Abstract

We construct a new data set tracking the daily value of life insurers’ assets at the security level. Outside of the 2008–2009 crisis, a $1 drop in the market value of assets reduces an insurer’s market equity by $0.10. During the financial crisis, this pass-through rises to $1. We explain this pattern by viewing insurance companies as asset insulators, institutions with stable, long-term liabilities that can ride out transitory dislocations in market prices. Illustrating the macroeconomic importance of insulation, insurers’ market equity declined by $50 billion less than the duration-adjusted value of their securities during the crisis.

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• Keyword(s):
• asset pricing 28

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