Description: Financial crises are nothing new. What is unique and sobering is the far greater speed with which the current situation has evolved from a weakening of the U.S. housing market into a full-blown, global economic meltdown. Also new this time is how quickly the fallout spread beyond the financial sector into all areas of the economy. Advanced communications and information technologies are creating an era of greater risk with more serious and far-reaching consequences when compared with even the recent past.

Description: This article explores the impact of the tsunamis which hit the shorelines of nine countries in Southeast Asia on December 26, 2004.

Description: Update of climate risk related governance and disclosure.

Description: Sponsored by the Society of Actuaries Research Expanding Boundaries Pool, this report examines an encompassing method to allocating economic capital in insurance conglomerates. Authored by Edward Furman, Yisub Kye, and Jianxi Su, the plan put forth unifies the centralized top-down and the detail-oriented bottom-up approaches

Description: In this issue, we’re pleased to share with our members some recent nice activities and initiatives of AFIR- ERM on the risk management space. Please fi nd useful information in the article below from Michael Sherris, Chairman of AFIR- ERM Section.

Description: In this session 116 PD of the New York Annual Meeting the panel discusses factors which led to the development of alternative risk transfer transactions in the property and casualty markets, and review techniques used to transfer and trade insurance risks within the capital markets. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 24, No. 3.

Description: In this article, the authors discuss measuring and understanding the more holistic value of risk management. In particular, organizations are struggling with how to best determine the market value of risk management strategies.

Description: Speaker examines economic globalization and other reasons for actuaries to reconsider how we think about risks in the future. From the 1987 Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 13, No. 4B.

Description: Improving understanding of the complex relationships among financial entities is critically important for risk managers and for financial authorities charged with multiple policy objectives. High quality information is lacking at both the intra- and inter-enterprise levels and to support analysis of the financial network. Put simply, the current quality and quantity of relationship data is not sufficient to deliver on the ultimate objectives. For the purpose of this discussion we use a very generic definition of a term relationship somewhat similar to the definition used to describe human relationships. And like in the human relationships case we will not claim that only marriage and blood connection makes your relatives, but also loaning a book, loving, hating and sharing a flat. In the financial context, the relationships may be determined by accounting rules set, for example, by IFRS or US GAAP, as well as regulatory requirements in areas o f risk management, market integrity, know-your-client, network analysis and statistical consolidation. The financial industry and regulators have spent countless hours arguing and debating the definition of ownership. The problem lies in the question itself. We suggest that as part of any relationship data system the best approach is to put the question aside and avoid a conceptual and practical quagmire. Rather, we recommend collecting and storing less-subjective granular data on theactual legal and economic relationships between firms, which provides a flexibleframework from which any user can answer the question on corporate relationships he or she determines is appropriate at a given time. Encouragingly, technological solutions are available to accommodate this multiplicity of requirements in a single solution. The paper outlines where the practical challenges are that inhibit the development of high quality relationship data and how they can be overcome.

Description: Reinsurance can be used as a tool to improve profitability and competitiveness on in force and new business for companies. Emerging reinsurance solutions will help organizations better manage their capital in different ways. During this webcast, the following solutions will be covered: Use of reinsurance to manage and improve capital and profitability Turning spread-based business into fee-based business Strategic use of affiliate and sidecar reinsurance