Fears of a Greek restructuring continued to weigh heavily on investor sentiment, as the share prices of Aviva, Allianz and Prudential slid yesterday.
Aviva slid 12.5p lower at 423.3p, Prudential was off 19p at 721.5p and Old Mutual down 4.8p at 125.5p. Allianz was down from 97.5p to 94p.
Investors are increasingly coming to the conclusion that Greece will need to restructure, although the European Central Bank (ECB) is reported to be strongly resisting, hinting it would be unable to accept Greek bonds as collateral from the country’s stricken banks which are in dire need off ECB liquidity support.
A number of (re)insurers, including Allianz, Aviva and Munich Re hold sovereign debt bonds in troubled countries such as Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain, although in relation to the size of their investment portfolio, the holdings are fairly small.
Aviva said this time last year that it had exposure to debt securities in Greece, Spain and Portugal was £900m, with Greece accounting for £150m.
Ireland was not included.
No comments yet