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The effects of a low interest rate environment on life insurers

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  • Berdin, Elia
  • Gründl, Helmut

Abstract

Low interest rates are becoming a threat to the stability of the life insurance industry, especially in countries such as Germany, where products with relatively high guaranteed returns sold in the past still represent a prominent share of the total portfolio. This contribution aims to assess and quantify the effects of the current low interest rate phase on the balance sheet of a representative German life insurer, given the current asset allocation and the outstanding liabilities. To do so, we generate a stochastic term structure of interest rates as well as stock market returns to simulate investment returns of a stylized life insurance business portfolio in a multi-period setting. Based on empirically calibrated parameters, we can observe the evolution of the life insurers' balance sheet over time with a special focus on their solvency situation. To account for different scenarios and in order to check the robustness of our findings, we calibrate different capital market settings and different initial situations of capital endowment. Our results suggest that a prolonged period of low interest rates would markedly affect the solvency situation of life insurers, leading to a relatively high cumulative probability of default, especially for less capitalized companies. In addition, the new reform of the German life insurance regulation has a beneficial effect on the cumulative probability of default, as a direct consequence of the reduction of the payouts to policyholders.

Suggested Citation

  • Berdin, Elia & Gründl, Helmut, 2015. "The effects of a low interest rate environment on life insurers," SAFE Working Paper Series 65, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE, revised 2015.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:safewp:65
    DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2517197
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    Cited by:

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    2. Bruszas, Sandy & Kaschützke, Barbara & Maurer, Raimond & Siegelin, Ivonne, 2018. "Unisex pricing of German participating life annuities—Boon or bane for customer and insurance company?," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 230-245.
    3. Cristian Escudero & José L. Ruiz, 2021. "Life insurance companies’ investment abroad and the internal rate of return on Chilean annuities," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 46(4), pages 688-709, October.
    4. Axel Möhlmann, 2021. "Interest rate risk of life insurers: Evidence from accounting data," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 50(2), pages 587-612, June.
    5. Focarelli, Dario, 2017. "Why Insurance Regulation is Crucial for Long-term Investment and Economic Growth," LEAP Working Papers 2017/1, Luiss Institute for European Analysis and Policy.
    6. Robert N. Killins & Haiwei Chen, 2022. "The impact of the yield curve on the equity returns of insurance companies," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 1134-1153, January.
    7. Meier, Samira & Rodriguez Gonzalez, Miguel & Kunze, Frederik, 2021. "The global financial crisis, the EMU sovereign debt crisis and international financial regulation: lessons from a systematic literature review," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    8. Dietrich Domanski & Hyun Song Shin & Vladyslav Sushko, 2017. "The Hunt for Duration: Not Waving but Drowning?," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 65(1), pages 113-153, April.
    9. Patrick Matussek, 2017. "Low interest rates and life insurance with equity insurance fund on German market (Niskie stopy procentowe a ubezpieczenia na zycie z ubezpieczeniowym funduszem kapitalowym na rynku niemieckim)," Research Reports, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 2(24), pages 142-149.
    10. Grochola, Nicolaus & Browne, Mark Joseph & Gründl, Helmut & Schlütter, Sebastian, 2021. "Exploring the market risk profiles of U.S. and European life insurers," ICIR Working Paper Series 39/21, Goethe University Frankfurt, International Center for Insurance Regulation (ICIR).
    11. Ana M. Reyna & Hugo J. Fuentes & José A. Núñez, 2022. "Response of Mexican life and non-life insurers to the low interest rate environment," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 47(2), pages 409-433, April.
    12. Tyler K. Jensen & Robert R. Johnson & Michael J. McNamara, 2019. "Funding conditions and insurance stock returns: Do insurance stocks really benefit from rising interest rate regimes?," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 22(4), pages 367-391, December.
    13. Schaper, Philipp, 2017. "Under pressure: how the business environment affects productivity and efficiency of European life insurance companiesAuthor-Name: Eling, Martin," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 258(3), pages 1082-1094.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Life Insurers; Minimum Return Guarantees; Low Interest Rates; Risk Assessment; Solvency II;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G17 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Financial Forecasting and Simulation
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies

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