Description: An ongoing discussion of the theoretically correct discount rate for valuing insurance liabilities: whether or not the credit rating of the insurer should affect the discount rate used. See related articles including the article “On the Fair Value of Insurance Liabilities: The Regulator’s Option” in the December, 2005 issue of The Financial Reporter.

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: 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: An Overview of Stochastic Simulation modeling techniques and usages

Description: Summarizes the discussions over the past quarter between the IASB and the FASB regarding finalizing IFRS

Description: Discussion of some of the implications of FAS 133 Implementation Issue B36 for the Financial Reporting of Reinsurance

Description: There is often a disconnect between the way products are priced IRR and embedded value methods and the way business performance is measured once it is already on the books GAAP and GAAP ROE. This article discusses the theoretical reasons for this disconnect and how an accounting system could be developed to eliminate the disconnect and thereby align investor and management expectations with the financial reporting system.

Description: Understanding the Deferred Acquisition Cost (DAC) asset balance movements from one reporting period to the next can be a challenge when reportinged under FAS 97. The mechanics of FAS 97 call for an amortization ratio (i.e., k factor) that forces the amortization of the DAC asset to be matched to the earnings received over the life of the product. However, the fact that the k factor is dynamically set results in “unlocking” components of the DAC rollforward. This article shows how the basic equation for the amortization ratio can be used to derive equations that provide insights into what the DAC balance represents. Furthermore, partial derivatives of these equations are used to show how unexpected changes in the Estimated Gross Profit (EGP) stream impact the amortization and unlocking components of the DAC rollforward.

Description: Valuation Approaches for FAS 133 DIG Issue B36: Embedded Derivatives: Modified Coinsurance Arrangements and Debt Instruments That Incorporate Credit Risk Exposure That Are Unrelated or Only Partially Related to the Creditworthiness of the Obligor Under Those Instruments”