The long-running process of agreeing reforms to the European Union’s Solvency II regime will move into a crucial new phase in September.

The Bank of England has been expressing quiet satisfaction about its quantitative tightening (QT) programme. It is on course to reduce the stock of gilts held in the Asset Purchase Facility by 11.6% by the end of the first year of the programme in September.

The pensions industry faces months of uncertainty and consultation following the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt’s speech to City of London grandees at Mansion House on Monday evening.

The challenges of aligning portfolios with ambitions to achieve net zero carbon emission targets are significant but can be faced, Claire Bews, senior credit portfolio manager at Insight Investment, told a recent Insurance Investment Exchange roundtable.

As UK inflation stays stubbornly high, and the government’s pledge to halve the current rate by the end of the year looks increasingly futile, the Bank of England has responded by raising interest rates at pace that has created alarm among consumers, mortgage holders and businesses. It has also led the Bank itself to fire off warnings to insurers.

Threat or tool? Friend or foe? Across the world, in every sector of business and walk of life the seemingly sudden emergence of generative artificial intelligence into the mainstream is prompting discussion that can be framed in those simplistic terms, writes Contributing Editor David Worsfold.