Yahoo Finance

American International Group is one of the largest insurance and financial services firms in the world and has a global footprint. It operates through a wide range of subsidiaries that provide property, casualty, and life insurance. The company recently spun off its life insurance operations (Corebridge), but still retains a majority stake.

Two important inflation reports were released this week. Both indicated that overall pricing pressures have retreated, but also confirmed that inflation remains above the Fed's target of 2.0%. Let's first take a dive into the Consumer Price Index. There were some positive results here. According to the CPI report, the overall inflation rate in April of 3.4% was lower than the prior-month's rate of 3.5%. That good news was further supported by a decline in the core CPI rate, which excludes the impact of food and energy and rose at an annual pace of 3.6% over the past year (lower by 20 basis points). What's propping up core CPI? Two main factors: Transportation Services and Shelter, which have stickier prices that don't typically fall sharply. Meantime, pricing pressures for automobiles and food away from home eased. The other inflation report was the Producer Price Index. This news was not as good. The PPI measures pricing trends farther up the supply chain, and showed a modest increase in the rate of inflation. How worrisome is that? Well, we have noted for months that progress will be slow as inflation returns to 2.0%, and nothing was terribly alarming about either of the reports. Looking ahead, we think that the June 2022 CPI rate was the peak reading for the index this cycle, as the housing market cools, supplies of new vehicles are replenished, and the price of oil stays below $90 per barrel. The Fed has lifted the feds fund rate from 0.0% to above 5.25% over the past 18 months, and the rate hikes appear to be reducing inflationary pressures. We look for the U.S. central bank to be lowering rates in 2H24 and 1H25 as their concern shifts toward economic growth.

Prudential Financial Inc., based in New Jersey, is a leading diversified insurance and asset management company. The company has more than $1.4 trillion in assets under management. PRU shares are included in the S&P 500 index.

Aegon is a life insurance and long-term savings company listed in the Netherlands. It listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in the 1980s and now has mature operations in the United States, United Kingdom, and four growth markets of Brazil, China, Portugal, and Spain. Over recent years, Aegon has been moving through a substantial transformation program where management has sought to divest noncore operations and improve the risk profile of the business by separating the company into strategic and financial assets. Financial assets are the parts of the business that are now being run down. Here, Aegon is looking to cycle out of highly capital-consumptive and volatile earnings products and recycle funds into capital-light and more predictable strategic businesses.