How can life insurers integrate private assets into asset allocation

Nikil Kannan, Head of Investment Strategy, Asset Allocation and ALM, Equitable, discusses the factors to consider when maximising returns and risks when diversifying a portfolio for life insurers.

Nik Kannan Ii
Nikil Kannan, Head of Investment Strategy, Asset Allocation and ALM, Equitable.

Andrew Putwain: Can you give us an overview of strategies around integrating private assets into your asset allocation mix? How are you thinking about this issue and where might investors go wrong?

Nikil Kannan: I firmly believe that insurance companies should think in the context of an overall strategic asset allocation, and that means different things to different people. Simply put, you need a North Star of what you think your investment portfolio mix should be and what you're targeting. That's both a top-down and a bottom-up exercise. This means that while it's influenced by the market, your long-run expectations and asset opportunities that you're seeing, it is also driven at a granular level by product needs, liquidity, risk tolerances, and duration.

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