A.M. BestTV: Italian Insurers Challenged by Political Uncertainty and Banking Woes, Says A.M. Best Analyst

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OLDWICK - MARCH 27, 2017 03:40 PM (EDT)
In this ^A.M.BestTV episode, Alvise Argenton, financial analyst, A.M. Best, reviews a recent briefing that examines the operating environment for Italy’s insurers, which includes volatile political and economic environments, insurers’ relationships with banks as distribution arms and investment strategies. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=italy317 to view the entire program.

“2016 was a challenging year for the insurance and financial sectors in Italy,” said Argenton. “The financial sector mainly because of the increasing levels of unprofitable loans. At the same time, the political situation in Italy is tense, which increases the uncertainty in the yields in government bonds to which insurers are typically exposed.”

However, according to Argenton, the insurance sector in Italy has been profitable: “There has been a 6.8% return-on-equity for the period from 2011-2015,” he said. Argenton also noted that the technical account was also profitable during this period.

Looking forward, Argenton does not expect insurers to drop their investments in government bonds; nonetheless, he said that, “companies have a full awareness of the level of risk to the assets that they hold in their portfolios in government bonds.” He indicated that A.M. Best would keep monitoring the market for any substantial changes.

To view the Best’s Briefing on Italian insurers, titled, “Political Instability and Financial Volatility Remain Key Headwinds for Italian Insurers,” go to http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=258893 .

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^A.M.BestTV covers exclusive A.M. Best information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the (re)insurance industry every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html . View ^A.M.BestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv.

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