Description: This article provides an analysis of Value at Risk VAR and its advantages and limitations as a tool for assessing and quantifying market risk. The article originally appeared in the August 1997 issue of Financial Engineering News and is reprinted with permission.

Description: This article discusses risk transfer and how difficult it is to define and describe. For actuaries, the challenge is to develop an analytical framework under which the presence of insurance risk can be identified and assessed.

Description: The financial industry has become increasingly interested in understanding and managing financial risks as well as business risk. While often perceived in terms of risk reduction or mitigation in the past, todays focus has expanded to improve performance and add to the value of the firm. Many banks and securities firms have built risk management areas to better manage their financial risks. Some insurance companies are moving in a similar direction, This session focuses on quantification of various financial risks insurers take on. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 24, No. 1. Maui Spring Meeting, June 15-17, 1998, Session 87PD.