With the COVID-19 Pandemic and the resulting economic turmoil, 2020 was a very challenging year for investors in general, and that included U.S. insurance companies. With financial statement data available for year-end 2020, this is a good time to consider how investments may have changed for the different insurer types and how the market volatility during the year may have impacted those investments. By the end of the year, broad market indices had all recovered from the very dramatic downturn in March and April. However, the recovery was not across the board. Certain sectors and industries continued to struggle. Additional questions were also raised about longer-term prospects for others. In general, downgrades by rating agencies and defaults for bonds increased in 2020 in comparison with prior years, but not to the degree that some analysts feared. The same was true on the commercial real estate side, which is relevant given how the exposure has grown in recent years through commercial mortgage loans and investment real estate, particularly among Life insurers.