Conning Releases Latest Semi-Annual State of the States Municipal Credit Report and Rankings (Q4, 2014)
11/18/2014
(Q4, 2014), insurance asset manager Conning sees improvement in aggregate state credit quality due to economic growth bolstering state revenues which has led to increases in fund balances for most states. While strong employment growth, higher consumer confidence, and improved housing prices are driving up revenue, the improvement is not uniform across all states.
Tax advantaged securities for health insurance companies
08/01/2014
Tax-exempt municipal securities play an important role in the investment portfolios for non-life companies, including health companies. The benefit of investing in tax-exempt municipal securities depends on a company’s tax status.
Emerging Markets: Update on Latin America
07/01/2014
Latin America has been a rising star for some time. Over the past decade, most of the region has grown GDP per capita as well as had rating upgrades. Countries such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico implemented robust reforms and saw their institutions and banking systems improve, while deepening their markets.
Emerging Markets: Asia Update
06/01/2014
It has been an eventful start to the year for the emerging Asia equity markets, as there were various challenges to the economic performance of the region. The U.S. Fed began its “tapering” program and yet again raised concerns about countries with a current account deficit.
Emerging Markets: Watching for Signals
06/01/2014
The world has changed considerably since our last overview publication on Emerging Markets (EM) in May 2012. Globally, investors have been contending with the end of the quantitative easing (QE) and rising interest rates, political instability, slowing growth in China, declining commodity prices and a narrowing growth differential between EM and Developed Markets (DM).
Quantitative Tightening?
06/01/2014
In November of 2008, the Federal Reserve, under the leadership of Chairman Ben Bernanke, announced it would begin a phase of monetary policy called “quantitative easing (QE).” The program involved the purchase of securities in the open market and was designed to have a stimulative effect on the U.S. economy by reducing market interest rates.
U.S. Investment Grade Corporate Credit; 7th Inning Stretch or Bottom of the 9th?
06/01/2014
The corporate market has gone nearly full circle in the past decade, and investors find themselves in an environment that looks disturbingly similar to 2005-2006, with narrow spreads, compressed differentials across ratings, and rising event risk.
Emerging Markets: Perspectives on Russia and Poland
05/01/2014
Since the closing of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, news from that region of the world has been dominated by the geopolitical unrest in Ukraine and Russia’s involvement in it. In light of the uncertainty that remains on how the crisis will play out on the world stage, this paper discusses the potential impact on Russia, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
The Importance of Risk Attribution
04/01/2014
This paper begins with a background on risk attribution. Risk attribution is a rigorous approach to determining the overall impact of various sources of risk across all functions of an organization. Recent events have brought a heightened attention to risk and brought risk management to the forefront of insurer concerns.