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Investment Commonality across Insurance Companies: Fire Sale Risk and Corporate Yield Spreads

Author

Listed:
  • Nanda, Vikram
  • Wu, Wei
  • Zhou, Xing (Alex)

Abstract

Insurance companies often follow highly correlated investment strategies. As major investors in corporate bonds, their investment commonalities subject investors to fire sale risk when regulatory restrictions prompt widespread divestment of a bond following a rating downgrade. Reflective of fire sale risk, the clustering of insurance companies in a bond has significant explanatory power for yield spreads, controlling for liquidity, credit risk, and other factors. The effect of insurer clustering on bond yield spreads is more evident for bonds held to a greater extent by capital-constrained insurance companies, those with ratings closer to National Association of Insurance Commissioners risk categories with larger capital requirements, and during the financial crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Nanda, Vikram & Wu, Wei & Zhou, Xing (Alex), 2019. "Investment Commonality across Insurance Companies: Fire Sale Risk and Corporate Yield Spreads," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(6), pages 2543-2574, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jfinqa:v:54:y:2019:i:6:p:2543-2574_9
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Aragon, George O. & Kim, Min S., 2023. "Fire sale risk and expected stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(3), pages 578-609.
    2. Girardi, Giulio & Hanley, Kathleen W. & Nikolova, Stanislava & Pelizzon, Loriana & Sherman, Mila Getmansky, 2021. "Portfolio similarity and asset liquidation in the insurance industry," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 69-96.
    3. Schlütter, Sebastian & Fianu, Emmanuel Senyo & Gründl, Helmut, 2022. "Responsible investments in life insurers' optimal portfolios under solvency constraints," ICIR Working Paper Series 45/22, Goethe University Frankfurt, International Center for Insurance Regulation (ICIR).
    4. Federico Apicella & Raffaele Gallo & Giovanni Guazzarotti, 2022. "Insurers' investments before and after the Covid-19 outbreak," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1363, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    5. Lee, Hye Seung & Salas, Jesus M. & Shen, Ke & Yang, Ke, 2024. "The effect of bond ownership structure on ESG performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Kyeonghee Kim & J. Tyler Leverty & Joan T. Schmit, 2023. "Regulatory capital and asset risk transfer," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 90(4), pages 1027-1061, December.
    7. John M Griffin & Jordan Nickerson, 2023. "Are CLO Collateral and Tranche Ratings Disconnected?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 36(6), pages 2319-2360.
    8. Cici, Gjergji & Zhang, Pei (Alex), 2021. "On the valuation skills of corporate bond mutual funds," CFR Working Papers 21-05, University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).
    9. Martijn Boermans & Viacheslav Keshkov, 2018. "The impact of the ECB asset purchases on the European bond market structure: Granular evidence on ownership concentration," DNB Working Papers 590, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    10. Ge, Shan & Weisbach, Michael S., 2021. "The role of financial conditions in portfolio choices: The case of insurers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 803-830.
    11. Chen, Fan & Ramaya, Krishnan & Wu, Wei, 2020. "The wealth effects of merger and acquisition announcements on bondholders: New evidence from the over-the-counter market," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    12. Boermans, Martijn A. & van der Kroft, Bram, 2024. "Capital regulation induced reaching for systematic yield: Financial instability through fire sales," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    13. Sui, Cong & Chen, Nan & Yang, Mo, 2023. "Not all market participants are alike when facing crisis: Evidence from the 2015 Chinese stock market turbulence," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies

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