Capital investments 3rd quarter 2018:
Net sales of shares among insurance companies in the third quarter
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden and Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority 2018-11-30 9.30
Insurance companies’ net sales of investment assets amounted to SEK 22 billion in the third quarter of 2018. Total holdings in investment assets amounted to SEK 4 915 billion at the end of the period, compared with SEK 4 839 billion at the end of the previous quarter. This means that the market development for these investment assets was favourable during the period.
Notable transactions in the third quarter
During the quarter, transactions in insurance companies’ investment assets predominantly consisted of net sales of shares (29 billion), partly offset by net investments in bonds (22 billions). Life insurance companies, which hold nearly 90 percent of the insurance companies’ investment assets, accounted for most of these transactions.
Similarly, life insurance companies’ holdings constitute the majority of insurance companies’ holdings in shares and participations, and the corresponding majority of the increase in value on these assets in the third quarter are attributable to life insurance companies.
Market development in shares and participations drives growth in investment assets
The market value of insurance companies’ assets in the form of shares and participations increased by approximately 74 billion in the third quarter, despite net sales of 22 billion in such assets in the same period. The strong market development for these asset classes is a strong driver of growth in insurance companies’ investment assets in the third quarter of 2018.
Non-life insurance companies reduce loans to foreign borrowers
Unlike life insurance companies, a reduced holding of loans to foreign borrowers dominated the period’s net transactions among non-life insurance companies. The stock of such assets declined from just over 8 billion at the end of the second quarter to barely 4 billion as at the end of the third quarter.
Like for life insurance companies, the market development in shares and participations was a driver of the positive market development in total investment assets for non-life insurance companies.
Historically, the market value of life insurance companies’ investment assets tends to grow at a comparatively even rate, while the value of investment assets held by non-life insurance companies has been relatively constant in recent years. This applies also to the third quarter of 2018. Non-life insurance companies had net sales of 7 billion in investment assets in the third quarter, offset by the favourable market development. Similarly to life insurance companies, growth in the market value of non-life insurance companies’ investment assets was also driven by the favourable development for shares and participations.
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2019-03-01 at 09:30.
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