Federated Hermes Managed Volatility Fund II
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Annual Shareholder Report December 31, 2020 Share Class Primary Service Federated Hermes Managed Volatility Fund II (formerly, Federated Managed Volatility Fund II) A Portfolio of Federated Hermes Insurance Series (formerly, Federated Insurance Series) Dear Valued Shareholder, I am pleased to present the Annual Shareholder Report for your fund covering the period from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020. While Covid-19 continues to present challenges to our lives, families and businesses, I want you to know that Federated Hermes remains dedicated to helping you successfully navigate the markets ahead. You can count on us for the insights, investment management knowledge and client service that you have come to expect. Please refer to our website, FederatedInvestors.com, for timely updates on this and other economic and market matters. Thank you for investing with us. I hope you find this information useful and look forward to keeping you informed. Sincerely, John B. Fisher, President Not FDIC Insured ▪ May Lose Value ▪ No Bank Guarantee CONTENTS Management’s Discussion of Fund Performance ................................................................................................ 1 Portfolio of Investments Summary Tables ........................................................................................................ 6 Portfolio of Investments .............................................................................................................................. 7 Financial Highlights .................................................................................................................................... 27 Statement of Assets and Liabilities ................................................................................................................. 29 Statement of Operations ............................................................................................................................. 30 Statement of Changes in Net Assets............................................................................................................... 31 Notes to Financial Statements....................................................................................................................... 32 Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm................................................................................... 39 Shareholder Expense Example ..................................................................................................................... 40 Board of Trustees and Trust Officers ............................................................................................................... 41 Evaluation and Approval of Advisory Contract................................................................................................... 45 Liquidity Risk Management Program – Annual Evaluation of Adequacy and Effectiveness.............................................. 50 Voting Proxies on Fund Portfolio Securities ...................................................................................................... 51 Quarterly Portfolio Schedule ........................................................................................................................ 51 Management’s Discussion of Fund Performance (unaudited) The total return of Federated Hermes Managed Volatility Fund II (the “Fund”), based on net asset value for the 12-month reporting period ended December 31, 2020, was 0.93% for the Primary Shares and 0.71% for the Service Shares. The 0.93% total return of the Primary Shares for the reporting period consisted of -1.86% in price depreciation and 2.79% in reinvested dividends. For the same period, the Russell 1000® Value Index (R1000V) returned 2.80%, and the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (BBAB) returned 7.51%. Weighting these benchmarks (40% R1000V, 60% BBAB), the blended index (“Blended Index”)1 return for the period was 6.56%. The Fund’s total return for the most recently completed fiscal year reflected actual cash flows, transaction costs and other expenses, which are not reflected in the total return of the Blended Index. The Fund’s investment strategy focused on income-earning investments, specifically equity and fixed-income2 securities that have high income potential through: (1) portfolio allocation; (2) sector security selection for equities and; (3) sector and security selection for bonds to achieve the Fund’s objectives of high current income and moderate capital appreciation. In addition, the Fund implements an equity futures strategy for volatility control purposes. MARKET OVERVIEW The reporting period will forever be defined by the Covid-19 global pandemic. The first quarter saw global Covid-19 cases spike, and equity markets plummeted in response. From February 19th through March 23rd the S&P 500® Index3 experienced its fastest 30% decline in history, bottoming down 33.92% from its prior closing high. The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX)4 – a commonly referred to measure of fear in the market – reached levels not seen since the Great Recession of 2008, closing on March 16th at an all-time high of 82.69. In response to the exogenous shock to the economy from Covid-19, the U.S. Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) cut the federal funds target rate by 100 basis points to a range of 0.0% to 0.25%. In addition, the Fed re-instituted several liquidity programs that were first created in the Great Recession of 2008. Specifically, the Fed intervened to provide liquidity to the U.S Treasury, commercial paper, agency mortgage backed,5 and investment-grade6 corporate markets. The U.S. Congress also responded to the pandemic by approving a $2 trillion-dollar fiscal stimulus package at the end of the first quarter and approved an additional $900 billion stimulus package at the end of the year. These actions helped to propel markets back to all-time highs in a record period of time, with the market retaking its February 19th closing high on August 18th. Despite seeing a second and third wave of infections in the second half of the year, the combination of accommodative monetary and fiscal policy, the resolution of the 2020 Presidential election and the development of breakthrough Covid-19 vaccines led to positive total returns for all major U.S. equity and fixed-income markets. The S&P 500 returned 18.40% for the reporting period. In general, value stocks underperformed growth stocks, with cyclical sectors outperforming defensive sectors. The S&P 500’s weak performance in the Energy and Financials sectors was overshadowed by stronger performance in the Information Technology, Consumer Discretionary and Communications sectors. On the fixed-income side, the negative economic impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting monetary and fiscal policies implemented to handle the crisis, along with some uncertainty around the Presidential election in the fourth quarter, were the primary drivers of fixed-income markets in 2020. In addition to the aforementioned Fed reaction to the initial wave of the virus, in the 3rd quarter the Fed also announced the results of its recently completed monetary policy framework review, which established the following three necessary conditions for future rate hikes: (1) levels of employment consistent with maximum employment; (2) inflation of at least 2%; and (3) inflation on track to moderately exceed 2% for some time. This new framework is a more dovish approach, since it will allow inflation to exceed 2% for a period of time to ensure the Fed has achieved its 2% inflation target. For the reporting period, the total return of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Index7 was 8.0%, compared to the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield 2% Issuer Capped Index8 total return of 7.05%, the Bloomberg Barclays Emerging Markets USD Aggregate Index9 total return of 6.5%, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate Investment Grade Index10 of 9.9%, and the Bloomberg Barclays MBS Index11 of 3.9%. PORTFOLIO ALLOCATION During the reporting period, the Fund’s portfolio was allocated between stocks and fixed-income securities in a manner reflecting the Fund’s primary investment objective of income and its secondary objective of capital appreciation. Factors used in making this allocation were: (1) the Fund’s ability to pay and maintain an attractive level of dividends;12 and (2) the expected relative total return of fixed-income securities and stocks. The allocation at the end of the reporting period was 54% fixed-income securities, 43% stocks and 3% cash equivalents and other assets/liabilities. Annual Shareholder Report 1 During the reporting period, the Fund invested in S&P 500 futures contracts13 for volatility risk management purposes. The first and second quarters of 2020 contained record volatility spikes, causing the Fund to reduce its volatility overlay to the bottom end of its range. However, the Fund ended the year with a moderate long futures allocation. The short futures exposure, particularly in the second quarter, was the major negative contributor to Fund performance for the reporting period. Despite the large volatility in the first half of the year, the low levels of the overlay helped to cause the realized, annualized daily volatility of the Fund to fall within its 8%-12% target range, at 11.5%. Furthermore, at the end of the reporting period, the Fund had a futures volatility overlay of 26%. Relative to the Blended Index, the Fund’s equity and bond allocation, other than the overlay, had a