The Eurovita case indicates the need for an insurance guarantee fund

“A solution to the Eurovita crisis is expected by the hour”, announced yesterday the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso. And it is no coincidence that he did so on the sidelines of the IVASS annual report, the supervisory institute chaired by Luigi Federico Signorini, from which signs of suffering have emerged for the sector due to the growth in interest rates. The epicenter of the quake is in the life sector. For the first time in ten years, the management of this sector as a whole closed at a loss: 2022 closed with a loss of 400 million euros compared to profits of 4.3 billion in the previous year. This negative result was reflected in the entire insurance sector with a decrease in the average solvency index, down to 246 per cent, which is in line with the European average, as Signorini underlined, but is around five points lower than to 2021 (for companies specializing in the life branch, then, the drop was 25 points). Furthermore, last year IVASS carried out 13 inspections on the prudential supervisory profiles of the companies and in six cases out of thirteen the final judgments were unfavorable for various aspects. In short, there is enough to arouse some concern even if the IVASS number ensures that the risks to financial stability “are controlled”. But considering that the ECB does not intend to take any breaks in the fight against inflation, how long will the most vulnerable companies be able to resist? A good reason to tackle, as Signorini did, the problem of the lack of a guarantee fund as exists for banks.