Italian insurance industry retains negative outlook
Fitch Ratings, a global ratings agency and division of the Fitch Group, has released a statement concerning the state of the Italian insurance industry. Italy, like other countries in Europe, has been struggling to cope with the impact of financial crisis. The country was one of the hardest hit by the crisis, which took hold of the region in 2009. Years have passed since the development of the crisis and several countries are still working to mitigate its effects and recover.
Industry pummeled by 
European financial crisis
According to Fitch Ratings, the Italian insurance industry retains its negative outlook. The agency expects that most Italian life insurance companies will have their ratings downgraded over the next two years. Fitch has examined the various factors influencing the Italian insurance industry and has determined that its poor outlook will remain unchanged despite modest signs of recovery. The financial crisis continues to put significant pressure on Italian insurers, which some have shown an inability to cope with.
Regulations and other policies creating difficult climate for insurers
Though the European financial crisis is ongoing, much of Europe is showing signs of recovery. The European Union has been hard at work trying to solve the problems of the financial crisis and has made significant progress in doing so over the past few years. Nonetheless, the insurance sector in Europe continues to struggle with the complications that arose through the financial crisis, among which are new regulations that are meant to mitigate the impact of a future crisis. This was the case in 2011 and earlier this year when Italian insurance regulators introduced new policies that were meant to calm market volatility.
Non-life insurance sectors show some promising signs of growth
Fitch Ratings notes that its outlook on the Italian insurance industry largely focuses on the life insurance sector. Non-life sectors are showing promising signs of recovery from the losses they faced in the 2009 and 2010 periods. Some of these sectors have reported profitability for the first time since the financial crisis began, painting a somewhat promising picture for the future of the insurance industry beyond the life sector.
