362. The sector built for volatility

Explore the world of non-life insurance - an often overlooked but essential part of global markets - with Nick Martin, manager of the long-standing Polar Capital Global Insurance fund. This interview covers how the sector provides much-needed defensiveness in volatile times, its low correlation to broader equity markets, and why its fundamentals are improving. From AI and climate risk to the concept of “float” and underwriting discipline, Nick explains why now might be a particularly attractive time to consider insurance investments, especially for those seeking resilience and consistency in uncertain economic conditions.

What’s covered in this episode: 

• What area of insurance this fund covers
• Performance of the sector and fund over the past 10 years
• If it’s good enough for Warren Buffett…
• Insurance’s correlation to more traditional asset classes
• How AI is influencing the insurance sector
• How technology aids in understanding risk
• Looking beyond the CEO and CFO when researching a company
• Why insurance is the original data business
• Why climate risk is a challenge to the industry
• Is insurance a “safe” investment?
• The benefits of insurance in uncertain and volatile times
• Why is now a good time for the sector?

More about the fund: Everything around us is insured, regardless of economic boom or bust, which provides this fund with very good defensive characteristics. Polar Capital Global Insurance is designed to provide exposure to non-life insurance companies, a specialist and often undervalued sector. The fund has been co-managed by Nick Martin since 2008 and he took on full responsibilities in 2016. The fund’s consistent track record offers a good return profile for portfolio diversification.

Learn more on fundcalibre.com

Please remember, we’ve been discussing individual companies to bring investing to life for you. It’s not a recommendation to buy or sell. The fund may or may not still hold these companies at the time of listening. Elite Ratings are based on FundCalibre’s research methodology and are the opinion of FundCalibre’s research team only.