Dear David, In this week's RiverFront survey on European stocks, the author stated that the European financial sector was among the most risky groups. He referred constantly to banks but what about insurance and reinsurance?

David Fuller's view

Thanks for a question which will certainly be of interest to a number of other subscribers.

Valuations are relatively attractive for EU insurance and reinsurance companies, which show some relative strength, although earning are generally somewhat lower. Conservatively, I would stay with the bigger, stronger firms, such as Germany’s Allianz SE (est p/e 9.52 & yield 5.15%) and Muenchener Rueckversicherungs-Gesellschaft AG (est p/e 9.84 & yield 5.04%).