The Use of Capital Market Instruments in Investment of European Insurance Companies

The financial and the insurance markets are increasingly penetrating each other, accounting for the fact that insurers are more and more often seen as major institutional investors of capital markets. The capital market offers a range of new opportunities, although it is not devoid of faults, mercilessly exposed by consecutive stock market collapses. Do insurance companies use the capital market instruments? And if so, to what extent? The conducted analysis has pointed at growing involvement of insurers in capital assets. This involvement varies significantly in particular European countries, although research shows that on average it maintains a relatively high level.