The Insurance and Reinsurance Industry in the Restructuring of Financial Institutions

Philippe TRAINAR * Professeur, Cnam (Conservatoire national des arts et métiers) ; directeur, Fondation Scor pour la Science. Contact : ptrainar-external@scor.com.Pour des raisons de volume, ce papier a été raccourci par la REF qui assume seule la responsabilité de ces modifications. Le texte intégral est disponible auprès de l'auteur.

The (re)insurance industry has shown a great capacity of resilience during the financial crisis and its activity is still developing. It is nonetheless undergoing big changes with the strengthening of prudential requirements, an increasing capital intensity and a growing internationalization. The financial crisis and the subsequent monetary policies have also induced insurers to underweight equities and sovereign bonds in their portfolios and consequently to increase the share of the so-called alternative investments, in order to offset the low interest rates effects. Because of its profitability and resilience, the industry has attracted more investors. As a result, (re)insurance companies can provide better insurance coverage and margins are narrowing on some business lines such as insurance against natural disasters. Therefore the restructuring of the insurance industry is not yet achieved.

Classification JEL: G01, G22, L11.