Insurers’ losses shine light on swaps accounting

An overhaul of US accounting rules promises to iron out wrinkles in the treatment of insurers’ long-duration contracts and accompanying hedges – but the amendments themselves are not without fault, says the industry

The world is getting used to “alternative facts”; at first blush the trend even seems to be catching on in corporate earnings calls.

While the sea of red in US insurers’ annual reports made for uncomfortable reading in February, their respective chiefs painted a rosier picture than the numbers seemed to imply in their accompanying investor communications.

MetLife, for instance, reported a fourth-quarter 2016 net income loss of $2.1 billion. But on a February 2 analyst call, chief executive

Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.

To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@risk.net or view our subscription options here: http://subscriptions.risk.net/subscribe

You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@risk.net to find out more.

Sorry, our subscription options are not loading right now

Please try again later. Get in touch with our customer services team if this issue persists.

New to Risk.net? View our subscription options

The future of life insurance

As the world constantly evolves and changes, so too does the life insurance industry, which is preparing for a multitude of challenges, particularly in three areas: interest rates, regulatory mandates and technology (software, underwriting tools and…

Most read articles loading...

You need to sign in to use this feature. If you don’t have a Risk.net account, please register for a trial.

Sign in
You are currently on corporate access.

To use this feature you will need an individual account. If you have one already please sign in.

Sign in.

Alternatively you can request an individual account here