Asian insurers look to high-yield assets – BlackRock

Asian insurers are more active than their western counterparts in preparing for the end of quantitative easing policies and are looking to diversify into higher yielding and less liquid fixed-income assets, boosting absolute returns as bond yields continue their upward trend.

To better prepare for the end of US quantitative easing in the next one or two years, 70% of Asian insurers said they will cut portfolio duration to reduce their interest rate risk, while 60% said they will move away from benchmarks to adopt more absolute return strategies, according to the world’s largest money manager BlackRock.

For a longer horizon over the next three years,...