Insurance Solutions

The Fluidity of Liquidity

April 2023 – 4 min read

To meet policyholder demands and terms of their financing arrangements, life insurers must maintain adequate levels of liquidity. Here are some reasons why today’s environment makes liquidity management so critical.

As seen by the recent events in the banking industry, rising interest rates can also pose a challenge for life insurance companies, potentially threatening their financial health. Along with inadequately priced products, poor expense management, investment defaults and fraud, rising rates can be a factor contributing to insurer insolvency by impairing liquidity, or the ability to raise sufficient cash, when needed, to meet payment demands. In the past, insurer liquidity crises largely were the result of poor product management (for example, writing policies that allowed for large-scale, immediate policyholder cash-outs), inadequate liquidity in investment portfolios to fund redemptions, or poor anticipation of disintermediation risk due to changing economic conditions. In hindsight, proper planning and stress testing could have saved most, if not all, insurers facing insolvency in the past. Given today’s environment, attention to liquidity needs is more important than ever.

Reasons for an Increased Focus on Liquidity

IMR WOES

The turbulent economic environment of 2022 was characterized by high and unanticipated inflation, a sharp spike in interest rates, and steep declines in the prices of equity and fixed income securities. These extreme events caused a significant decline in asset values for all insurers, leading to grievous unrealized losses in their investment portfolios.

Figure 1: Life Industry Unrealized Gain/Loss and IMR

the-fluidity-liquidity-chart1.jpgSource: S&P. As of December 31, 2022


Thanks to the statutory book-value accounting used by insurance companies, large declines in a portfolio’s market value are rendered harmless until they are realized. But since accounting for realized gains and losses runs through the Interest Maintenance Reserve (IMR), which due to a legacy ruling must be positive to act as a buffer, large amounts of realized losses will eventually begin to degrade surplus positions, regardless of how well assets are managed against liability needs. The unnatural effect of this makes insurers reluctant to trade their portfolio, either for repositioning to improve credit risk management or to accommodate policyholders demanding cash for their policies. These forces create additional liquidity strains for insurers, where a record 26% of life insurers were in a negative IMR position as of year-end 2022.1

1. Source: S&P. As of December 31, 2022.

Want to read the full article?

View PDF

Ken Griffin, CFA, ASA, MAAA

Head of Insurance Solutions

Alex Perez, CFA

Associate Director, Insurance Solutions

The document is for informational purposes only and is not an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument or service. The material herein was prepared without any consideration of the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of anyone who may receive it. This document is not, and must not be treated as, investment advice, investment recommendations, or investment research.

In making an investment decision, prospective investors must rely on their own examination of the merits and risks involved and before making any investment decision, it is recommended that prospective investors seek independent investment, legal, tax, accounting or other professional advice as appropriate.

Unless otherwise mentioned, the views contained in this document are those of Barings. These views are made in good faith in relation to the facts known at the time of preparation and are subject to change without notice. Parts of this document may be based on information received from sources we believe to be reliable. Although every effort is taken to ensure that the information contained in this document is accurate, Barings makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information.

Any forecasts in this document are based upon Barings opinion of the market at the date of preparation and are subject to change without notice, dependent upon many factors. Any prediction, projection or forecast is not necessarily indicative of the future or likely performance. Any investment results, portfolio compositions and/or examples set forth in this document are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not indicative of any future investment results, future portfolio composition or investments. The composition, size of, and risks associated with an investment may differ substantially from any examples set forth in this document. No representation is made that an investment will be profitable or will not incur losses. Where appropriate, changes in the currency exchange rates may affect the value of investments.

Investment involves risks. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Investors should not only base on this document alone to make investment decision.

This document is issued by Baring Asset Management (Asia) Limited. It has not been reviewed by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong.

Related Viewpoints