Insurance Asset Risk Americas 2019

Registration and morning coffee

Insurance Asset Risk welcome address

Vincent Huck, Editor, Insurance Asset Risk

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Managing asset risk in a tumultuous investment climate

• How have recent market events been relevant to strategic asset allocation?
• Incorporating political risk: what have we learned?
• What has driven investment environment in 2019 to date?
• What can we expect in the next 24 months?

Speaker: Thomas Holzheu, Chief Economist, Americas, Swiss Re

CIO/CRO HUDDLE: Linking strategic risk management and C-level conversations with investment strategies

• How do CIOs validate their investment decisions with risk and actuarial teams?
• Speaking with the CRO: using SRM to decide which assets to invest in
• Balancing investment risk levels with competitive liability pricing pressures
• Methods of allocating investment risk to liabilities: is it driven by risk characteristics or return need?
• How can a CIO contribute to the discussion of upholding underwriting standards and appropriate setting of risk limits?
• Understanding how ALM/DFA interacts with the role of the CIO and the CRO: where does the risk tolerance of one stop and the risk appetite of the other start?
• Modeling in an integrated manner: how can ALM/DFA help CFOs and CROs understand how a company reacts in different economic environments?

Moderator: Vincent Huck, Editor, Insurance Asset Risk

Panelists:

Teresa McTague, Senior Managing Director, Chief Investment Officer - US, Global Investments, Aflac
Thomas Passante, Chief Risk Officer, Everest Re Group
Kevin Redgate, Senior Vice President and US Chief Investment Officer, MetLife
Eric Sandberg, Chief Risk Officer, National Life Group

PRESENTATION AND INTERACTIVE POLL: How do leveraged loans fit into an insurer’s portfolio?

• How does demand for leveraged loans compare with pre-financial crisis levels?
• Has increased demand led to weaker covenants?
• How resilient is the credit quality of leveraged loans?
• Is a liquidity crunch on the horizon if demand for CLOs dries up?

Moderator: Eric Kolchinsky, Director, Structured Securities and Capital Markets, NAIC

Panelist: Scott Baskind, Head of Global Senior Loans and Chief Investment Officer, Invesco Senior Secured Management

PANEL: Securing investment wins in the current credit cycle

• What is the level of risk appetite at this point in the credit cycle?
• How can investors navigate a balance between high-yield and credit risk?
• What should investment teams do to find liquidity within sensible risk limits?
• How can insurers protect their portfolios against rising credit risk?
• Where are the main pressure points – but also opportunities – for long-term investors?

Moderator: Ronan McCaughey, Deputy Editor and Commercial Editor, InsuranceERM

Panelists:

Juan Mazzini, Vice President, Credit & Portfolio Risk Management, Global Atlantic Financial Group
Felix Schmid, Senior Vice President, Head of Investment Management, Sirius International Insurance Group
Manoj Ramnani, Vice President, Investments, Sompo International
Sanjana Raturi, Head of Credit Risk, New York Life Insurance Company

PANEL: Scenario testing and economic generators in an unpredictable investment environment

• Why is scenario stress testing more relevant than ever?
• How to implement scenario analysis for each type of portfolio
• How effective are economic scenario generators as an asset allocation tool?
• What additional quantitative risk tools are being implemented in today’s investment environment?

Moderator:
Sarfraz Thind, US Editor, Insurance Asset Risk

Panelists:
John Orner, Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota
Patricia McKenna, Vice President, Investments, AEGIS Insurance
Joseph Montgomery, Managing Director, Investments, The Optimal Service Group of Wells Fargo Advisors, on behalf of The Doctors Company

PANEL: Joining up the dots on stress testing investment portfolios and risk capital

• Where might the market be overleveraged and what does this mean for capital management and ALM?
• How do you calculate risk-adjusted returns across non-vanilla assets and calculate trade-offs with other asset classes?
• Preparing for a difficult credit environment: how best to model and stress test illiquid credit risk and esoteric assets
• Are people sacrificing capital for returns or looking at more efficient uses of capital?
• What happens when stress and risk tolerances reach their limit? How does this feed back into corporate plans at the management level?
• Are there hedging or derivatives strategies that can help?

Moderator: Daniel Finn, Managing Director, Head of North America Risk Solutions, Conning

Panelists:

José Juan Casarrubias, Investment Risk & Derivatives Oversight Officer, Financial Risk Management, Principal Financial Group
Xiaowei Han, Vice President, Head of ALM, TIAA
Jason Huibregtse, Director, Investment Risk and Planning, CUNA Mutual Group
Harry Norman, Head of ALM, The Hartford

PRESENTATION: The role of private debt in sustainable infrastructure

• Infrastructure represents $1.1 trillion of the annual investment required to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - what’s the role of private capital in infrastructure?
• How is infrastructure debt poised to be an important component to the solution in addressing the challenges and risks by climate change?
• What characteristics classify an infrastructure project as making a positive contribution on the environment?
• How do you measure sustainability performance for regulatory and taxonomy purposes?

Speaker: James Wilson, Chief Investment Officer, Macquarie Infrastructure Debt Investment Solutions

CIO PANEL: Taking smart risks – now and for the future

• How do you define smart risks?
• Where are we in the cycle and what is important to CIOs right now?
• How atypical is the current cycle?
• Where can relative value be found?
• What risks are overrepresented in the insurer portfolio?
• What are CIOs optimizing for and what constraints are being encountered?
• How best to invest in alternatives? How does that change as the alternatives portfolio grows?

Moderator: Thomas Hobson, Insurance Solutions, Macquarie

Panelists:

Sara Bonesteel, Chief Investment Officer – Retirement and Group Insurance, The Prudential Insurance Company of America
Teresa McTague, Senior Managing Director, Chief Investment Officer - US, Global Investments, Aflac
Craig Sabal, Deputy Chief Investment Officer, AIG
Steven Friedman. Executive Vice President, Chief Investment Officer, Pan-American Life Group

PANEL: Dealing with illiquidity in a crisis

• How significant is the liquidity threat for insurers?
• What steps have insurers taken to manage liquidity?
• Are illiquid assets functional in a credit market downturn?
• Private placement market: are yields worth the illiquidity trade off?
• The connection between physical climate risk and liquidity

Moderator:

Steven Friedman, Executive Vice President, Chief Investment Officer, Pan-American Life Group

Panelists:

Amit Agrawal, Head of Fixed Income, AXA XL
Lisa Cadotte, Vice President – Investment Risk and Operations, Northwestern Mutual
Hany Gobreial, Vice President, Risk and Capital Management, Pacific Life
Jay Madia, Managing Director, Head of Risk Assets, AXIS Capital
Matthew Ulterino, Property Investment Project Coordinator, UNEP Finance Initiative

Close of conference and networking drinks reception