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In conversation with Insure our Future's Peter Bosshard
04 January 2021The coordinator of the campaign group Insure our Future (formerly Unfriend Coal), Peter Bosshard, looks at progress made in 2020 and highlights the roadmap for 2021. Interview by Vincent Huck
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"The beauty of real estate is you got time"
01 January 2021M&G Real Estate head of investment strategy Jose Pellicer talks about the future of offices, how that might impact the landscape of our city centres and the investors' allocation into real estate. Interview by Vincent Huck
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EU regulations have proven their worth in 2020—2021 will be about fine tuning
30 December 2020Elizabeth Gillam, head of EU government affairs & public policy at Invesco, talks about the EU's regulatory pipeline for the coming year, and the key pieces of legislation that may affect insurers' investments. Interview by Vincent Huck
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Germany's ZZR remains a conundrum for insurers
29 December 2020Calculating pay-ins in Germany's Zinszusatzreserve (ZZR) was overhauled in 2018 to reduce pressure on German insurers to build the reserve too quickly by selling valuable investments just to satisfy mandatory contributions. Has the reform been just a 'one-year wonder'? David Walker investigates
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Brexit or low interest rates: Chesnara knows the answer
28 December 2020The year has been volatile and ugly. And just when it is shaping towards an end, another unwelcome friend has re-entered the fray: Brexit. However, UK insurer Chesnara's CEO says Brexit is not the worst thing to be worried about right now.
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IAR Survey: Active versus passive, where do insurers stand?
23 December 2020As passive strategies have risen in popularity over the years, active managers have argued that their value would be apparent in times of crisis - if COVID-19 was the perfect scenario, have they delivered? And where do insurers and their "long time horizon" investing fit in the debate? Vincent Huck reports
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To have and to hold, in good times and in bad... until debt do us apart
21 December 2020When markets are bumpy, insurers need govvies in their investment portfolios, but for much more it has only shortcomings. David Walker examines European underwriters' varied views on sovereigns
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Sunlife CIO on the art of catching flying daggers
16 December 2020COVID-19 was the 'known unknown' that Randy Brown, CIO at SunLife, has been preparing for the best part of the last five years. So, when markets went into turmoil in H1 2020 the only question that remained was one of timing: when to catch the falling knife? Interview by Vincent Huck
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US insurers timidly assessing climate risk
14 December 2020From increasingly fierce wildfires in California to recurring hurricane hits to the country's southern and eastern seaboards, US insurers are only too familiar with some intensifying effects of climate change, but are they doing anything about it? David Walker takes the temperature.
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Western & Southern: The equity pusher
09 December 2020The idea that insurers can only invest in fixed income is a myth for Cincinnati's Western & Southern CIO, Brendan White. The insurer has been stretching the mould by investing in equities for nigh on 30 years. White explains why it invests in stocks and how successful this has been in the torpid world of insurance investing. Interview by Sarfraz Thind
- Hanwha Life gets US financial sector foothold with acquisition
- Aegon UK's head of responsible investment steps down
- Insurers eyeing private markets, Schroders survey finds
- Gresham House appoints director of global natural capital
- SLAM acquires London care home for £11.25m
- Tokio Marine steps up strategic equity sell-down plans
- Private credit markets hit $3trn, report finds
- Investments blow tailwinds in three MS&AD units, in 1H results
- AEW acquires logistics asset near Frankfurt
- Complacency is key risk to watch for, Swiss Re's Haegeli warns