Systemic Risk and the Insurance Sector: A Network Perspective

Abstract

Unlike the banking sector, whose impact on systemic risk has been amply proven, it remains unclear whether the insurance business constitutes a source of systemic risk. The aim of this chapter is to contribute to the debate and attempt to answer this question by examining the role of insurance companies in the financial system, the existing interconnections between insurance operators, and the vulnerability factors, i.e. the elements that increase the exposure of institutions to systemic risks. In recent years, attention to systemic risk has been focused on the insurance sector and the financial activity of insurance companies, which depends heavily on the performance of the financial markets as well as the phenomenon of bancassurance in the search for new investment methods, which inevitably increases the transmission channels of systemic risk. From this perspective, the insurance sector is significant in the network of financial relations and in the global economic system where a crisis can certainly cause systemic effects and repercussions due to the highly interconnected financial activities in place. The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) in the Global Insurance Market Report (GIMAR) of 2022 highlights how systemic risk in the global insurance sector is still moderate overall, albeit with an upward trend in insurers’ scores due to increased illiquid exposures and assets, over-the-counter derivatives, short-term loans and intra-financial assets. The role of regulators and supervisory authorities is crucial in this context. Therefore, the chapter analyses both the main and most recent European regulatory and supervisory interventions in the field of systemic risk management in insurance and the possible macro- and micro-systemic supervisory tools envisaged for the insurance sector. Based on the data available on the Acharya Volatility Lab (V-Lab) website and the Bureau van Dijk Orbis database, the insurance sector is explored in terms of systemic risk management and in relation to the global economic and financial system.