Interest rate fears hit world's life product menus

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors says prolonged low interest rates are causing sobering changes in life insurers’ operations all around the world.

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Some life insurers may be making some changes in investment strategies. But partly due to stringent investment regulations, insurers are responding to low rates mainly by changing what they sell, the Basel, Switzerland-based regulator group says in its new 2016 insurance market report.

Life insurers in the United States have been backing away from selling especially interest-sensitive products, such as long-term care insurance and retirement products that offer long-term interest rate guarantees. The same thing is happening in Europe, the IAIS says.

Many insurers are offering “unit-linked” products, or variable-rate products with benefits that depend on the performance of investment instruments that the policyholders chose.

“Policyholders thus bear the investment risk,” the IAIS says. “As life insurers shift investment risk back to the policyholders, they face greater competition from other financial institutions, including banks and assets managers.”