The rising interest rate environment of the past 18 months has had a significant impact on the alternative investment industry, with fundraising across all the main segments – hedge funds, private equity, private debt, real assets – falling in 2022 and then again this year as global capital allocators pivot to assets that are perceived as having lower risk, higher liquidity and now, for the first time in more than a decade, an acceptable yield.
Insurers are favouring funded re as it helps firms manage the market and longevity risks associated with writing bulk purchase annuity (BPA) business by reducing capital charges and therefore making PRT deals more competitive.
Unsurprisingly, given its growth and potential for capital optimisation, UK regulators have been carefully watching the increased use of funded re. In June 2023, the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) sent a “Dear CRO’ letter to heads of risk at UK life insurers.
The letter outlined the regulator’s two main concerns from a sectoral review which it had carried out.
“One of the key risks arising in funded re is that firms recapture sub-optimal portfolios with depressed values and with limited ability to be transformed effectively to the firms’ preferred portfolio,” the PRA letter said.
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