Shares of European insurers fell after the European Central Bank decided to extend its quantitative easing program until at least March 2017 and broaden the range of assets purchased. The decision is “disappointing” because bond purchases by the ECB will mean insurers have to buy riskier assets to make a return, Immo Querner, chief financial officer at Talanx AG, Germany’s third-biggest insurer, said in an e-mail. The Stoxx 600’s index of insurance shares fell 3.2 percent on Thursday, the most since Aug. 24. “With every further step, the false incentives that the ECB has been setting ever since the launch of the bond-buying program become ever greater,” Querner said. "In the case of many liability-driven investors, such as insurers, this increases the danger of disproportionate risk taking
