On the impact of the financial crisis on the dividend policy of the european insurance industry

Abstract

The financial crisis has led to controversial discussions about the capital base of the European insurance industry. Dividend cuts have been suggested to preserve capital. However, some observers seem to fear that investors could interpret a reduction of dividends as a sign of future problems. The empirical evidence reported here does not indicate that dividend smoothing or dividend signalling are relevant economic phenomena examining the dividend policy of the European insurance industry. Therefore, insurance companies should not be too concerned about the negative consequences of dividend cuts. © 2010 The International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics.