U.S. life insurers went into the second quarter facing low background interest rates, rising rates, inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and worries about the effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
And they did well.
Nigel Dally and Erica Reynolds, securities analysts at Morgan Stanley, say the big, publicly traded life insurers they follow did so well, in spite of all of the howling storms, that they now have a more positive view of the prospects for all of the life insurers they track.
What It Means
The life insurers backing life insurance and annuity guarantees for your clients are looking good.
Another implication is that many retail investors who have taken a cautious, long-term approach to retirement income planning may have done better than advisors and analysts had feared.
Positives
Life insurers' investments performed pretty well, because stocks and "alternative investments," such as stakes in hedge funds, private equity and real estate, performed somewhat better than the analysts had feared.
