Insurance Asset Risk EMEA 2024

Welcoming address

PANEL DISCUSSION: ECONOMY AND GLOBAL MARKETS OUTLOOK –KEY TRENDS TO KEEP A WATCH ON AND WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM MONETARY POLICY?

• Central Bank action and the outlook for interest rates– what can we expect from the policy makers in the short to medium term?
• Can we close the chapter on inflation and will central banks succeed in reaching their inflation targets by year end?
• How extensive and damaging might 2nd order effects from rate rises be?
• Are there any potential sources of future inflation shocks on the horizon?
• Will the US economy remain resilient and avoid recession?
• Is China at risk of a financial crisis and what would be the likely global implications?
• How will the above affect credit and equity markets?

Moderator:
Vincent Huck, Editor, Insurance Asset Risk

Panellists:
Arnab Das, Global Macro Strategist, Invesco
Corrado Pistarino, Chief Investment Officer, Foresters Friendly
Charlotte Mueller, Chief Economist Europe, Swiss Re

PANEL DISCUSSION: KEY REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE INVESTMENT LANDSCAPE

• What are the key regulatory changes on the horizon that insurer investment teams should be keeping their eye on?
• Solvency II reforms and the Implications of EU and UK finalised SII package - What will the investment and operational landscape for firms look like post reform and going forward?
• How has the final policy diverged from the consultation?
• How is implementation going to look? how are insurers getting their houses in order to prepare for implementation?
• What challenges have firms encountered in readying for the implementation of Solvency UK?
• What opportunities and challenges do these reforms open up? Where do you see opportunities to harvest benefits?
• What impact will the changes have for insurers in terms of their ability to transition to net zero?
• Are emerging ESG reg requirements too onerous?
• Can and should we expect further tightening in regulation around sustainability and climate related risks?
• Helping or hindering? If you had the opportunity, what would you change about the focus, role and purpose of regulation?
• How are insurers reconciling multiple and sometimes conflicting regulatory changes?
• If you had 1 wish, what piece of regulation would you like to see introduced or removed?

Moderator:
Rob Andrew, Head of Insurance and Pension Solutions, abrdn 

Panellists:
Adam Ruddle, Chief Investment Officer, LV=
David Otudeko, Assistant Director, Head of Prudential Regulation, Association of British Insurers (ABI)
Grigory Spivak, VP, Specialist - ALM and Asset Strategy, S&R, Pacific Life Re
Michela Bariletti, Chief Credit Officer, Phoenix Group

PRESENTATION: THE NEW ECONOMIC ERA: A (R)EVOLUTION FOR PORTFOLIOS?

Synopsis

In a new economic era, what has worked for insurance asset owners in the past won't necessarily work going forward. To avoid risks and capture alpha in a world of greater volatility, dispersion and uncertainty, insurers need to break from tradition when considering positioning and implementation.

In this session, Tim Antonelli, Multi-Asset Strategist, will explore:

• the impact of divergent monetary policy, increased fiscal spending, deglobalisation, geopolitical risk and the climate transition on the insurance asset owner's landscape
• why insurers should rely less on history and more on what could happen
• how insurers can look for opportunities while also taking steps to protect against bubbles and shocks

Speaker: Tim Antonelli, Managing Director, Head of Multi-Asset Strategy, Wellington Management

PRESENTATION: SYSTEMATIC FIXED INCOME INVESTING: IN SEARCH OF ATTRACTIVE, REPEATABLE & UNCORRELATED EXCESS RETURNS

Outline: While factor-investing has become mainstream in the equity world, the specifics of Fixed Income investing has made the approach more complex to implement successfully: access to data, liquidity, transaction costs, among other considerations, have represented significant barrier-to-entry ... until now. With proven track record in delivering repeatable, uncorrelated and attractive excess returns, AB will introduce its proprietary framework to systematic Fixed Income investing and propose applications in the context of capital-constrained portfolio construction.

Speaker: Richard Roberts, Head of EMEA & Asia Insurance Business Development, AllianceBernstein

KEYNOTE INTERVIEW:

Speaker: Mike Eakins, Chief Investment Officer and Group Executive Committee Member, Phoenix Group

PANEL DISCUSSION: THE CIO VIEW ON PRIVATE MARKETS

• As rates start to normalise, are insurers reassessing their private-market asset allocations?
• With an increased focus on liquidity, has there been a shift in people's perceptions with regard to balance between liquidity and illiquidity?
• What are the real USPs of private assets and are you sufficiently rewarded for the risk?
• What role do we want private assets to play in our portfolio going forward?
• How have private assets performed as a hedge against inflation?
• Where are the current opportunities in private markets and what are the ways to access?
• What innovation are we seeing around private assets?
• Is there enough supply in private markets to carry the growth in the BPA markets?
• How has private credit performed in pervious market cycles and what might we expect from the asset class in a potential recessionary environment?

Moderator:
Blair Jacobson, Partner, Co-Head of European Credit, Ares Management

Panellists:
David Ramroop, Chief Investment Officer, Just Group 
Mike Eakins, Chief Investment Officer and Group Executive Committee Member, Phoenix Group
Molly Sheinberg, Deputy CIO, Aspida Re
Todd Isaac, Chief Investment and Treasury Officer, Hiscox

CIOs IN CONVERSATION: INNOVATIVE APPROCHES TO HELP NAVIGATE THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF A COMPLEX INVESTMENT LANDSCAPE

• Which risks do you see as having the biggest influence on your asset allocation strategy and how are you positioned to address them?
• How has the prevailing macroeconomic environment impacted the attractiveness of different asset classes?
• How can investors prepare for a higher-for-longer interest rate environment, for instance, or indeed a scenario where rates fall?
• What is the impact of persistent (if reduced) inflation?
• To what extent do Private Asset continue to be relevant?
• How do you see SUK reforms impacting investment opportunities going forward?
• 2024 presents significant and consequential geopolitical challenges. Faced with the biggest election year in modern times and extreme political conflict and tension, how are insurers managing the resulting uncertainty and positioning the balance sheet in anticipation of market volatility?
• How do you consider climate risk as part of your investment policies, if at all?
• Do you consider top-down (systemic, interconnected) considerations as well as bottom-up (issuer-level) risks in investment decisions?
• How are insurers considering the application of AI in designing and managing portfolios?

Moderator:
Hens Steehouwer, Chief Innovation Officer, Ortec Finance

Panellists:
Aileen Mathieson, Group Chief Investment Officer, Aspen
Ashish Dafria, Chief Investment Officer, Aviva UK Life
David Thompson, Chief Investment Officer UK, Zurich
Scott McClurg, Managing Director, Head of Private Credit, HSBC AM

PRESENTATION: PRIVATE CREDIT: MANAGING RISK EXPOSURES IN (RE)INSURANCE PORTFOLIOS

Speaker: Dan Robinson, Head of Alternative Credit, DWS

PANEL DISCUSSION: ADAPTING LIQUIDITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR TODAY’S RATE ENVIRONMENT

• Has liquidity management grown in importance for insurers?
• Have insurers liquidity requirements increased in the last couple of years? Is this just due to revised calibrations or has the approach changed as well?
• Risk monitoring and optimisation techniques – how are insurers making sure their liquidity is at sufficient levels to meet capital calls
• Is there a liquidity drag? In a higher yielding environment is there a greater focus on solutions to the liquidity drag?
• Where do we stand now on perceptions with regard to the balance between liquidity and illiquidity? What is the right weighting?
• What is the right cash strategy in the current rate environment? Are you best placed holding cash or does it make more sense to give up cash in order to gain higher yields from alternative assets?
• To what extent are we able to get a clear view of the cost of liquidity on the balance sheet?
• Insights and expectations from the regulator: how will companies be expected to disclose liquidity risk?
• What action and requirements surrounding liquidity risk management can we anticipate from the PRA?

Moderator:
Mark Saunders, Managing Director, Risk Solutions, Conning

Panellists:
Dimitrios Palaiologos, Head of Financial Risk, Convex Insurance
Keith Goodby, Head of Shareholder Investments and Strategy, Aviva
Konstantinos Stergiou, CFA, Head of Financial Risk, Actuarial Function, AXA UK & Ireland (subject to final confirmation)
Annika Hofmann, Investment Platform Development, Lloyd's

PANEL DISCUSSION: A BURGEONING BPA MARKET. HOW CAN INSURERS BEST POSITION THEMSELVES TO CAPITALISE ON THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT THIS RAPID GROWTH AREA PRESENTS?

• How is the Bulk purchase annuity market set to evolve throughout 2024 and beyond?
• How sustainable is the rate of growth we are currently experiencing and what are the drivers and determining factors that will shape its future path?
• The role of reinsurance in supporting BPA growth and insurer's ability to support from a pension de-risking perspective
• Dynamics of the market development
• As the market scales what challenges and opportunities are emerging?
• As new entrants enter the market, what will be the implications of this increased competition and how do the dynamics change?
• How will the industry support its growth? Is Capital available? Are there enough investments?
• What assets are insurers using to back the liabilities and how are insurers meeting the challenge of sourcing assets in a crowded space?
• Finding solutions to Illiquid assets
• How are insurers approaching in specie assets?
• Innovation – how are insurers innovating in order to meet challenges and to differentiate their offering in a crowded space
• Accessing the necessary skill set
• Role of policy
• Do Solvency II reforms make the BPA market commercially more or less appealing? Will it create opportunities and access to additional asset classes to back the liabilities?
• Implications of the PRA review of the use of funded reinsurance – what impact will this have on insurers' ability to participate in the BPA space?

Moderator:
Robert Leeming, News Editor, Insurance Asset Risk

Panellists:
Ashwinder Moti, Executive Director, UK Pension & Insurance Solutions, Goldman Sachs International
Chandra Chadalawada, Head of ALM and Liquidity Management, Legal and General
Hayley Rees, Managing Director, PIC
Tom Bulpitt, Director of DB Pricing and Reinsurance, Just Group

PANEL DISCUSSION: INCORPORATING NATURE AND BIODIVERSITY RISK INTO INSURER INVESTMENTS

• What is the most effective way for insurance investment teams to generate positive biodiversity outcomes?
• Does allowing for biodiversity conflict with broader net zero goals?
• Measuring biodiversity impact -how do institutions start to try to assess biodiversity footprint of the investment portfolio? What can we learn from the TNFD framework?
• How can we leverage from our learnings and experience of managing climate-related risks when tackling biodiversity? Where do the 2 conflict and where are the alignments?
• Complexities and challenges surrounding biodiversity data
• Exploring nature related investment opportunities
• What investable assets with a positive impact on biodiversity are insurers exploring and accessing?
• How do we scale natural capital?
• What barriers stand in our way?
• How do nature related assets perform from a risk/return perspective?
• Understanding risks associated with natural capital assets
• Political and social risk
• Volatility risk
• Risk mitigation strategies
• Exit strategies
• How far may the search for biodiversity be a tradeoff with the traditional (financial) risk/reward framework of investments?
• How can we expect regulation to drive nature and biodiversity investment

Moderator:
Josh Adcock, Staff Writer, Insurance Asset Risk

Panellists:
Brian J. Kernohan, Chief Sustainability Officer, Private Markets, Manulife Investment Management
Jean-Francois Coppenolle, Sustainable Investment Director, Abeille Assurances
Representative TBC, MAPFRE
Michèle Lacroix, Group Head of Sustainability, Scor

CLOSING REMARKS