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The Top 10 most read articles of the year on Insurance Investor showed some interesting trends this year.
Unlike last year where articles were more evenly spread between interviews, analysis and news, this year it was all about the zeitgeist-y headlines of usable advice around our in-depth looks at issues in the market.
This undoubtedly reflected the volatile year the world has had with interest rates coming down, multiple elections that have rocked the boat and increased risk concerns, and a continued sense of not knowing what is coming next.
Due to this, many of this year’s list focused on what the market was currently doing, what it might be doing in the future, and what were the opportunities one could take from this.
See below for the list and read any you may have missed.
Rounding out the top 10 was an article on what the M&A sector was doing. Some predicted more, some fewer. What did the results actually say?
“At the halfway point in 2024, there are 24 announced mergers and acquisition (M&A) transactions in the UK investment sector showing a sharp drop in activity from the previous three years,” said US consultancy MarshBerry in its 2024 UK H1 Investment Report, which detailed the M&A activity in the UK insurance sector and was released in August.
According to the report, there were 24 transactions in the H1 period, which was a more than 50% drop compared to H2 2023.
Similar to the Travelers Q3 results that feature up the list, here, in August, we reported on some of the UK and European insurers of note and their investment returns for H1.
The results came not long after the European Central Bank reduced interest rates for the eurozone and the Bank of England was being heavily pressured to begin doing so as unemployment climbed in the UK.
It seems no one goes on holiday in the ‘silly season’ of summer any more as another August article features in the top 10. Here, we recap Justin Hook, Senior Director, Portfolio Manager, Legal & General, discussing the strategies for identifying and managing risk exposure as we head from our Spring event in Chicago that featured in the report on it.
Another hit from summer: our Advisory Board gathered from across the world of insurance investment to discuss the big issues affecting their day-to-day operations and long-term strategy – including the asset classes they’re watching.
These sessions are fascinating to sit-in on with several Chief Investment Officers getting free rein to talk to their peers in the most unfiltered way. Part brainstorming session – and part therapy session – the meetings give these leading figures the space to discuss the issues that keep them awake at night and the issues they want clarity on.
Also from August, a report, from rating agency AM Best, said that a hard market has emerged and reinsurers have taken corrective measures after several years of sub-par underwriting underperformance, but that current claims activity is being driven more by elevated medium-sized events and secondary perils than by single large-scale events.
Todd Campbell, Chief Executive Officer, Builders Insurance Group, spoke at our Insurance Investor Live | Spring 2024 event in May and the conversation was featured in full in the subsequent report released over the summer. In it, he discussed evergreen topics with a contemporary bent - what strategic decisions need to be taken to get the best results - and why you should be looking carefully at the holistic picture.
In (surprise surprise) August, Aon released its Q2 Global Insurance Market Insights report that looked at events in the second quarter of 2024 that were likely to shape the insurance market going forward.
The report, which focused on underwriting pricings and renewals ahead of the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous de Septembre, said that key findings from the report for the UK market included softening market conditions.
As always, US insurance major and the traditional first to announce its results, Travelers, said its net investment income increased 18% pre-tax over the prior year quarter for Q3 2024. But more important was what it said for a nervous industry carefully watching interest rates come down, inflation yo-yo and a general election around the corner that promised very different policies depending on who won.
One of our reports over the course of this year, released in October, went on to be the one of the most read updates to the site.
Here, Sara Benwell, Contributing Editor, recapped the views of investment management professionals on how to achieve slick, cohesive, and customisable systems to help them do business. You can see the full report at the link in the article.
Suo Wu, Director - Risk Modelling Services, PwC, who spoke at our Insurance Investor Live | North America 2024 earlier this month discussed the challenges and opportunities a constrained credit spread environment brings with us in October and took the top spot with a timely discussion on what to look for in this area.
“There are many aspects to consider in the constrained credit spread environment, one is that when credit spreads are tightening, it would limit the potential yield from credit investments,” he said. “Additionally, regulatory constraints on the credit quality would further restrict the types of investments insurance companies can make, which vary across different regulatory regimes.”
Thank you for all your readership this year and we look forward to bringing you more content in 2025!
