July 13, 2016
European insurers, whose profits are being eroded by Mario Draghi’s* quantitative easing program, face a stress test headache that risks requiring them to set aside more capital, further hurting their ability to make money. The timing of the regulator’s “stress …
September 30, 2015
In an attempt to deploy excess capital, some major European insurers have developed overseas operations over the past several years but are now taking a more cautious approach, as not all overseas strategies have proven successful, according to a new …
September 2, 2015
European insurers’ assets under management jumped 9.4 percent to €9.9 trillion ($11.15 trillion) in 2014 from a year earlier, trade body Insurance Europe said on Tuesday, mainly driven by increased investment by life insurers. European gross written premiums rose by …
July 31, 2015
The pursuit of improved investment returns has become more important for European insurers after a lengthy period when their attention was more focused on non-investment sources of profit, according to a report published by A.M. Best. How an insurer might …
June 16, 2015
Low interest rates together with highly liquid and stable financial markets have prompted European insurers to tap the capital markets in their efforts to lower the cost of capital and optimize levels of risk-adjusted capitalization, according to a new report …
July 1, 2014
“An EU-wide compulsory environmental liability insurance system would not benefit customers and so should not be introduced,” according to Insurance Europe, the European insurance and reinsurance federation. The federation consists of 34 members, representing Europe’s national insurance associations. It includes …
December 12, 2013
Low interest rates are the biggest risk for European insurers and pension funds, weighing on sales of retirement products, the region’s top industry supervisor said. Interest rates are “putting pressure mostly on life insurers’ and occupational pension funds’ ability to …
October 15, 2013
European non-life and life insurers “are benefitting from a more stable economic environment, although they continue to adjust product offerings and adapt reinsurance purchasing in response to the low-yield environment as they increase their focus on risk management,” according to …
January 14, 2013
Mario Greco, the new boss of Europe’s 3rd largest insurance group, Italy’s Generali, has vowed to boost operating profit by a quarter via an ambitious turnaround strategy that focuses on “value over volume.” Under the three-year plan Generali aims to …
October 16, 2012
The Eurozone financial crisis continues to be among the most significant challenges facing insurers, although capital is strong for the European primary insurance market, according to A.M. Best Co. In a new report, “European Non-Life Sector Faces Further Economic Uncertainty,” …