Weighted average LTVs dropped by approximately eight percentage points and the debt service coverage ratio declined by 0.17 of a percentage point for new originations when compared to year-end 2015 levels. The weighted-average LTV and DSCR on new business loans as of first-half '16 was reported at 51.4% and 2.07x, respectively.

Lisa Pendergast, executive director of CREFC, notes that “the CREFC/Trepp Insurance Company Portfolio Lender Survey holds tremendous value to those within and outside of the insurance industry, as it provides unique insights into the role commercial mortgages play in life company portfolios and acts as a sound benchmark for life-company lenders. The survey provides detailed information on life-company commercial mortgage portfolios that complements and, in some cases, exceeds the very sound reporting by the American Council of Life Insurers.” Results for the second half of '16 will be released in March, and presented at CREFC's Annual Conference in Washington, DC in June.

MIAMI—Insurance companies' commercial mortgage investments remain consistent in terms of exposure, net losses and loan-to-value ratios, according to preliminary results of the CREFC/Trepp Insurance Company Portfolio Lender Survey for the first half of 2016. The CRE Finance Council and Trepp LLC released the biannual survey Monday in connection with the CREFC January Conference in Miami and a panel discussion taking a deeper dive into the results.

Tracking the performance of commercial mortgage investments across 27 insurance companies with a combined $217 billion in loan exposure, the survey found that insurers' commercial mortgage holdings averaged 10.68% of total invested assets, with individual respondents' allocations ranging from a high of 17.58% to a low of 2.21%. CREFC says insurers' allocations to commercial mortgages have remained stable over the past few years even as the total dollar volume increased.

Insurance companies' net losses on commercial mortgages have remained lower than those of the CMBS and commercial bank sectors, and kept declining through the second quarter of last year. The total realized net losses in the general accounts and subsidiary entities reported by survey participants fell to just 0.003% as of Q2, compared to 0.03% a year earlier. CMBS and commercial banks experienced losses of 0.47% and 0.01%, respectively, as of Q2.

Total loan delinquencies increased slightly during the first half of last year, as did the rate of seriously delinquent loans. The former averaged 0.20% during the first half of '16, up 0.02% from year-end 2015, while the latter rose to 0.18% from 0.09% the year prior. However, CREFC notes that the seriously delinquent loan rate for the insurance sector continues to remain low compared to CMBS and banks, which reported rates of 4.40% and 0.64%, respectively, for the same period.

Weighted average LTVs dropped by approximately eight percentage points and the debt service coverage ratio declined by 0.17 of a percentage point for new originations when compared to year-end 2015 levels. The weighted-average LTV and DSCR on new business loans as of first-half '16 was reported at 51.4% and 2.07x, respectively.

Lisa Pendergast, executive director of CREFC, notes that “the CREFC/Trepp Insurance Company Portfolio Lender Survey holds tremendous value to those within and outside of the insurance industry, as it provides unique insights into the role commercial mortgages play in life company portfolios and acts as a sound benchmark for life-company lenders. The survey provides detailed information on life-company commercial mortgage portfolios that complements and, in some cases, exceeds the very sound reporting by the American Council of Life Insurers.” Results for the second half of '16 will be released in March, and presented at CREFC's Annual Conference in Washington, DC in June.