by Ed Toy of Risk&Regulatory Consulting

"Additional questions were also raised about longer-term prospects for others. In general, downgrades by rating agencies and defaults for bonds increased in 2020 in comparison with prior years, but not to the degree that some analysts feared. The same was true on the commercial real estate side, which is relevant given how the exposure has grown in recent years through commercial mortgage loans and investment real estate, particularly among Life insurers."

"The trend with PE firms acquiring U.S. insurers has been due in part to the low interest rate environment, whereby both sides sought benefits: PE firms taking on an additional, steady source of premium income from the insurers, and U.S. insurers’ investment portfolios potentially achieving higher investment returns and improved access to capital and asset sourcing."

via BestTV

"Insurers would like ETFs to be treated consistently by the NAIC and states, said Stewart Foley, managing partner, editor-in-chief, Insurance AUM Journal"

via NAIC

"U.S. insurers represented less than 10% of total FHLB members at year-end 2020 and totaled about 465 in number, mostly split between life (44%) and property/casualty (P/C) companies (46%)."

by Terence B. Martin of Conning

"In no way is any insurance company exempt from scrutiny on ESG topics. The applicability of social and governance issues to insurance companies is obvious: insurers need to address issues such as diversity, wages, cyber risks, and ethics just as much as a manufacturer does."

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An update to SAA's Q1 review: Still, low rates will persist as recently reaffirmed by the Federal Reserve to mitigate the economic impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Expect all fixed income portfolios to face continued investment income erosion through 2023/24 due to lower reinvestment yields. Shorter maturity portfolios will see this impact much sooner then longer maturity portfolios.