Report Summary

Insurers have just one year until the proposed implementation date for Solvency II and preparations for the new Directive are well under way.

The Europe-wide legislation will impose stringent new capital requirements across the insurance industry, creating a more risk-focused approach to better protect policy holders and investors from future financial crises. Data management will be overhauled, while many players will be forced to rethink their product range and investment strategies.

As discussion of the details of the Solvency II regime rolls on, insurers are thinking long and hard about how they will manage and monitor their risk strategies and capital bases. But the implications of their decisions will reach far beyond the boardroom, affecting both their relationships with corporate and individual policyholders, and also their role as major investors in the debt and equity capital markets.

In September 2009, the Economist Intelligence Unit carried out a global survey on behalf of KPMG International, assessing the convergence of governance, risk management and compliance (GRC).The research looks at the driving forces behind convergence, the costs and perceived benefits and the barriers to achieving this goal.

Report Summary

In June 2011, the Economist Intelligence Unit carried out a global survey on behalf of KPMG International to assess the extent to which companies are adopting a co-ordinated approach to their governance, risk and compliance (GRC) activities. It explored the costs and challenges associated with this initiative and the benefits that companies can expect to gain from better alignment of their risk and compliance functions within an overall governance framework. 

The Global microscope on the microfinance business environment 2011 benchmarks and evaluates business and operating conditions for microfinance in developing countries around the world. Commissioned and funded by MIF, CAF and IFC, the Global Microscope 2011 is the Economist Intelligence Unit’s third annual effort to assign ratings to microfinance markets in 55 developing countries worldwide.

Global growth is shifting East. The UN’s World Economic Situation and Prospects 2011 report revealed the strikingly different outlooks for developing countries in the East, where growth continues to be strong, and for developed economies in the West, where growth remains stubbornly anaemic.

In this report, produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by BNY Mellon, we examine how investors, faced with a dearth of investment opportunities in developed markets, are approaching emerging markets.

In this report, produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by BNY Mellon, we highlight the development of key trends in asset allocation and risk management in response to the current economic climate. This report is the first of two follow-up papers to The Search for Growth report published in June.

Report Summary

Proactive response: How mature financial services firms deal with troubled projects is an Economist Intelligence Unit research report, sponsored by Oracle.

The report is the culmination of a research programme begun in 2010 to explore the role of savings in financial prosperity. It contains an article from Robin Bew, chief economist and editorial director of the Economist Intelligence Unit, essays from nine thinkers who took part in a roundtable debate on savings in October 2010 and a short report exploring the business world’s view of what is the right balance between policymakers, corporates and individuals in supporting savings, based on a survey of over 800 business leaders from around the world and in-depth interviews.