Finance Meets Insurance: when academic research engages with the industry

The insurance sector today is facing a number of challenges, in terms of regulation and risk management of investment portfolios. In addition, the sector has now become a full-fledged asset class, with investors having expectations of adequate performances. It is in the context that "Finance Meets Insurance" comes in, a special conference organised by the Swiss Finance Institute (SFI) in Zurich, from June 13 to 14, at which leading European and American academics will gather to discuss and address these issues.

The two-day event, held at the Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue in Rüschlikon, is organised jointly by the universities of Zurich, Geneva and USI, all of which are affiliated to the SFI, with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). For USI, Prof. Loriano Mancini of the Institute of Finance (Faculty of Economics) explains, "insurance companies today are for purposes financial intermediaries and, as such, are subject to the rules of the market. Let’s consider, for example, the International Financial Reporting Standards of 2017, which also concern insurance companies and, among other things, require a correct evaluation of their financial statements not only in accounting terms but also in economic terms". In addition, "the large amounts of capital available to these companies require sound management, and cutting-edge research within the SFI can play an essential role in this".

The conference will bring together on the shores of Lake Zurich over twenty experts from all over Europe and the United States, academics at prestigious universities and also at the Federal Reserve, to discuss a variety of topics: from the aforementioned economic evaluation of insurance companies to the management of financial risks, from asset management to the effects of regulation, up to the analysis of systemic risks in the macro sector of finance and insurance. For information: https://finance-meets-insurance.ch

About the USI Institute of Finance: www.ifin.usi.ch