IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/prg/jnlpep/v2021y2021i1id752p20-36.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Distribution Growth Affect the Insurers' Asset Allocation in Life Insurance? The Case of Central Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Jiří Šindelář
  • Michal Erben

Abstract

This paper deals with the effects of distribution stress and macroeconomic factors on the composition of life insurance investment portfolios on the Central European market. Using a wide array of variables and the VAR model as our main method, we have found that a strong majority of insurers react to external shocks, induced by high levels of contract turnover or positive changes in macro-variables such as GDP and inflation, by strengthening bond components of their portfolio. The exception is connected to interest rates (two-week repo), which presumably have a negative effect on bond investments. Other components such as shares, funds and cash positions have been affected in a diverse way, yet to a minor extent. This implies that insurers tend to react to external stressors by beefing up the conservative part of their investments, potentially leading to an underperformance of managed assets. As such, our results point to conceivable regulatory implications, which would prevent those secondary negative detriments of life distribution growth (i.e., reselling), which are to be expected on the surveyed market.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiří Šindelář & Michal Erben, 2021. "Does Distribution Growth Affect the Insurers' Asset Allocation in Life Insurance? The Case of Central Europe," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2021(1), pages 20-36.
    • Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2021:y:2021:i:1:id:752:p:20-36
    DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.752
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://pep.vse.cz/doi/10.18267/j.pep.752.html
    Download Restriction: free of charge
    File URL: http://pep.vse.cz/doi/10.18267/j.pep.752.pdf
    Download Restriction: free of charge
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.18267/j.pep.752?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bijapur, Mohan & Croci, Manuela & Zaidi, Rida, 2012. "Do asset regulations impede portfolio diversification? evidence from European life insurance funds," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 56618, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Hufeld, Felix & Koijen, Ralph S. J. & Thimann, Christian (ed.), 2016. "The Economics, Regulation, and Systemic Risk of Insurance Markets," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198788812.
    3. J. A. Bikker & M. van Leuvensteijn, 2008. "Competition and efficiency in the Dutch life insurance industry," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(16), pages 2063-2084.
    4. Juselius, Katarina, 2006. "The Cointegrated VAR Model: Methodology and Applications," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199285679.
    5. Helmut Gründl & Ming (Ivy) Dong & Jens Gal, 2016. "The evolution of insurer portfolio investment strategies for long-term investing," OECD Journal: Financial Market Trends, OECD Publishing, vol. 2016(2), pages 1-55.
    6. Paul J. M. Klumpes, 2004. "Performance Benchmarking in Financial Services: Evidence from the UK Life Insurance Industry," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 77(2), pages 257-274, April.
    7. Bijapur, Mohan & Croci, Manuela & Zaidi, Rida, 2012. "Do Asset Regulations Impede Portfolio Diversification? Evidence from European Life Insurance Funds," MPRA Paper 54265, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jiří Šindelář & Michal Erben, . "Does Distribution Growth Affect the Insurers' Asset Allocation in Life Insurance? The Case of Central Europe," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 0.
    2. Jacob A. Bikker, 2017. "Performance of the life insurance industry under pressure: efficiency, competition and consolidation," Chapters, in: Jacob A. Bikker & Laura Spierdijk (ed.), Handbook of Competition in Banking and Finance, chapter 9, pages 152-182, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Senderski, Marcin, 2014. "Assessing the strictness of portfolio-related regulation of pension funds: Rethinking the definition of prudent," MPRA Paper 56610, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Chrysovalantis Gaganis & Iftekhar Hasan & Fotios Pasiouras, 2013. "Efficiency and stock returns: evidence from the insurance industry," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 429-442, December.
    5. Norashikin Ismail & Prof. Dr. Datuk Syed Othman Alhabshi & Prof. Obiyathulla Bacha, 2011. "Organizational Form And Efficiency: The Coexistence Of Family Takaful And Life Insurance In Malaysia," Journal of Global Business and Economics, Global Research Agency, vol. 3(1), pages 122-137, July.
    6. Christian Schoder, 2012. "Effective demand, exogenous normal utilization and endogenous capacity in the long run. Evidence from a CVAR analysis for the US," IMK Working Paper 103-2012, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    7. Murach, Michael & Wagner, Helmut & Kim, Jungsuk & Park, Donghyun, 2022. "Trajectories to high income: Comparing the growth dynamics in China, South Korea, and Japan with cointegrated VAR models," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 492-511.
    8. Mohammad Nourani & Qian Long Kweh & Evelyn Shyamala Devadason & V.G.R. Chandran, 2020. "A decomposition analysis of managerial efficiency for the insurance companies: A data envelopment analysis approach," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(6), pages 885-901, September.
    9. Neil R. Ericsson, 2021. "Dynamic Econometrics in Action: A Biography of David F. Hendry," International Finance Discussion Papers 1311, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    10. Gaetano D’Adamo, 2014. "Wage spillovers across sectors in Eastern Europe," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 523-552, September.
    11. Jose Perez-Montiel & Carles Manera Erbina, 2019. "Investment Sustained by Consumption: A Linear and Nonlinear Time Series Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-15, August.
    12. Olaf Korn & Philipp Koziol, 2011. "The Term Structure Of Currency Hedge Ratios," International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Finance (IJTAF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(04), pages 525-557.
    13. Jurgen A. Doornik, 2018. "Accelerated Estimation of Switching Algorithms: The Cointegrated VAR Model and Other Applications," Scandinavian Journal of Statistics, Danish Society for Theoretical Statistics;Finnish Statistical Society;Norwegian Statistical Association;Swedish Statistical Association, vol. 45(2), pages 283-300, June.
    14. Feldkircher, Martin, 2015. "A global macro model for emerging Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 706-726.
    15. Mihaela Tofan, 2022. "A Regulatory Perspective on the Actual Challenges for the European Deposit Insurance Scheme," Laws, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-13, October.
    16. Oleg Deev & Martin Hodula, 2016. "Sovereign default risk and state-owned bank fragility in emerging markets: evidence from China and Russia," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 232-248, April.
    17. Emmanouil Mavrakis & Christos Alexakis, 2018. "Statistical Arbitrage Strategies under Different Market Conditions: The Case of the Greek Banking Sector," Journal of Emerging Market Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, vol. 17(2), pages 159-185, August.
    18. María Lorena Marí Del Cristo & Marta Gómez-Puig, 2013. "Fiscal dynamics in a dollarized, oil-exporting country: Ecuador," Working Papers 13-06, Asociación Española de Economía y Finanzas Internacionales.
    19. Jouko Rautava, 2013. "Oil Prices, Excess Uncertainty and Trend Growth," Focus on European Economic Integration, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 4, pages 77-87.
    20. Kühl, Michael, 2007. "Cointegration in the foreign exchange market and market efficiency since the introduction of the Euro: Evidence based on bivariate cointegration analyses," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 68, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Life insurance; life investments; distribution growth; insurance reselling; macroeconomic factors;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2021:y:2021:i:1:id:752:p:20-36. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Stanislav Vojir (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/uevsecz.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.