"Poor investment results can actually keep health premiums high," according to Alton R Cogert, CFA, CPA, CAIA, author of "Uncertain Times: A Chief Investment Officer's Journey".
"Insurers are generally focused on achieving a target return for their shareholders. Even if they do a terrific job of underwriting, they may have problems if their investment process is inadequate,"
"Further complicating matters," he notes, "is that ugly word called leverage. The more financial leverage an insurer has, the greater the probability that something terrible can go wrong, endangering the benefits provided by the insurer."
Cogert notes that the "health care reform bills" before Congress all attempt to 'solve' health care, but don't consider all the aspects, especially investments.
"We just got hit with a huge financial and economic crisis due to bad risk management decisions about investments. Yet, this topic has never surfaced in hearings about the bills," he points out. "You've gotta wonder if the politicos fully understand with what they are dealing."
"Uncertain Times" is published by CB Woodbridge Publishing and is available on Amazon.com (http://www.tinyurl.com/
Alton R. Cogert, CFA, CPA, CAIA, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Asset Alliance (www.saai.com)
