From our occasional contacts to date, some interest has emerged in the funding of major infrastructure projects but little in lending to SMEs. Given present cyclical conditions, insurance companies are certainly driven to seek higher yields than those prevailing in traditional investment classes, but they are well aware of the cost of equipping themselves to take on new and very risky tasks.
For higher yield means higher risk; and no one more than insurance companies has this maxim, frequently ignored by others, inscribed in their DNA. One way of encouraging them could be to offer a government guarantee on the assets to be acquired.