Download Life Risk News Volume 4, Issue 4, April 2025
March delivered not one, not two, but three notable announcements relating to life insurer credit risk, and while a large part of this content – or, rather, criticism – has been related to asset managers buying or partnering with insurance companies in the US pension risk transfer market, this impacts the life settlement market as well. Greg Winterton gathered thoughts and views from Helen Andersen, Industry Analyst at AM Best and Adam Meltzer, Managing Partner at Apex Capital Partners for Life Insurer Credit Risk in the News Again but Life Settlement Market Keeps On Keeping On.
In 2020 the first capital-backed journey plan (CBJP) was completed, ushering a new way of transferring risk from the books of defined benefit schemes but as interest rates rose and schemes found themselves edging closer to full funding, CBJPs fell off the radar. Mark McCord spoke to Matthew Cooper, Head of Pension Risk Transfer at PwC UK and Ian Wright, Technical Director at Arc Pensions Law to find out whether and why we could see a CBJP resurrection in Capital-Backed Journey Plans Re-Enter Defined Benefit Pension De-Risking Debate as New Rules Loom.
It has been a little more than five years since most of the world began locking-down in an attempt to slow the spread of Covid-19 and reduce the burden on health systems and many are still trying to understand the potential future impact of the disease. Greg Winterton spoke to S. Jay Olshansky, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Lapetus Solutions, to see why he thinks this is challenging in Understanding the Impact of Covid-19 on Future Mortality Remains an Almost Impossible Task.
Aggregate deal value in the Canadian pension risk transfer (PRT) market set a new record in 2024, according to a new report from consultants WTW. CAD$11bn worth of deals transacted last year, comfortably beating the previous record of CAD$7.8bn, which was set in both 2022 and 2023. Greg Winterton spoke to Marco Dickner, Canadian Retirement Risk Management Leader at WTW, to find out whether this growth is sustainable in Canadian Pension Risk Transfer Market Set To Establish Higher Floor as Aggregate Deal Value Surges.
Given the importance of systemic risks such as climate change in determining the long-term stability of the insurance regime, insurers’ climate change approach should be considered as part of the scheme trustee’s selection process in the bulk purchase annuity market, says Claire Jones, Partner and Head of Responsible Investment at Lane, Clark & Peacock in Could Climate Change Cause the Buy-In Market To Collapse?, a guest article this month.
The International Capital Standard, finalised by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors in December 2024, marks a new chapter for Internationally Active Insurance Groups. While the UK’s five IAIGs may find ICS implementation largely uneventful — given its less demanding capital framework compared to Solvency II — certain ICS rules offer fresh insights. Craig Turnbull, Partner, and Amit Lad, Principal at Barnett Waddingham, provide those insights in ICS vs Solvency II: Comparing Risk Corrections for Illiquid Liabilities, our second guest article.
The life settlement industry’s tertiary market is an opaque one, with many of the transactions being conducted on an over-the-counter, bilateral basis. Greg Winterton caught up with Martin Kramer, Managing Partner at Ceptar Consulting, to find out what’s been happening in this part of the life settlement world for this month’s Q&A.
Two recent sales of life insurance consolidators by alternative asset managers made headlines but despite the space being mature, other options exist for investment firms keen to get a slice of the life insurance pie. Greg Winterton brings together perspectives from Jason Hopper, Associate Director, Industry Research and Analytics at AM Best, Robert Lytle, Senior Managing Director at Stax and Arik Rashkes, Partner and Head of Financial Institutions at Solomon Partners in Are Recent Asset Manager-Owned Life Insurance Consolidator Divestments a Sign of Waning Interest?
I hope you enjoy the latest issue of Life Risk News.
Chris Wells
Managing Editor
Life Risk News
