Day 1 of the Insurance Asset Risk 2020 Americas conference has come to a close after a packed day of panels, speed networking sessions, and discussion groups.
The annual conference is being held virtually this year, more information on access and the conference is available here.
Highlights of the first day include a chief investment officers panel, which revealed that the investment heads at large USA insurers anticipate their job coming out of the COVID-19 crisis will be as much about managing expectations of how much their investment portfolios can actually deliver as it is about managing the investments themselves.
Despite the gloom, CIOs try to remain positive and have adopted a new mantra: "Things are never so bad they can't get worse."
Earlier in the day, a panel of economists also revealed dark clouds hanging over the USA insurance industry, arguing that the even lower for longer scenario leaves insurers with slim pickings on the horizon.
And that the biggest risk to USA economy was a second wave of COVID-19.
A panel on interest rates and negative yield echoed the economists' views on a low-interest environments for the foreseeable future. But panellists said they did not expect rates to drop in the negative, although they warned insurers portfolios should be positioned for any eventualities.
Panelists on the credit risk session were more upbeat, arguing that the COVID-19 crisis had offered some investment opportunities. And they were full of praise for the Federal Reserve's (Fed) actions to maintain market stability and investors' confidence. They believe the Fed will continue to act as the vaccine until an actual vaccine is found.
Panels and discussion groups are available on the events platform for on demand replay. Day 2 will kick off on 23 September at 11am EST.
More information about the event and how to attend is available here.
Channels:USA focus
