Insurers slow purchases of eurozone sovereign bonds

European insurers picked up the pace at which they bought overseas debt and pared back their appetite for eurozone sovereign bonds in the second quarter of this year, European Central Bank (ECB) data shows.

The total debt held by eurozone insurers climbed to €3.5 trillion ($3.8 trillion) in Q2, at an annualised growth rate of 2.9% – up from 2.6% in Q1.

This growth was driven by eurozone corporate bonds and non-eurozone debt, which saw annualised growth rates climb by 3.9% and 3.7%,