The prospect of UK clearing houses losing direct access to the EU moved ominously closer following a bullish statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak.
News & Commentary
A look ahead to 2021 for insurers: 24 & 25 November
Join us virtually on 24 and 25 November, as we gather together the Bank of England, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and leading practitioners to dissect the landscape of 2020 and ponder what 2021 might hold at our traditional year-end seminar.
Given the latest government guidance, this is a virtual event held via our cutting edge digital platform, Livestorm, with its unique interactive capabilities.
Please see below for further details of the theme and agenda.
THEME
Unprecedented is a tired word. Fatigue is probably a better one for where we stand now.
What started off as a shock, has become an unrelenting slog and we find ourselves staring into an uncertain future, with limited to arguably no visibility as to when we might resume BAU and with a financial cost – both to economies and to policymakers – that is growing daily. At the same time, the tenets of insurance – shareholder returns, capital efficiency and minimal earnings volatility – have not changed, creating a clash that will dominate minds and portfolio strategy going forward.
Dissecting this to make sense is important, even if planning is hard. However, there is the danger that as we focus in on near-term challenges, we also forget about longer-term ones, notably Brexit for the UK and the growing clamour around climate change, sustainability and ESG more broadly.
Please join us and leading experts as we debate key topics of relevance to 2021 planning, including the public finances of the UK and beyond, investment strategies for a negative yielding world, the evolving regulatory framework around climate change, distressed opportunities for insurers in the private markets and the continued evolution of core fixed income.
AGENDA
24 November
10.00-10.10 Welcome and opening remarks
10.10-10.35 Assessing the challenges for UK public finances – Post pandemic, pre-Brexit and beyond
Carl Emmerson, Deputy Director, Institute for Fiscal Studies
10.35-11.10 Panel - The Hangover and the Hair of the Dog: Debt, macro considerations and yields in 2021
11.10-11.40 Restructuring in a COVID-19 world: Workout capabilities in private assets
M&G investments
11.40-12.10 The Crux of the Core: Evolving fixed income in a negative real world
Allianz Global Investors
12.10-12.15 Closing remarks
25 November
10.00-10.10 Welcome and opening remarks
10.10-10.35 Tackling Climate Change Risk
Mark Cornelius, Head - Major Life Insurance Groups Division, Bank of England (TBC)
10.35-11.10 Panel - The Important, not the Urgent: Looking past today to tomorrow’s foci
11.10-11.40 Planning the Sustainable Journey: From risks to opportunities to integration
AXA Investment Managers
11.40-12.10 Panel – Pass me the Superglue: Dislocations and opportunities in 2021
12.10-12.15 Closing remarks
Places are strictly limited, so don’t miss your chance to attend what promises to be an engaging session of timely debate and discussion. Further details of the agenda and timings will be sent in due course. Please note the event is eligible for CPD points and certificates will be issued to attendees afterwards.
In partnership with
Those charged with managing the assets of major insurers have seen levels of volatility over this year that have tested the resilience of their portfolios. Steering a course through the pandemic as its second wave sweeps across most of the developed world is going to test that resilience further.
New European Union proposals for imposing clear standards on the rapidly growing green bonds market have been welcomed by insurers.
Gabriel Bernardino, the out-going Chairman of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, reassured MEPs on the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee that the insurance sector was coping well with the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Insurers’ investment strategies are focussing firmly on capital efficiency as the industry beds down for the long haul through the Covid crisis.