Reuters On Insurers/Stocks -
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Published on: 2/1/2001
Last Visited: 6/26/2001
We've not been hurt by the downturn in the markets over the last year or two , in terms of our investment income , ' Anthony Williamson , senior vice president of investments at MetLife Inc. , told Reuters.MetLife is the U.S.'s No. 1 life insurer , with about $140 billion in invested assets.
Most insurers tell a similar story.
Life and property insurance firms , which together hold more than $4 trillion in investments -- about 11 percent of all invested assets in the U.S. , at the last count -- usually hold only 2-4 percent of their own portfolios in stocks.
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The area we've been hurt the most in the year 2000 is in triple Bs ( corporate bonds ) , said Williamson , who said MetLife owns slightly more equities than most of its rivals.But our low exposure ( to stocks ) is really not because of a wonderful call on our part , as much as it is that public stocks really don't fit very well for insurance companies.
LUCKY STRIKES
Despite insurers' traditional aversion to the volatile stock market , some have scored big wins there in the past two years , as much through good fortune as by planning.
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