Baloise boss Martin Strobel remembers 1990 Japan

Martin Strobel, CEO of Switzerland's fifth-biggest insurer Baloise has warned that continued low interest rates could cause some insurers to collapse, as happened in Japan in the 1990s, the FT reports.

Companies offering guaranteed returns on life insurance policies could be hti.

Strobel said "classic" insurers that took little risk on financial markets had fared better in the financial crisis. "We need to uncouple further financial risk from insurance risk," Strobel said.