Insurance stocks stayed low throughout January in Europe, and that’s likely to cause plenty of problems for the increasingly cash-strapped insurers. Hit hardest among blue chip stocks, the insurers may have to sell investments at bargain basement prices to stay within solvency guidelines.

For example, ING and Aegon both fell 5.7% in Amsterdam and mega-reinsurer Munich Re was down 5.3%.

While analysts remain confident that the big financial services companies will survive the pressure, they are expected to cut bonuses in an effort to save on capital. And that could lead to even more problems…