AM BestTV: Outlook for Italian Non-Life Sector Remains Stable, Says Associate Director

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OLDWICK - MAY 29, 2019 03:45 PM (EDT)
In this ^AMBestTV episode, Michael Dunckley, associate director, AM Best, said Italian non-life insurers should be bolstered by growth in liability and health coverages. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=italynonlife_english419 to view the entire program.

AM Best is maintaining a stable outlook on the Italian non-life insurance sector. Dunckley highlighted some of the reasons for the stable outlook.

“The key factors underlying the stable outlook are the sustained strong operating profitability of Italian non-life insurers and the resilience of the solvency levels of those insurers despite some vulnerability to spread widening in Italian government bonds,” said Dunckley.

Dunckley also spoke about the growth environment in Italy, as well as what factors could cause AM Best to revise its outlook on the sector to negative.

“The Italian economy entered a technical recession in the third and fourth quarters of 2018. The prognosis for growth going forward is quite weak. Nonetheless, I think that there could be some growth in the sector. The main things that could create negative pressure on the outlook would be a deterioration in operating results and a deterioration in solvency as a result of a widening in spreads on Italian government bonds decreasing the value of those assets in the balance sheet and impacting the capital of insurance companies,” he said.

To access a copy of this market segment report, titled, “Market Segment Outlook: Italy Non-Life,”visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=284421.

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