Life insurers rise as Jefferies sees low chances of 'run risk'

Jackson Financial

20/03/2023 17:23

(Updates)
    ** Shares of life insurers rise amid risk-on market
sentiment after Jefferies dismisses fears of "run risk"
         ** Lincoln National  LNC.N , Unum Group  UNM.N ,
Jackson Financial  JXN.N , MetLife Inc  MET.N , Prudential
Financial  PRU.N , Voya Financial Inc  VOYA.N , Principal
Financial Group Inc  PFG.O  and Reinsurance Group of America Inc
 RGA.N  rise between 2% and 6%
    ** Brokerage sees a fairly remote possibility of 'run risk'
in the life insurance sector, as investor attention shifts to
liabilities from assets in the wake of SVB-Signature Bank
developments
    ** Accessing funds from life insurance products more complex
 relative to tapping funds from a bank account - Jefferies
    ** Brokerage also notes certain insurers impose
discontinuance charge on early withdrawals
    ** Need for protection against morbidity or longevity risk
don't disappear when economic conditions change, rather become
more acute in periods of stress, brokerage notes
    ** Jefferies sees liquidity pressure risks for businesses
around fixed indexed annuities which are insurance products that
combine guaranteed protection from loss due to market downturns 
    ** In last 8 sessions, S&P 500 health and life insurance
index  .SPLRCLIFE  down over 16% vs a 2% fall in the benchmark
S&P 500 index  .SPX   
    ** Also, broader market is up on Monday as a state-backed
rescue of Credit Suisse allayed fears about bank contagion risks

 (Reporting by Aditya Samal)
 ((Aditya.Samal@thomsonreuters.com;))