Description: Re/insurance rates have been increasing since 2018, although pricing momentum has decelerated recently. Insurers and reinsurers are working to enhance profitability and improve the value proposition for clients in an environment of uncertainty about natural catastrophes, COVID-19-related losses, and social inflation, among other factors. This article describes drivers of the current underwriting cycle, compares it with past cycles, and provides considerations for the future.

Description: The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been discussed widely and in depth, with lockdown measures and restrictions on travel and trading having a severe impact on the global economy. It is therefore essential the insurance industry investigates these changes in the economy in terms of their impact on morbidity and mortality. In this article, we highlight some of the key findings on this topic.

Description: This article talks about partnering with other risk professionals and the importance of research into the nature of risk and the responses to risk events.

Description: Many retirement actuaries have experience developing, implementing, and monitoring Liability Driven Investing (LDI) strategies for plan sponsors. These strategies typically involve modifying a plan’s investment strategy to remove a significant portion of the investment and interest rate risk now or at some point in the future when specific triggers are met. The tactics often involve the use of fixed income assets to cash flow and/or duration match the liabilities. In the spirit of helping actuaries expand their roles in an evolving defined contribution world, this article explores the application of LDI and derisking strategies within defined contribution and individual retirement accounts. The economic theory behind this approach is called the lifecycle hypothesis, or lifecycle finance. The benefits of the lifecycle finance method are that it provides a safe approach to save for retirement and a secure source of floor income during retirement. Similar to pension plans, each individual has his or her own idiosyncratic needs, wants, and risks that should be considered. Actuaries are uniquely situated to help defined contribution plan sponsors, individuals, and even themselves implement the lifecycle finance approach by developing and distributing tools and methods that focus on income (rather than wealth), LDI strategies, and personalization.

Description: This article summarizes an emerging risk research project completed by the Joint Risk Management Section. The major categories of risks in the survey were 1. Economic, 2. Environmental, 3. Geopolitical, 4. societal and 5. Technological.

Description: The crisis has spread due to a systematic failure of the regulatory system. Over the last 20 years, regulations that fostered market stability were eliminated and new financial instruments were allowed to propagate without any real oversight. Instead of bailing out weak financial firms, we should be liquidating them. All doubtful assets need to be written-downs. We need accurate and transparent accounting. Government can help in this effort by cleaning up our accounting system. But it needs to stop being an investor propping up those that should be in the morgue. It needs to conservatively regulate all financial instruments. It should foster liquidity and stoke demand.

Description: Article from The Actuary September 1992 – Volume 26, No. 7 is about insurance past and present

Description: This article discusses how the industry as a whole is revisiting its risk management strategies in the wake of the financial crisis.

Description: The Joint Risk Management Section conducted its fourth survey of emerging risks in fall 2010 in light of the BP oil spill which brought the impact of various risk combinations to the fore.

Description: Projecting Budget Surpluses by Carl E. Walsh from Risks and Rewards Newsletter, April 2000, Issue No. 34. Discussion of the difficulties involved in making projections U.S. budget surpluses or deficits and how assumptions change.