Description: This paper presents an introduction to collective risk theory. In collective risk theory one seeks to investigate directly the risk enterprise as a whole. Primary interest is focused not upon the gains, losses, or claims from individual policies but upon the amount of total claims or the total gain arising from all the policies in the portfolio considered. Followed by several discussion papers submitted.

Description: This paper discusses an example showing how simulation has been used to develop financial projections for variable life insurance with a guaranteed minimum death benefit and how recourse to mathematical analysis based on risk-theoretic considerations can enable us to see the impact of stock price changes more clearly. These projections reveal the effects of stock price fluctuations interacting with the more common elements, such as mortality and persistency, on the financial results of a variable life insurance operation.

Description: This section contains book reviews and a select bibliography. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1973, Vol. 25, Pt. 1, No. 73. Book topics include statistics, quantitative methods for determining IBNR, and Investing for a Financial Institution. Other books on actuarial and insurance topics are briefly discussed.