Colin Tipping
Head of Insurance Solutions
Investment solutions and OCIO for insurance firms
We offer investment solutions for insurance companies of all sizes across the globe. Our research, advice, tools and implementation capabilities are designed to help you transform your investment programme into a strategic differentiator. Use our research to inform your decisions or work with us to develop and execute your investment strategy, including integration of alternatives and sustainable investments.
Effective portfolio management for insurance companies
Fluctuating interest rates, volatile risk premiums and rising inflation are some of the issues driving increased complexity for insurance investment portfolios. That’s why many insurers are looking for better ways to optimise their investments, increase income, grow surplus and properly align risk.
We believe that with the right expertise and structure, efficient operations, effective execution and lower costs1, an insurance company’s investment programme can grow enterprise value and provide a competitive advantage.
Our role goes beyond seeking to simply beat a benchmark, but working with our clients to customise investment solutions to derive greater value from the investment portfolio through insurance-specific investment ideas, improved implementation, operational support, and the alignment of your portfolio with your specific geographic, regulatory, rating agency, liability, and liquidity requirements.
Five common investment challenges facing insurers
Every insurance company and investment strategy is unique, however in our experience there are five common challenges. We can help you address these challenges by leveraging our deep expertise across all asset classes, our global scale, extensive manager research and dedicated team of insurance consultants.
Incorporating sustainability into insurer portfolios
The insurance industry is taking action on environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations through ventures such as the UN Environment Programme’s work on Principles for Sustainable Insurance. Internal and external stakeholders are increasing their scrutiny of ESG issues.
Whether you’re focused on risk management, regulatory compliance, or identifying potential investment opportunities, you will need to consider sustainability issues. For example, climate change poses significant risk on asset owners of all sizes around the world. We provide a number of tools that can help you understanding the potential impacts, benchmark against peers and implement changes.
Although this issue is complex and challenging, there are substantial growth and income opportunities in sustainable investments. We have worked with large insurers to build a complete, balanced solution, which fuses the objectives of seeking financial returns with acknowledging risks in a transitioning economy. Some of the investment strategies range from facilitating renewable power infrastructure and energy-efficient buildings to financing innovative green technologies and addressing crucial social issues such as inequality. We offer a variety of sustainable investing solutions for insurers.
Sourcing new ideas and innovation through alternative asset classes
When you’re seeking greater diversification and higher returns, private market asset classes, such as infrastructure, real-estate and private debt, could play a greater role in your portfolio. Private debt is increasingly becoming a core allocation for insurers, supported by asset classes such as middle market lending, structured credit and speciality finance.
Understanding these asset classes and how they can meet your needs requires specialised knowledge, manager selection capabilities, access and scale to be effective. For smaller insurers, being able to pool assets with other institutional investors through our investment solutions could open new investment markets at an affordable cost. Our specialists around the globe source and implement alternative investment solutions for our clients.
Common questions about portfolio management for insurance companies
How we helped a large insurer adjust its portfolio operating model
The issue:
A global marine insurer needed to adjust to a new operating model. The process highlighted the company’s limited internal resources and inability to execute and nimbly adapt its investment strategy.
The in-house team wanted to retain control of manager selection but also explore new investment opportunities that capture yield, including moving into private markets.
The solution:
We began working with the insurer in an advisory capacity before progressing to an implemented consulting and discretionary delegated asset allocation relationship. The insurer was able to retain its existing fund managers while expanding and diversifying with managers we helped find.
We introduced detailed data and risk analytics, which enabled the insurer to enhance its governance structure. This also helped simplify and streamline the company’s operating model across multiple group entities and reduce costs.
Investment solutions to suit your needs
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Implementation and OCIO
We can help you define, develop and implement your investment strategy by addressing areas such as governance, risk, sustainability and diversification. We flex our services to suit your needs and help you achieve your investment goals. -
Sustainable investments
We help you build a sustainable investment strategy that integrates environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations; diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) factors and seeks an optimal mix between positive change and favorable returns. -
Alternative investments
Leveraging our existing relationships with hundreds of asset managers around the world, we can help you identify and source new investment strategies, opportunities, ideas and innovations across private markets and hedge funds. -
Strategic research
Become a member of the MercerInsight® Community today to get access to strategic research from hundreds of thought leaders around the world, including Mercer and third-party publishers. It’s complimentary and easy to join. -
Asset manager research
By subscribing to MercerInsight®, an alliance with eVestment, you can gain access to data, analytics and our forward-looking research on asset managers and thousands of investment strategies across both public and private markets. -
Managing investment risk
Our Mercer Sentinel team can help you conduct due diligence and mitigate operational risks across your portfolios and strategies. We assess asset managers, custodians and other service providers to help you deliver on your governance objectives.
Leverage our breadth and depth
$16.2T
US $16.2 trillion in global assets under advisement1
$548Bn
US $548 billion in global assets under management2
11K+
More than 11,900 investment strategies rated3
3K+
More than 3,000 asset managers rated4
* 1 June 30, 2023, 2 September 30, 2024, 3 March 31, 2024, 4 March 31, 2024
Insights, ideas, innovation
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Introducing some of our team
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Contact our insurance investment team
Our specialists are ready to help you manage, expand, enhance, or fine-tune your investment portfolio.
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