US insurers’ EM investments decline

Written by Adam Cadle

11/07/2025

US insurers’ investment in emerging markets (EM) bonds and stocks totalled $33bn in book/adjusted carrying value (BACV) at year-end 2024, which was a 14% decrease from year-end 2023 and a 32% decrease from five years earlier.

Life insurers accounted for 87% of total EM investments, and large life insurers (those with more than $10bn AuM accounted for 81% of the total.

As in previous years, bonds comprised most of US insurers’ EM investments at about $31.7bn (more than 90%), and corporate EM bonds accounted for more than half of total EM bond investments. The largest EM corporate bond country exposure was Mexico.

About 84% of US insurers’ EM bond investments at year-end 2024 had NAIC 1 and NAIC 2 designations, both indicators of high credit quality.

EM stocks accounted for about $1.3bn of total EM investments. The largest EM country stock exposure was China, at slightly more than half of total EM stocks.

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