This study explores the use of real estate in investment portfolios of large property/casualty and life insurance companies in the U.S. While the theory of real estate asset allocation has been explored in the literature, the examination of actual practices of portfolio managers is not well understood. The need for research into asset allocation of large pools of funds such as those held by insurers is evidenced by the findings of some researchers that have shown that many portfolios contain an inadequate level of real estate in their total investment holdings. At the end of 1992, the insurance industry held $2.4 trillion in investment funds, and the property/casualty sector of the insurance industry accounted for $637 billion of those assets. Consequently, prudent asset allocation by insurers is a significant issue in the financial community. This study reports information on the basic decision-making criteria of portfolio managers with property/casualty and life insurers, and will examine the insurers' asset holdings. Results help reveal how actual real estate asset allocation decisions are made by insurers.

This is a major new reference work covering all aspects of finance. Coverage includes finance (financial management, security analysis, portfolio management, financial markets and instruments, insurance, real estate, options and futures, international finance) and statistical applications in finance (applications in portfolio analysis, option pricing models and financial research). The project is designed to attract both an academic and professional market. It also has an international approach to ensure its maximum appeal. The Editors' wish is that the readers will find the encyclopedia to be an invaluable resource.

In recent years the financial markets known a rapid development and become more and more complex. So, many regulatory requirements, focused on banks as well as insurance sector, have been developed. These regulatory are concentrated essentially on business risk control and required capital to cover risks. These requirements have influenced the asset allocation issue in insurance industry. These requirements have influenced the asset allocation issue in insurance industry. This section is interested by this issue. In first time it highlights some research works in this issue. Then we will investigate the relation between Solvency and optimal asset allocation. Finally we will explore the principal used methods in modeling asset and in choosing the optimal portfolio composition.

This paper focuses on asset allocation decisions of life insurance companies in emerging markets. Mature market insurers allocate only a small fraction of their assets to emerging markets because of regulatory constraints, rating pressures, and currency risk. However, global insurers invest directly in emerging markets by setting up subsidiaries rather than through portfolio investment, and this trend is increasing. Local insurers largely remain captive investors of local instruments and provide stability to the domestic securities market. The regulatory regime and the liquidity and depth of local markets play an important role in asset allocation decisions of insurers. Insurance companies are increasingly adopting asset liability management and risk control measures. However, insufficiently developed local markets and regulatory interventions on the liabilities side often limit optimal asset allocation.

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