Of the 328 CIOs and CFOs, who represent about 50% of the global insurance industry, 6% indicated their companies had already invested or are considering getting into cryptos.
The US-based insurers were the most interested in crypto-related investments, according to the study done by Goldman Sachs. The survey involved 328 chief financial and chief investment officers, who were asked about their company’s allocations and portfolios.
More Insurance Firms Interested in Cryptos, Surprises Researchers
Goldman Sachs, a leading investment bank in the US, released the 2022 annual global investment survey, which captured responses on cryptos for the first time. It established that 11% of the insurance companies indicated they were interested in or had already invested in cryptos.
The head of insurance asset management at Goldman Sachs, Mike Siegel, said that he was very surprised by the findings. “We surveyed for the first time on crypto, which I thought would get no respondents, but I was surprised. A good 6% of the industry respondents indicated that they’re either invested in crypto or considering investing in crypto,” expressed Siegel.
Next in line are the Asia-based insurers, with 6% interested or already invested in cryptos. European insurers took the last bit with only 1%.
The report also established that cryptos held the 5th position for the asset class that insurers expected would deliver the highest returns in the next 12 months.
About 2% of the firms indicated they already have a crypto investment. Although a small margin, analysts at Goldman Sachs indicated that the level of interest is worth noting.
“We did some follow-up questions on that, and generally, the companies that are either invested or considering crypto are doing so to understand the market and to understand the infrastructure. But if this becomes a transactable currency, they want to have the ability down the road to denominate policies in crypto and also accept premium in crypto, just like they do in, say, dollars or yen or sterling or euro,” explained Siegel.
Despite Growing Interest, Insurers are Still Pessimistic
Even with the growing interest, a significant percentage of insurance firms are still pessimistic about cryptos. 16% of the respondents indicated they expected crypto to deliver the lowest returns over the next 12 months. Cryptos ranked lowest on this asset class metric.
Only 1% of the insurance companies said they would raise their crypto position in the next 12 months. 7% indicated they would hold the current position, and 92% indicated they would not invest in cryptos over the next year.
“As the crypto market continues to mature, coupled with growing regulatory certainty, a cross-section of institutions are becoming more confident to explore investment opportunities as well as recognizing the disruptive impact of the underlying blockchain technology. I have been positively surprised by the rising adoption by global Asset Managers, who clearly recognize the potential of this market,” explained Mathew McDermott, global head of digital assets at Goldman Sachs.
