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: This session features interviews with several authorities on the following current topics: How the rating agencies view capital management in determining company ratings How the rating agencies view the independent review process How capital management is addressed at a non-insurance company parent How financial reinsurance can be used to strengthen your capital. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 25, No. 3. San Francisco Annual Meeting, October 17-20, 1999, Session 65OF.

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: The financial industry has become increasingly interested in understanding and managing financial risks as well as business risk. While often perceived in terms of risk reduction or mitigation in the past, todays focus has expanded to improve performance and add to the value of the firm. Many banks and securities firms have built risk management areas to better manage their financial risks. Some insurance companies are moving in a similar direction, This session focuses on quantification of various financial risks insurers take on. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 24, No. 1. Maui Spring Meeting, June 15-17, 1998, Session 87PD.

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: 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: This presentation is a panel discussion, session 54PD, from the 2004 Annual Meeting of the Society of Actuaries, held October 24-27 in New York. Asking the question ‘what's causing a scarcity of capital in the life insurance and life reinsurance industries?’ the panelists discuss emerging sources of capital, and the issues surrounding capital, looking at possible responses from ceding companies, reinsurers, regulators, and rating agencies. Discussion from participants is included. From the Record of Society of Actuaries, Volume 30, No. 3.

Description: The NAIC Life Risk-Based Capital Working Group has been working on modifications to the C-3 interest rate risk component of the statutory risk-based capital formula. Changes being considered may have a significant impact on the work of the valuation actuary. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 25, No. 3. San Francisco Annual Meeting CA, October 17–20, 1999, Session 33PD.

Description: Presenters cover the outlook for credit defaults over the next 12 months and approaches used to price the debt market e.g., Merton's 1973 paper and subsequent developments. Attendees leave with an understanding of how the capital markets value debt issuance and knowledge of future trends in default risk. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 29, No. 1: Washington, D.C. Spring Meeting, May 29–30, 2003, Session 10OF.

Description: This session from the 1995 SOA Spring Meeting reviews surplus management strategies. Topics addressed include risk-based capital RBC, reinsurance, growth and profitability, cost of capital, and required surplus.