Do you, too, sense that the worst may be over for the main European insurance companies? OK, those who remain overweight in the life sector are still praying for a huge stock market rally, but portfolio insurance has helped to soften the blow. General risk insurance premiums were hiked sharply before the war with Iraq, the money is pouring in and who is to say that the insurers will have to bring those rates down again? Four weeks ago, you could not, for example, have given away shares in Germany's Munich Re and Allianz. The insurance industry was in the doghouse, Germany looked like an economic basket-case and most German banks, with the exception of Deutsche, were teetering on the brink. For one awful moment, it looked as if Allianz shares would join the dreaded 90% Down Club and Allianz share certificates, cleverly converted into imitation US air force Stealth bombers or Tomahawk Cruise missiles, were selling like hot cakes on Munich street corners.
April 17, 2003
