Insurance Asset Risk, first launched online in June 2014, has reached a new milestone, and will now be published biannually in print.
For our first print issue, we have tried to capture some of the current 'end points' and some new beginnings, which insurers globally are grappling with, and provide practical insights to deal with these challenges.
First, there is increased political risk. Significant changes occurring in politics suggest the binarism of recent history between the Left and the Right has often imploded. Populism is rejuvenated, but is it here to stay? Insurers are divided.
Some call the US / China trade-wars the first step to Cold War II. Then there is Brexit with its own never-ending twists and turns – and who's to say what will have happened by the time you read these lines.
And the European Union remains prone to in-fighting amongst the remaining member states - Italy, Greece, and Hungary are particularly vindictive towards Brussels.
There is also the issue of market risk. Insurance investors recognise the credit cycle is nearer its end than its beginning.
But they question how far it still has to run. With this in mind, underwriters are making sure their portfolios are positioned to weather a downturn.
These two trends alone – an end of globalisation and of the credit cycle – have the power to shape a very different tomorrow, making obsolete the accepted wisdom behind much investing today.
We are seeing other seminal 'end-points', too, also with significant ramifications for underwriters' general accounts.
Libor is to be discontinued. The biggest overhaul of accounting standards to hit the industry in decades, in the form of IFRS 7, is only a stone's throw away.
The historic privileging of shareholders over stakeholders is coming to its end as sustainable finance creeps into mainstream finance.
And the difficulty of entering Asian markets is ending, as they potentially open doors for foreign investors - a new El Dorado?
Journeys are rarely linear though, and as the landscape evolves, so will our coverage and we'll ensure to bring the most relevant topics to readers' attention.
At this momentous point of celebrating our first issue, we would like to thank all our friends and supporters who have helped us carry Insurance Asset Risk to its current success. We look forward to the next stage, and reaching new heights.
For more information on the print issue, please email: subs@insuranceassetrisk.com