FRANKFURT (Reuters) -The finance chief of German resinsurer Munich Re said on Thursday that he believed it was too early to return to the markets after a recent stock meltdown.
The comments are significant because Munich Re is a major investor as the world’s largest reinsurer.
Chief Financial Officer Christoph Jurecka told jounalists that market volatility could last for weeks or months ahead of U.S. elections and central bank decisions later this year.
“The key question is obviously when to go back into the market … My personal opinion is still that we will have volatile times going forward, for at least a few weeks, maybe a few months even”.
Data last week showed that the U.S. economy did not generate as many jobs as expected in July, sparking a selloff of major global stock indexes.
Jurecka said that Munich Re had already reduced its stock holdings ahead of that news but that he was cautious.
“For me personally I think it would be a bit early to go back into the market,” he said.
(Reporting by Tom Sims and Alexander Huebner, Editing by Rachel More)
