Description: Recent advances in mortality modeling have enabled applicant-specific quantification of mortality risk in life insurance applicants using laboratory and physical measurements. Relative to more conventional underwriting, this approach identifies a small population of significantly under-priced policy and a much larger, cross-subsidizing group whose risk is presently overestimated. Applicants placed in the highest percentile by this scoring methodology are more than 10X as likely to die in a given period as their demographic peers, and represent approximately 5% of short-term claims. Implications for product design are substantial in both the short- and long-term, as the possibilities for adverse selection grow, and the opportunity for fully individualized pricing raises the more distant prospect of products with as many rate classes as applicants.

Description: Whether focused on mortality, longevity, health or disability risks, biometric uncertainty is the foundation of our work. With a long history of processes and methods for analyzing biometric considerations, we run the risk of becoming stagnant in our thinking about the subject. The presenters will explore how companies can stay ahead of the curve in an environment of ever-changing medical and biometric influencers. They'll dig into cause of death trends, the obesity epidemic, genetic testing, wearables, other wellness tools and more. The presenters will also address the impact of changing risk assessment methods through predictive underwriting. This session is for anyone interested in staying at the forefront of biometric risk.

Description: A continuation of the discussion on modeling mortality in life insurance applicants first discussed in the January 2012 edition of the Small Talk newsletter.

Description: This article is the first in a series of articles on insurance applicant mortality risk analytics. From Small Talk Newsletter, Issue 37, January 2012.