Insurance supervisory strategies for a low interest rate environment

Protracted low interest rates have put significant strain on some life insurers. This paper outlines how low interest rates can adversely affect life insurers, as well as the range of tools that supervisors can use to identify and quantify such effects, and the measures that supervisors can take to counter them. It is based primarily on survey responses from 27 insurance supervisors, covering 91% of the global insurance market (measured in terms of 2016 premium volume).