Insurance Investment Forum 2026

Unflappable Capital in a Noisy World

At first glance, the capybara looks almost indifferent to drama. It doesn’t lunge at every ripple; it holds its ground, watches the waterline, and moves only when it has to.

When danger appears, they move, often straight into water, where they can hide beneath the surface for several minutes.

That calm is a fitting metaphor for insurance capital today: Long-dated, liability-aware money being put to work through volatile rates, uneven liquidity, and a market that can reprice credit risk quickly.

Predators at the Edge of the Riverbank

In the wild, capybaras face predators that attack differently, particularly jaguars and green anacondas. One is a fast strike; the other is a slow squeeze.

Markets have their own versions. Credit spreads can gap wider overnight, while liquidity and refinancing risk can tighten gradually until it matters.

The forum will explore how insurers build portfolios that can handle both ‘shock’ and ‘grind’.

The ALM Anchor

Insurance investing usually starts with liabilities: Cashflow shape, duration and convexity, hedge design, and liquidity buffers. This is where the capybara analogy becomes practical – “stay near water” translates into understanding what can be sold, funded, or hedged in stress, not just what looks attractive in benign markets.

This forum examines how ALM is being re-thought as curves move, correlations shift, and the gap between “modelled” and “lived” market behaviour becomes more obvious in drawdowns.

Regulatory Capital as a Portfolio Design Input

Then there is capital. Asset returns matter, but the cost of utilising that capital is more pressing.

Capital charges, spread stresses, concentration limits, and rating migration all shape what is investable, how exposures are sized, and where risk is actually being taken.

We will explore how insurers are navigating this trade-off between return ambition and capital efficiency, and what that means for portfolio construction in practice.

Fixed Income and Credit: The waterline

For many insurers, the portfolio still lives close to the water: High-quality fixed income and diversified credit. But “core” is evolving.

Duration posture, curve positioning, securitised and structured exposures, sector selection, and the line between liquidity and carry are being redrawn – particularly when spreads widen.

Selective Depth in Private Credit

Private credit sits a little deeper. The debate is no longer whether it belongs – but what role it plays, how it is underwritten, and how it is governed.

We will look at how insurers are approaching illiquidity premia with sharper questions: Covenant strength, documentation, concentration and vintage risk, valuation discipline, and how private credit exposures fit within ALM, liquidity planning, and capital frameworks.

Collective Discipline – The Capybara Advantage

The capybara’s advantage is not just temperament; it’s collective discipline.

Insurance investing has its own version of that: Clear risk budgeting, robust manager oversight, and governance that doesn’t melt under pressure.

The aim is simple – to keep portfolios steady at the waterline and still earn their return through the cycle.

We look forward to a robust portfolio construction discussion with life, general, health and government insurers at the 14th annual Insurance Investment Forum 2026.

Enquire about this event