Portuguese insurers shielded from sovereign risk, claims regulator

A focus on high-grade corporate bonds in their investment portfolios is insulating Portuguese life insurers from the continued market pressure on the country's sovereign debt, according to Instituto de Seguros de Portugal (ISP), the country's insurance and pension regulator.

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On April 27, rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) downgraded Portugal's sovereign debt two notches from A+ to A–, while Moody's and Fitch placed Portuguese sovereign issuance on negative watch – the first step towards downgrade. However, the country's insurance and pension regulator, Instituto de Seguros de Portugal, told Life & Pension Risk that the typical Portuguese life company held only 5% of its portfolio in local sovereign bonds, and around 18% in total in Eurozone debt.

"Due to the

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