Analysis

• European Commission provides the sustainability weapon... ammunition to follow

  10 January 2019

  Investment professionals have given a mixed reaction to draft EU rules on integrating sustainability in the fiduciary duty of investment firms and insurers. These rules are tied to another piece of legislation currently being designed and whose outcome could lead to significant change… or further greenwashing. Vincent Huck reports

  

• Video: Fiduciary duty evolved in light of sustainable finance

  08 January 2019

  Erick Decker, CIO for the Mediterranean and LATAM regions at Axa, tells Vincent Huck how asset managers' fiduciary duty has evolved because of the integration of environmental, social and governance criteria in the investment process.

  

• Outlook 2019: Diversification is the only free lunch left in town

  27 December 2018

  Prashant Sharma, head of international fixed income insurance at JP Morgan Asset Management, predicts a slowdown in growth for 2019, but all is not lost for insurers’ assets and a bit of forward thinking and preparation could help the resilience of their investments in the case of a downturn.

  

• External and inhouse challenges facing investors and managers alike

  20 December 2018

  During a two-day conference held by the CFA Institute, European investors discussed the geopolitical risks they face, divergences between asset owners and asset managers, and the rise of sustainability in the investment processes. Vincent Huck reports

  

• Emerging markets: opportunities beyond headline risk

  18 December 2018

  Despite a lot of negative headlines in the summer, emerging markets are still a strategically important asset class for insurers, Sanjay Yodh and Kevin Daly of Aberdeen Standard Investments tell Vincent Huck. But the asset class is tainted by prejudices.

  

• Comment: the rules of engagement

  11 December 2018

  The same day a report highlighting investors’ shortcomings in coal investment policies was published, investors with a combined $32trn in assets demanded governments increase action on climate change. Vincent Huck tries to reconcile the news

  

• US P&C sector expected to shun riskier assets in 2018

  04 December 2018

  Increased volatility, lower growth and tighter monetary policy conditions are likely to see a shift away from riskier assets by US P&C insurers in the next 12 months, according to a report by AM Best. By Sarfraz Thind

  

• IFRS 17 & 9 series: a fork in the road

  29 November 2018

  In the final part of this series on the impact of the international financial reporting standards (Ifrs) on insurers' financial reporting, Vincent Huck looks at the potential impact of the standards on risk appetite, and why insurers want to postpone implementing them.

  

• Penn Mutual AM targeting the smaller insurer

  27 November 2018

  Penn Mutual Asset Management is on the lookout for insurer assets. Since it rebranded in 2014, the Penn Mutual affiliate has been saying it is on a push to target the small-tier US insurance market that it believes to be poorly catered for by larger asset managers. But does it have what smaller insurers want? By Sarfraz Thind

  

• IFRS 17 & 9 series: Asset allocation considerations

  22 November 2018

  In the second of a three parts series on the impact of the international financial reporting standards (Ifrs) on insurers' financial reporting, Vincent Huck looks at the potential impact of the new accounting standards, Ifrs 17 and 9, on asset allocation.