FundCalibre - Investing on the go

Investing on the go gives you direct access to the people who manage your ISA and pensions savings. Our hosts will be interviewing finance professionals on everything from their successes and failures to current ideas and insights. At meetings, before events and even if we bump into them on the street, we'll grab five minutes with these experts to discuss how your own personal finances could be impacted by topics such as US elections, the move from petrol to electric vehicles, the growth in artificial intelligence and robots, and so much more. Our ultimate goal is to bring to life the world of investments and uncover new and exciting opportunities, all while inspiring you to invest and giving you the confidence and knowledge to make the right decisions. To do this we often ask the managers why they are invested in individual companies. This is for illustration only and should not be taken as a recommendation to buy or sell that stock. The fund manager may or may not still own these companies at the time of your listening. For more investment research visit us at www.fundcalibre.com and follow us on twitter and facebook @FundCalibre

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FundCalibre - Investing on the go

362. The sector built for volatility

June 26, 2025 • Nick Martin

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.