Asset Managers, has rebranded as Swiss Life Asset Managers UK

PIMCO has named Benjamin Ferguson, managing director, Co-Head of Japan and head, client & business management Japan

The impact of transition to IFRS 17 on shareholders’ equity is far more pronounced in the life insurance segment, according to AM Best, whereas for non-life insurers the impact is considerably narrower and biased to the upside

Global consultancy, Alpha FMC, is launching a dedicated US insurance consulting offering, and has hired Britton Van Dalen as executive director to lead it

Chinese insurance companies continue to enhance their risk management awareness, strengthen their responsibilities for risk management, and make continuous progress in risk management, according to the Solvency Risk Management Requirements and Assessment (SARMRA) conducted by the CBIRC, with an average score of 77.44 points recorded

Opportunities remain within Southeast Asia for asset managers capable of delivering returns in private equity, infrastructure, private debt, and real estate, a new report published by Cerulli has revealed

The Independent Investment Management Initiative (IIMI) has appointed Dani Hristova as its new CEO

German life insurers' average net return fell from 3.5% to 2.2% in 2022, latest figures published by BaFin have revealed

Helvetia has reported a STT ratio of 331% for the 2022 financial year, up from 260% on 1 January 2022

Storebrand’s total assets under management reached an all-time high level in Q1 2023, amounting to NOK 1,111bn, and an increase of 9% compared to the previous quarter

Direct Line’s total investment return was £70.9m in Q1 of which £37m related to net investment income and £33.9m related to the movement in realised and unrealised gains

Despite muted sentiment around the growth of the European ESG market in the coming years, almost a third of asset managers at the European level consider improving their position as a leader in ESG a strategic priority, new research published by Cerulli has shown

US insurance companies reported $8.2trn in total cash and invested assets at year-end 2022, an increase of only 1.3% compared to year-end 2021, figures published by the NAIC have revealed

Finnish pension insurer, Veritas, return 1.6% on its investments in the first quarter of 2023, its quarterly report has revealed

Aviva has secured a £900m buy-in with the trustees of the Thomas Cook Pension Plan, providing benefits at or in excess of Pension Protection Fund (PPF) levels for the scheme’s 12,500 members

Over 200 global financial institutions have established coal exclusion policies, with divestment momentum away from coal accelerating in the last two years despite record profits being enjoyed by coal companies on the back of the energy crisis

Swiss Re has reported a net profit of $643m in Q1 2023, compared with a loss of $248m a year earlier

MetLife's adjusted net investment income fell 8% to $4.6bn in Q1 2023 due to a string of high-profile bank collapses that hurt financial stocks

European life insurers’ liquidity profile is sufficiently strong to face a moderate to significant rise in lapses, particularly in the two most exposed markets, France and Italy, Fitch Ratings has said

Aviva Investors has launched a long term asset fund (LTAF), consisting of an initial £1.5bn portfolio of selected direct real estate assets seeded by Aviva UK Life

European asset managers looking to upgrade their ESG expertise are currently in a war for talent, according to latest research

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has said UK insurers should approach the growing opportunities in the bulk purchase annuity (BPA) market “with moderation”

Varma’s return on its investments in January-March was 1%, compared to -1.9% a year earlier, with European and US listed equities performing best

Talanx Group (Talanx) is introducing additional restrictions on insurance for new oil and gas projects with effect from 1 July 2023

Zurich has recorded a Group Swiss Solvency Test (SST) ratio of 267% as per January 2023, up from 212% a year earlier

Columbia Threadneedle Investments (Columbia Threadneedle) has entered into a “strategic real estate partnership” with Aegon UK to run a commercial real estate portfolio valued in excess of £500m

Rothesay has completed a £160m full scheme buy-in with the Repsol Sinopec Pension and Life Scheme

BlackRock, Conning and New England Asset Management (NEAM) ranked the most popular asset managers for US insurers in 2022, according to research published by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)

Finnish pension insurance company, Elo, has revealed that its net investment return on assets was 1.6% in the first quarter of 2023

The pension scheme sponsored by Batt Cables has completed a £34m buy-in with Just Group, covering 193 deferred members and 71 pensioners

The Insurance Asset Management Awards 2023 are now open to entries from firms across the UK, European and global insurance spaces