Description: The goal of this paper is to dispel the prevailing belief that American-style options cannot be valued efficiently in a simulation model by presenting a general algorithm for such valuation, and thus remove what has been considered a major impediment to the use of simulation models for valuing financial instruments. Discussions of this paper are included.

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.