Description: Businesses across the board have been drastically impacted by the effects of COVID-19 over the course of 2020, and insurance was not immune. Perhaps most relevant to this industry’s current capital and liquidity concern is the prevailing low interest rate environment. This has been a global trend in the last decade, and treasury rates in much of the developed world are at or near zero. Reduced investment returns limit an insurer’s ability to achieve their desired return on equity, eliminating previously profitable strategies that depended on the leverage of life and annuity balance sheets. Focus and activity have instead shifted to other methods to counteract the low interest rate markets and accompanying capital strain. Examples include increased mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity within the insurance industry and an increasing focus by private equity firms in the insurance market for asset-intensive products, both of which reflect the goal of increasing yield rates on capital.

Description: This article is an abstract of the Deloitte whitepaper “Financial KPIs in the New World” that will be published in January 2023. It provides a market view of how the new Financial KPIs will be integrated in the insurers’ decision-making process and about the main challenges and opportunities for insurers’ management and external stakeholders in the jurisdictions that have adopted IFRS17 and in particular countries in the EMEA region.

Description: This session at the SOA 1990 Annual Meeting explores surplus management from the standpoints of the role of surplus in the development of a competitive stragegy, sources of surplus including reinsurance, and the role of rating agencies in setting surplus levels.

Description: This research report study uses the property/liability insurance industry as a research sample to examine how risk management, financial management, and capital management are related to each another. This allows reflecting such relationships in: 1. the managerial decisions in the choice of derivative and reinsurance use. 2. the allocation of asset risks. 3. the determination of underwriting activities as well as liabiity risks. 4. the adequacy of capital levels.

Description: The Federal funds rate increased by 4.25% in 2022 with further increases in 2023, which have already resulted in a liquidity crisis for a few banks. As the rapid increase of the interest rates pushed the new money rates above the yields of many life insurers’ investment portfolios, insurance companies are facing a dilemma between compressed margins from peer pressure and the concern with liquidity shortfalls and realized capital losses should mass surrenders happen. This paper discussed main emerging risks under rising interest rate environment, and several ways to mitigate these risks.

Description: This session at the SOA 1990 San Francisco Spring Meeting is about aspects of surplus management including objectives of a structured capital management program, surplus management for a stock versus mutual company, and sources and costs of raising capital.

Description: This session discussion is about securization of assets such as premium streams, policy loans or future premium loadings. From Record of the Society of Actuaries Vol. 15, No. 2.

Description: This article investigates how financial reporting will change once Solvency II becomes business as usual.

Description: In light of recent life insurance company insolvencies, this session at the SOA 1990 San Francisco Spring Meeting looks at industry solvency issues. The question of whether or not there is a surplus crisis is debated.

Description: This article focuses on the motivation and trends, rather than mechanics, in Life Insurance Securitization.