Insurer portfolios: archive
Every Insurer portfolios story in Insurance, newest first. 78 stories
1 story
Growth equity's insurance pitch runs into the capital charge
The size of an insurer's growth equity sleeve will come from the RBC text, not the return deck.
3 stories
StepStone calls a real estate bottom; the properties will say if it's right
The house view gives general accounts a level to argue with, but the entry decision lives in which properties are being forced to market and why.
Onshore admitted assets grow $400 billion; sidecars compound five times faster
U.S. life/health admitted assets rose 4% to $10.31 trillion in six months; Bermuda's sidecar book compounded roughly five times faster.
NEAM reads July's hawkish minority as a general-account warning
Three members voted to hike, and payrolls have since averaged 20,000. For insurers, the question is what the next maturing bond buys.
2 stories
Sub-$250m carriers are the center of gravity in outsourcing
NAIC data shows penetration up only a tick, but two-thirds of outsourcers are small insurers handing one manager the whole general account.
Berkshire’s Alphabet stake is a bet on the power underneath AI
Greg Abel ties the $37.8 billion position, plus $10 billion more taken at a discount, to data-center electricity demand—the constraint the credit side of the AI trade turns on.
1 story
EM private credit needs an EM seat
PPM America says insurers should run the loans against country and currency limits, not direct-lending credit assumptions.
1 story
Warsh's hold hands general accounts a 2007-level long end
Three dissents and a steepening curve turn the hold into a duration decision before September's inflation data.
1 story
Sub-IG infrastructure debt: insurers' yield fix requires discipline
A market insight argues sub-investment-grade infrastructure debt can lift yields without abandoning real-asset protection, but the capital-efficiency argument only holds if the qualifying criteria are met.
1 story
Tokenization's Real Test Is Collateral, Not Returns
An Insurance AUM Journal piece argues the business case for tokenized assets is operational, and insurers should organize around the collateral desk, not the innovation lab.
3 stories
AM Best flags Level 3 bond growth in life/annuity books
The segment is driving the industry's hardest-to-value bond holdings, and the rating agency says the surplus is now exposed to model risk.
NEAM's 2025 review measures the gap between yield and income
The report pairs book yield with net investment income across P&C, life and health — and its own prior data shows the income line can fall while yields climb.
Life/health net yield rises to 4.6%
A 10-basis-point step in the yield line is the income statement's first visible payment on a private-allocation decision.
1 story
Supply constraints redefine private real-asset returns
Two midyear outlooks argue the winners in infrastructure and real estate will be the insurers that underwrite power, permitting, and construction costs—not just deploy capital.
1 story
Consumer credit's next turn is already in the GDP data
A 1.2% adjusted growth pace and survey-low confidence argue general accounts should de-risk consumer credit before downgrades arrive.
1 story
A steepening curve is no haven for agency MBS
July's 7 bp OAS widening ran against 15 years of precedent, an extension-risk signal for general accounts.
2 stories
StepStone tells insurers real estate is at a bottom
The private markets firm's 2H26 house view is a pitch to redeploy capital into dislocation, and the cost of being early is the test.
Core-plus CRE debt becomes a bank-retreat trade for insurers
Nuveen's webinar frames the widening financing gap as durable and points general accounts to value-add returns at core-plus risk.
2 stories
Manulife stays constructive on risk assets in Q3 outlook
The multi-asset team leans on healthy fundamentals while flagging inflation and fresh Fed-style uncertainty.
Tokenization's case to insurers starts with collateral
Insurance AUM Journal's analysis by Calum McNiven sees the near-term payoff in making existing assets work harder, not in new asset classes; governance and infrastructure remain the hurdle.
6 stories
Private equity's share of M&A falls to a 10-year low
Insurance AUM Journal's midyear outlook finds the M&A recovery is real but lopsided: strategic buyers are doing the deals, and private equity's share has fallen to a 10-year low.
AM Best shifts American Agricultural's issuer outlook to positive
Rating agency affirms the A (Excellent) financial strength grade while pointing the long-term issuer rating toward a possible upgrade.
The short-duration case starts with spread definitions
An Insurance AUM Journal article fixes the spread and rating terms at the center of the allocation argument.
Nuveen maps the vertical-integration wave hitting AI power credit
A new Nuveen paper gives general accounts a framework for how AI-driven power demand is redrawing utility, generation, and grid credit.
Railcar leasing gets the general-account airing
An InsuranceAUM.com episode pairs an asset manager and an insurance distributor to make the case for railcars in insurer portfolios.
AI demand is real; the credit concentration needs scrutiny
An Insurance AUM Journal essay argues that AI demand is real. For the general account, the accumulating credit concentration is the part worth watching.
10 stories
Financials' 2026 lag hides an AI-cycle tailwind for banks
Insurance AUM Journal argues the AI buildout has a balance-sheet side — and banks are the overlooked way to own it.
For insurers, equity selection beats broad exposure in 3Q
Principal's third-quarter outlook says durable earnings and cash flow matter more than market participation as leadership narrows.
HALO framework makes durability the private-markets test
The framework urges insurers to weigh inflation pass-through ahead of asset-class labels.
Brookfield Wealth Solutions crosses $200 billion as Just Group closes
The Just Group deal took the balance sheet past $200 billion and delivered a full quarter of earnings. Operating income climbed while mark-to-market losses left the first half in the red.
Three Fed dissenters make the September meeting the one to watch
The July vote said more than the statement. NEAM's August Trade Winds explains why September matters.
Fidelity's Q3 active equity report stays institutional-only
The quarterly scorecard gives allocators a benchmark on active equity positioning, with no figures in the public summary.
Health insurers' investment income fell even as yields hit decade highs
Cash and Schedule BA income shortfalls erased the benefit of decade-high bond and dividend yields, according to NEAM's analysis in Insurance AUM Journal.
Fidelity's monthly fixed income note targets general accounts
The institutional-only monthly note pairs Fidelity's fixed income views with conflict disclosures for insurers steering portfolio decisions.
Real-assets resilience finds a natural buyer in the general account
Insurance AUM Journal's new essay argues for a post-efficiency era, giving general accounts a rationale for infrastructure and real assets, with a caveat about where pricing power sits.
Emerging-market bonds are a country-selection game for insurers
Dilawer Farazi, co-head of the emerging-market debt team, says reforms and local-currency funding have changed the risk of EM credit.
2 stories
Warsh's hawkish June meeting leaves agency MBS carry thin
Warsh's hawkish debut and a bear-flattening curve produced a 2-basis-point OAS widening that tells insurers the carry is thin.
Fidelis Partnership cuts debt spread 225 bps in $2.04B Term Loan B
The MGA replaces its private-credit unitranche with a cheaper public loan, saving roughly $46 million a year to fund Lloyd's and Pine Walk growth.