Description: A number of insurance companies have recently implemented, or are in the process of implementing, economic risk capital. These programs are being implemented because of concerns with the existing regulatory and accounting frameworks and/or companies' desire to have a capital framework which is more consistent with their risk profile. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 30, No. 2, Spring Meeting, San Antonio, TX, June 14-15, 2004, Session 47PD.

Description: This is a presentation from 39th Actuarial Research Conference, 8/5-7/2004, University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. The aim of this paper is to consider economic capital for a multi-line insurer and the fair allocation to lines of business. In addition, this paper also allows for a model with assets, liabilities and insolvency exchange option fairly priced, complete markets and no market frictions.

Description: Actuaries and rating agencies increasingly believe that the NAIC's formulaic required capital standard does not adequately address a company's insurance, economic market and credit, reporting and pricing risk structure. Economic capital, based upon a stochastic evaluation of a company's total risk exposures, presents a new approach for accurately gauging a company's exposure to risk. Attendees learn what economic capital is, how it is calculated, what it tells company management about risk exposures and how it can serve as a valuable risk-adjusted measurement tool. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 29, No. 1: Washington D.C. Spring Meeting, May 29–30, 2003, Session 24OF.

Description: Investment Fallacies: The Fallacy of the Fed Model

Description: This paper investigates the optimal multi-period proportional reinsurance strategy that minimizes the ruin probability of an insurer. Some conditions under which it is optimal to have no reinsurance are derived. Based on these results, a new concept, capital threshold of proportional reinsurance, is introduced. In the case of two periods, a lower bound of the capital threshold of proportional reinsurance is provided. Some economic implications and properties of this new concept are also discussed.

Description: This presentation was session number 31PD at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the Society of Actuaries, held October 15-18 in Chicago. As opposed to reserves, benchmark surplus, and its supporting assets, relatively little attention is paid to free surplus and its supporting assets. The panelists approach these assets “as a portfolio to be managed with its own set of performance goals, risk tolerances, and characteristics, including issues and alternatives for managing unallocated free surplus.” Topics include diversification, setting asset and liability risk tolerances and adjusting risk in the portfolio, performance goals for the portfolio, impact of mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures, and the use of internal capital formulas to drive growth. Discussion from participants is included. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 26, No. 3.

Description: In this paper, chapter V of the 1987 Valuation Actuary Handbook, the authors start with a discussion of how the recent economic environment with volatile interest rates has changed the valuation and surplus management process to one more dependent on actuarial judgment. In a discussion of surplus policy, the authors identify four “layers” of surplus which have been identified by scenario testing. These surplus layers, along with policy reserves, are based on specific invested assets. The paper discusses implications for the future and notes the actuary’s ability to advise management on surplus adequacy is a basic tool of risk management.

Description: Investment Fallacies: The Misconceptions of Retirement Risks

Description: Companies operating in international markets have additional issues to consider from a risk management point of view. Fluctuations in exchange rates, political and sovereign risks, regulatory issues, capital management and human resources considerations are among these. This session gives attendees the opportunity to understand how multinationals currently deal with these issues and how they are functionally structured to handle the risk management process. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 29, No. 1: Washington, D.C. Spring Meeting, May 29–30, 2003, Session 30PD.

Description: E-book contains 16 topical essays that express the opinions and thoughts of a number of authors on the subject of Investment Fallacies.