The insurance industry has so far successfully stayed out of the spotlight during the euro-zone crisis. But the sector is hardly immune to the problems in peripheral European economies and banking systems. Insurers are among the biggest holders of sovereign and corporate debt. And while the industry has enough capital to absorb possible losses from any restructuring of southern European debt, the risk of wider turmoil in the European financial system is likely to continue to weigh on insurance-sector shares.

Insurers can withstand increased volatility in mark-to-market prices from.