Description: This paper evaluates the current practice of operational risk management in the insurance sector. Operational risk is nothing new in insurance, but, because of regulatory requirements, companies have initiated computation of risk capital for their operational losses. The current effort to manage operational risk is not a naturally evolving phenomenon, and operational risk, in the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s Basel II definition, is unlikely to be a significant cause of insurers’ failure. In addition, the current Basel II definition of operational risk is not suitable for the insurance sector. Consequently, the invention of models and tools based on the definition is incomplete and illusionary. My findings are based on the analysis of dozens of interviews with insurance industry professionals. I demonstrate the way operational risk is quantified in practice, show that the result obtained from this computation is of littl e use in managerial decision making and propose a set of policy recommendations illustrating the characteristics of operational risk in insurance. This study can be used as a platform for launching dialogues to initiate fresh thinking about operational risk in insurance beyond the current artificial and narrow boundaries.

Description: This Chairperson's Corner article discusses the SOA becoming the pre-eminent risk management profession. The Chairman's message is that actuaries have the inside track on risk management positions in the insurance industry and have a basis for competing for similar positions in the broader financial services industry.

Description: Join us for the Pandemics & Paradigm Shifts: ERM in an Intensely Dynamic World panel discussion, where industry and regulatory perspectives will help provide insight into a number of topics. Expect interactive dialogue opportunities based on the conversation between the panelists and the audience. Key topics that will be conversed about, but the panel is not limited to, include a brief review of historical paradigm shifts and subsequent insurer failures, best practices and an outlook on the ultra-dynamic world of today and consideration of a company's enterprise risk management framework as it affects ratings and insurance department examinations.

Description: "Hear AM Best rating analysts discuss the rating process and the best capital adequacy ratio (BCAR), a quantitative foundation for AM Best’s assessment of carriers’ financial strength. The benchmarking of BCAR scores for various company types (national MCOs, BCBS plans, smaller regional plans) will be discussed. Look at how changes in investment and underwriting environment impacted the results over the past several years. Further, AM Best’s view of the quality of capital and various factors impacting the overall assessment of the balance sheet strength will be discussed. By attending this session, you will: Gain an understanding of AM Best’s building block approach to ratings and how the BCAR results fit into the process. Learn the differences between RBC and BCAR models. Learn how various factors—e.g. liquidity, financial flexibility, financial leverage, the org structure—impact the final AM Best assessment of health companies' capital."

Description: The author makes 10 predictions of how risk management will change over the next decade.

Description: This article argues that using Economic Capital as a metric does not capture all of the risks. The author suggests an alternative that better meets a corporation's overall risk management needs. This is value-based ERM, which is an approach that makes the quantification of enterprise value central to all aspects of the ERM process. It is a combination of two techniques—enterprise risk management and value-based management, and it captures all of the risks in a single metric.

Description: After more than a decade of a prolonged low interest rate environment, long-term Treasury rates have started to increase with higher volatility. While it is generally agreed that a modest increase in interest rates and inflation is beneficial to the life insurance industry, interest rate risk remains a significant challenge for life insurance industry to manage its long duration liabilities, especially under volatile interest rate environments. Learn how to proactively manage interest rate risk and improve capital efficiency through the cash flow based strategic asset allocation (SAA) framework. Discover practical examples of how to combine asset allocation with derivatives to manage tail risk and liability convexity.

Description: The thrust of this article is that while ERM starts out as a compliance and corporate governance tool, well managed companies use ERM as a strategic tool that will help them increase shareholder value. To do so requires a synthesis of the actuarial techniques of insurance and the capital markets perspectives of corporate finance.

Description: Bringing together industry experts spanning investment management and property/casualty insurance, this panel discussion will take the audience beyond spelling ESG correctly and will share their insights about what Environmental Social Governance is. Following is a sampling of the questions the panel will address: How did we get to the current economic state of ESG? Why is ESG controversial, and how has it become controversial? Does integrating ESG into the investment process enhance returns?

Description: Are you interested in discovering key characteristics and the market landscape in the finance industry? Do you want to learn more about decentralized finance (DeFi) with its opportunities, challenges and alternatives? Join us for the Decentralized Finance - Emerging Risks and Opportunities webcast. DeFi is an emerging financial system and its alternatives are a rapidly expanding sector. DeFi alternatives are regarded as an integral part to the support of the this developing ecosystem. Come to this rebroadcast of a webinar completed in Asia back in September where panelists explore DeFi risks and listen to a proposal of the risk classification framework. There is also a live Q&A afterwards.