Most insurers and their investment teams might feel that a period of regulatory calm is in order after the implementation of Solvency II at the beginning of last year. Unfortunately, regulators have different ideas.

On 22 March, the inaugural Insurance Investment Exchange Awards shone a spotlight on the vital work that internal investment teams and asset managers undertake on behalf of the insurance industry to help successfully manage the trillions of pounds under their collective stewardship.

The dark clouds of the shock reduction in the discount rate which is used by the courts in England and Wales to calculate personal injury damages awards – the Ogden rate – are set to deepen further. The cut in the rate in February from the 2.5% it was set at in 2001

The dark clouds of the shock reduction in the discount rate which is used by the courts in England and Wales to calculate personal injury damages awards – the Ogden rate – are set to deepen further. The cut in the rate in February from the 2.5% it was set at in 2001

European insurers were not happy in the middle of last year when the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) launched its first major stress tests of the continent’s life insurers for two years and the first since the formal start of the Solvency II regime.

After over a decade of preparation, meticulous debate and not a few false starts, Solvency II was finally enacted 15 months ago, ready to be transformed into a broader rolling agenda around financial stability.