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This year, the German Association of Insured (BdV) together with BETTER FINANCE and Zielke Research again examined selected European life insurers. The 10 largest life insurance companies from France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands were analysed.
There are still considerable differences between the life insurance markets in our scope. Compared to last year, however, threats to solvency are no longer a chief concern. That said, life insurers now have to deal with rising interest rates. "The European markets are still very fragmented. Even companies of the same group pursue very different strategies depending on the national market," explains Axel Kleinlein, actuary for BdV. "With the exception of Germany, the other European insurance companies have invested heavily in government bonds. If interest rates rise, existing policies will yield a lower return and policyholders need to be aware of possible real losses."
In particular, the insurers from Italy and Spain examined for this report have high investments in government bonds, which can lead to problems due to different phases of rising interest rates..
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