Description: In a paper entitled ‘Using Cash Flows to Allocate Investment Income’ [ARCH 1979.1] reference was made to the conversion of investment rates [and capital gain and loss rates] from rates based upon periods of original contribution to rates based upon dollars of original contribution. Thus arose the topic of this note.

Description: Given a financial transaction we are often interested in the number of internal rates of return [yield rates] and their location. From an actuarial point of view, the fundamental question is to identify those transactions with a single yield rate, or a single rate in some interval such as the positive reals. In this paper we are concerned with this counting problem. We survey various results concerning this problem, and provide a unifying approach together with some new insights.

Description: This paper argues that the self-financing axiom with mild assumptions on the conditional expected returns yields a market with an eventual arbitrage. This is accomplished by minimizing the conditional variance of a trade when the conditional expectation is a fixed constant. Examples with common processes shows that most models yield an eventual arbitrage. As a final application, a cost model is applied to prices of stripped coupon and principal payments on U.S. government bonds, where rates of return are estimated and lower bounds on market costs given.

Description: Consensus of viewpoints from a group discussion on economic forecasting at the March meeting of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.

Description: Investment Fallacies: Extended periods of robust macroeconomic growth are healthy for investing.

Description: This paper explores Indian futures and options market as a market for hedging by equity holders. The authors have tried to examine optimal hedge ratio and hedge efficiency, and to provide empirical evidence from India.

Description: Much of the push for ERM has come from regulators and rating agencies, but it is being applied in internal company decision-making as well. This paper reviews the progress made and the needs still outstanding in two key areas of application: optimal capital level for an insurer and risk-adjusted profitability of business units. The basic conclusion is that progress has been made in these areas, but more is needed. Building models is not emphasized—it will be assumed that a state-of-the art model is available. The emphasis is on using such models in decision-making.

Description: Panelists discuss: [1] a way to study interest-rate risk using stochastic methods, [2] a conceptual framework needed to evaluate the suitability of an investment strategy for insurance liabilities, and [3] how one company [Capital Holding] develops investment strategies and asset/liability management policies. From the 1988 Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 14, No. 2.

Description: Discusses investment strategies that can be used for various product-expense and policyholder-behavior patterns. These include buy/sell, hold, exchange, long-term, optimization, hedging of the business and investment risks, and immunizing strategies. From the 1988 Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 14, No. 4A.

Description: Insurance companies are not immune to liquidity risks.