Description: Insurance company financial reporting and performance measurement are going through a significant transformation. Insurers are beginning to look at their business based on what many refer to as the “economic value framework.” Under this framework insurance companies determine the economic value of the capital invested in their business and the economic value of earnings to derive a risk-adjusted return on capital. Standard setters, primarily European insurance regulators through Solvency II and the International Accounting Standards Board through IFRS Phase II, propose adopting many of these concepts for solvency and performance reporting.

Description: The paper explores developments through 2006 in the application of market-consistent concepts to the measurement of fair values of liabilities for financial reporting purposes.

Description: Discussion rebutting the Dec. 2004 issue of The Financial Reporter article titled, “On the Fair Value of Insurance Liabilities,” authored by Don Solow. That article expressed disagreement with the position of the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board to reflect the value of “own credit risk” in the fair valuation of insurance liabilities.

Description: This is a continuation of a discussion about the the theoretically correct treatment of the credit put the policyholder writes when purchasing an insurance contract.

Description: ongoing discussion of the proper interest rate to use in discounting liability cash flows to reflect credit risk of the insurer in a fair value accounting system

Description: Since insurance contract liabilities are uncertain in amount, an estimate is required. And under most accounting frameworks, the estimate of an uncertain amount should contain some sort of margin for uncertainty. This paper provides a mathematical connection between that margin and the market price of risk as measured by the cost of capital. The connection makes use of the theory of utility and an exponential utility curve.

Description: U.K. life insurers writing participating business have, since the end of 2004, been required by their regulator, the Financial Services Authority FSA, to value their assets and liabilities on a market-consistent basis. The purpose of this paper is to explain the new valuation approach based on market-consistent values and its rationale set out the issues faced by life insurers in implementing the new regime and explain how these issues have been addressed by insurers.

Description: Presented at June 1996 Spring Meeting. This session presents an overview of the SOA cosponsored conference on fair value of insurance liabilities, including a comparison of some of the methods presented. The session also provides a status update of recent industry and professional activities and what the future may hold for the use of fair value of insurance liabilities in insurance company financial statements.

Description: Presented at May 1996 Spring Meeting. Presents an overview of conference co-sponsored by the SOA on fair value of insurance liabilities, including a comparison of some of the methods presented. A status update of recent industry and professional activities and what the future may hold for the use of fair value of insurance liabilities in insurance company financial statements is also provided.

Description: Discusses the newly adopted actuarial guideline for variable annuity reserving which is principles-based. It requires the calculation of both, a standard deterministic scenario reserve and a stochastic reserve - of which the larger of the two is used. This article discusses why for some companies the deterministic reserves dominate and for others the stochastic one does.