Description: Comments on how US insurers have compensated for low interest rates by investing in a range of less liquid and lower quality assets.

Description: Recaps April 2015 seminar on derivatives use for fund managers and insurers in China. Describes growth in Chinese derivatives market including CSI 300 futures

Description: Provides an update in the April - Sept 2015 contest organized by the section

Description: The author, head of Alternatives Investment Specialists at Fortis Investments, recently presented a research paper on the potential benefits and possible pitfalls of investing in illiquid assets. This newsletter provides a brief summary of that paper. The full paper is available upon request.

Description: Reviews anecdotal evidence that the current shift to passive investing is an indication that investors are irrationally ignoring market risk.

Description: Describes session at the 2015 Life and Annuity Symposium on a new electronic exchange for equity securities, IEX. The exchange rules limit the potential for high frequency traders to front-run customer orders.

Description: The purpose of the article is to highlight how a person or organization can excel in both a highly-competitive expert-driven environment and one where the environment is less so. One should focus on what can be done well and delegate the remaining tasks to those who are better at performing them. One should understand the environment they are operating in, how it impacts them, and how it may change through time. The principles have application to investment management, investment performance, organizational performance, business development, career progression and economics.

Description: “Global tactical asset allocation GTAA is an invest¬ment approach that seeks to exploit short-term mar¬ket inefficiencies to generate uncorrelated absolute returns by taking positions in various asset classes, regions, styles and currencies. Due to its low correlation with tradi¬tional asset classes, GTAA can diversify an existing portfolio without making material changes to the portfolio’s overall risk characteristics.”

Description: Surveys the outlook for interest rates among Inv Symposium participants, as of Feb 29 2016.

Description: Explains the more granular breakout of bond RBC factors proposed to the NAIC. Evaluates alternative asset allocation choices for insurers under the new rules.