Russ Mould of A J Bell looks ahead to the full year results of the UK's insurance companies. While a valid short cut could be to think of the life companies in particular as bond proxies, he explains more sophisticated ways of assessing them as investment prospects. He points out that the life companies have some very high yields, but investors must consider if these compensate for the risks and complexities. He also goes through the considerations to mull for the less high-yielding non-life companies.

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