Description: It is obvious that the introduction of a deductible has two major effects. The amount paid for every claim will drop, resulting in a lower claim burden for the insurance company. There will also be a drop in claim frequency, leading to a decrease in claim handling expenses. However, it is by no means obvious how the average claim size changes with the introduction of a deductible. In this paper, we will study this question. First, we derive some theoretical results then apply them to concrete distributions.

Description: In this essay, we focus on the “Prospective Solvency Assessment” aspect of the NAIC’s ORSA. This places a spotlight on an insurer’s strategic decision making from a risk and capital management perspective. It requires those in senior management to describe actions they would take to address possible adverse changes in their risk and solvency position, i.e., what they would do to reduce risk, increase capital, and/or adjust the business strategy. We contend that by applying a slightly broader scope than the specific requirements of the NAIC’s ORSA, insurers can develop this into a valuable process to support risk-based decision making. In this essay, we initially consider how to determine which metrics to include in such a process and then discuss some important business requirements and practical challenges for implementing a calculation approach to support it. Part of the essay collection "Risk Metrics for Decision Making and ORSA"

Description: Exploration of sources of volatility in retiree health valuations, noting how volatility arises and might be mitigated, with discussion of valuation parameters more problematic for retiree health benefits than for pensions. Three significant influences on retiree health valuation volatility are covered-- changes in benefit level, fluctuations in cost level, and alterations in eligibility for, or duration of, benefit – and attention focused on the last two. Specific conclusions result in recommendations, which are supported by practical examples contrasting volatile measurement results with those likely from the recommended practices. Theoretical discussion includes health claim variation, health trend usage, financial economics, option pricing, discount rates, and deterministic vs. stochastic modeling.

Description: This paper describes a current approach to capital allocation, tail contribution analysis TCA, and then compares it to an alternate method called economic profit analysis, EPA. The advantages of EPA over TCA are then outlined. From 2006 Enterprise risk Management Symposium, M-AS06-1.

Description: Shareholders provide capital and receive the insurance profit. This paper demonstrates than an optimal capital level exists that generates the highest return for the shareholders of an insurance company. This result is derived using a risk capital model by Perold. The no-arbitrage argument, developed by Modigliani and Miller, is used throughout the paper and puts the discussion on a solid economic footing. From 2006 Enterprise Risk Management Symposium, M-AS06-1.

Description: Increasing uncertainties and volatility in financial as well as real goods markets increasingly reveal that controlling systems based on deterministic and pseudo-exact values are insufficiently eligible to manage the business activities. This raises the question how management systems can be modified to generate the adequate management impulses in volatile periods. Risk management deals from identifying, evaluating and aggregating chances and risks, which again determine the potential fluctuation range of relevant performance indicators. Everyday corporate life shows that risk management is considered important; but the corresponding processes to identify, evaluate and report chances and risks are seldom part of established decision criteria. This “paradox” lets assume that risks are managed in various differing and unsystematic ways. The combination of traditional controlling methods and risk management is not primarily a methodological challenge. The behavior of the whole organization, practiced over a long-year period, has to be transferred into a new corporate culture of transparent dealing with chances and risks. This paper describes the necessary change management process, which has to come along with necessary methodological modifications.

Description: This is a study on the Nesbitt formula and the variants to this formula.

Description: It has been twenty years since DeWit 1982 first applied fuzzy logic FL to insurance. That article sought to quantify the fuzziness in underwriting. Since then, the universe of discourse has expanded considerably and now the FL methodologies include used fuzzy set theory, fuzzy numbers and fuzzy arithmetic, fuzzy inference systems, fuzzy clustering algorithms, fuzzy linear programming, fuzzy regression, and hybrids involving other soft computing technologies. This article presents an overview of these studies.

Description: Complete monograph: Actuarial Consideration in Insurance Mergers and Acquisitions, M-FI03-1. This paper presents a broad overview of the actuarial considerations of insurance company transactions in developing countries, identifying both theoretical and practical issues that need to be addressed when trying to assess the potential value of a multi-national insurance transaction.

Description: This is a simplified approach to calculating the variance of the whole life random variable in certain, very common circumstances.