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  • Moody’s: US life insurance sector outlook revised to stable amid solid fundamentals

    November 15, 2017 by Moody's

    Global Credit Research – 14 Nov 2017

    New York, November 14, 2017 — Moody’s Investors Service has revised the outlook for the US life insurance sector to stable from negative, reflecting the sector’s resilience in the face of a low interest rate environment, as well as its strong capitalization, aided by strong equity markets and low asset defaults.

    For the next 12 -18 months, life insurers will be sustained by a favorable economic scenario, which includes a gradual rise in interest rates that is supportive to revenue and capital improvement.

    “US life insurers have adapted to the low rate environment through adjustments to product design and new business strategies, and are likely to continue developing and pursuing these strategies over the outlook period,” Manoj Jethani, a Moody’s Vice President says.

    Moody’s says demand for US life insurance and annuity products will be driven by continued modest economic growth and low unemployment levels. Moreover, this will be underpinned by robust equity markets, which will continue to create incremental wealth and allow for discretionary purchases such as life insurance, annuity products, and greater contributions to retirement plans, among other insurance products.

    Capital levels are anticipated to remain strong owing to improved profitability due to lower asset defaults, higher equity markets, which has lifted fee-based income, as well as better risk management to protect capital in “tail” downside scenarios. While capital is expected to remain strong, further improvement for publicly traded companies will be moderated by shareholder pressure.

    “The insurance industry is heading towards deregulation as recent actions suggest the current administration’s focus on scaling back regulation,” Jethani says. “This trend has mixed results for life insurers, with the credit impact heavily dependent on implementation details.”

    The removal of the systemically important financial institution designation is a negative development for the industry. However, this is offset by efforts of other regulators, including state and international, to coordinate evaluation of insurance groups on a holistic basis and could benefit the insurance industry.

    On the other hand, a delay in the full implementation of the Department of Labor (DOL) fiduciary ruling is credit positive since the “best interest contract” exemption exposes an advisor’s “financial institution” to significant litigation risk — which is a distributors’ single largest concern with the DOL rule. The uncertainty created by the DOL has resulted in some pressure on affected products, such as variable annuities and fixed indexed annuities.

    Over the next few years, increased focus on technology and innovation will be key for life insurers to connect them faster and more digitally to their distributors and customers with insurance products and services that are relevant to today’s more technologically oriented consumer.

    The report “Life Insurance — US: 2018 outlook stable as insurers adapt to low rates, capitalization is strong,” is available to Moody’s subscribers at.

    https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1099761

    ************************************************************************

    NOTE TO JOURNALISTS ONLY: For more information, please call one of our global press information hotlines: New York +1-212-553-0376, London +44-20-7772-5456, Tokyo +813-5408-4110, Hong Kong +852-3758-1350, Sydney +61-2-9270-8141, Mexico City 001-888-779-5833, São Paulo 0800-891-2518, or Buenos Aires 0800-666-3506. You can also email us at mediarelations@moodys.com or visit our web site at www.moodys.com.

    This publication does not announce a credit rating action. For any credit ratings referenced in this publication, please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for the most updated credit rating action information and rating history.

    Manoj Jethani
    Vice President – Senior Analyst
    Financial Institutions Group
    Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.
    250 Greenwich Street
    New York, NY 10007
    U.S.A.
    JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
    Client Service: 1 212 553 1653

    Scott Robinson
    Associate Managing Director
    Financial Institutions Group
    JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
    Client Service: 1 212 553 1653

    Releasing Office:
    Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.
    250 Greenwich Street
    New York, NY 10007
    U.S.A.
    JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
    Client Service: 1 212 553 1653

     
     
     
    © 2017 Moody’s Corporation, Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., Moody’s Analytics, Inc. and/or their licensors and affiliates (collectively, “MOODY’S”). All rights reserved. 

    CREDIT RATINGS ISSUED BY MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE, INC. AND ITS RATINGS AFFILIATES (“MIS”) ARE MOODY’S CURRENT OPINIONS OF THE RELATIVE FUTURE CREDIT RISK OF ENTITIES, CREDIT COMMITMENTS, OR DEBT OR DEBT-LIKE SECURITIES, AND MOODY’S PUBLICATIONS MAY INCLUDE MOODY’S CURRENT OPINIONS OF THE RELATIVE FUTURE CREDIT RISK OF ENTITIES, CREDIT COMMITMENTS, OR DEBT OR DEBT-LIKE SECURITIES. MOODY’S DEFINES CREDIT RISK AS THE RISK THAT AN ENTITY MAY NOT MEET ITS CONTRACTUAL, FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS AS THEY COME DUE AND ANY ESTIMATED FINANCIAL LOSS IN THE EVENT OF DEFAULT. CREDIT RATINGS DO NOT ADDRESS ANY OTHER RISK, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: LIQUIDITY RISK, MARKET VALUE RISK, OR PRICE VOLATILITY. CREDIT RATINGS AND MOODY’S OPINIONS INCLUDED IN MOODY’S PUBLICATIONS ARE NOT STATEMENTS OF CURRENT OR HISTORICAL FACT. MOODY’S PUBLICATIONS MAY ALSO INCLUDE QUANTITATIVE MODEL-BASED ESTIMATES OF CREDIT RISK AND RELATED OPINIONS OR COMMENTARY PUBLISHED BY MOODY’S ANALYTICS, INC. CREDIT RATINGS AND MOODY’S PUBLICATIONS DO NOT CONSTITUTE OR PROVIDE INVESTMENT OR FINANCIAL ADVICE, AND CREDIT RATINGS AND MOODY’S PUBLICATIONS ARE NOT AND DO NOT PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS TO PURCHASE, SELL, OR HOLD PARTICULAR SECURITIES. NEITHER CREDIT RATINGS NOR MOODY’S PUBLICATIONS COMMENT ON THE SUITABILITY OF AN INVESTMENT FOR ANY PARTICULAR INVESTOR. MOODY’S ISSUES ITS CREDIT RATINGS AND PUBLISHES MOODY’S PUBLICATIONS WITH THE EXPECTATION AND UNDERSTANDING THAT EACH INVESTOR WILL, WITH DUE CARE, MAKE ITS OWN STUDY AND EVALUATION OF EACH SECURITY THAT IS UNDER CONSIDERATION FOR PURCHASE, HOLDING, OR SALE. 

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    MJKK and MSFJ also maintain policies and procedures to address Japanese regulatory requirements.

    Originally Posted at Moody's on November 14, 2017 by Moody's.

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