Description: A critical step in valuing a company for the purpose of financial reporting is the computation of the market value of economic surplus (MVES). This article provides a novel approach to the valuation of MVES that is stable and reasonably immune to “market noise.” Current approaches to the calculation of economic surplus of an insurance company generally define such surplus as the market value of the assets (MVA) supporting the liabilities less the market value of liabilities (MVL). While MVA is observable in the market, MVL is typically computed directly, without regard to the underlying supporting assets. Subtracting MVL from any value of assets that changes with market movements results in an unstable surplus. Consequently, a surplus that is not fully reflective of market sentiment has been rejected by many. This same approach is further used in the calculation of market consistent embedded value (MCEV) when a balance sheet approach is used .

Description: This session explores where financial engineering is applied, who is “leading the charge,” and what are the current and future roles of actuaries. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 27, No. 2, Session 55PD of the Toronto Spring Meeting.

Description: This session discussion is about deterioration in claims-paying ability, financial well-being of life insurance companies, benchmark surplus standards, key operation ratios, credit analysis of asset holdings, market view of stock companies, adequacy of capital in the industry, appropriate risk/reward posture in the industry, advice to management, outlook for the various business and views on surplus relief devices. From Record of the Society of Actuaries Vol. 15, No. 3A.

Description: This research report summarizes methodologies used for yield curve extrapolation to value liability cash flows that extend beyond the maximum observavble portion of the yield curve.

Description: Risk Management and Actuaries—SOA Risk Management Task Force Update

Description: Panelists at this session of the SOA 1998 Maui I Spring Meeting presents their approach to an integrated risk management framework that assesses the level of risk in the organization and where it lies on the balance sheet.

Description: This panel discussion, which occurred at the October 1982 Society of Actuaries Annual Meeting in Washington D.C., presented information on the management of assets in relationship to liabilities. The information was based on a report from the C-3 Risk Task Force. Topics included: 1. Design of investment strategies to develop cash flow patterns appropriate with the liabilities. 2. Structuring the company to assure that investment returns are channeled to appropriate lines of business. 3. Valuing liabilities to appropriately recognize the relationship between assets and liabilities. 4. Should the actuary be concerned with certification of assets as well as liabilities? 5. Equity among lines contributing to investable cash flow.

Description: Highlights from the 8th Intercompany Long-Term Care Insurance Conference held in March 2008, consisting of 56 sessions covering a range of long-term care insurance LTCI topics each with a track-specific focus.

Description: This paper evaluates the current practice of operational risk management in the insurance sector. Operational risk is nothing new in insurance, but, because of regulatory requirements, companies have initiated computation of risk capital for their operational losses. The current effort to manage operational risk is not a naturally evolving phenomenon, and operational risk, in the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s Basel II definition, is unlikely to be a significant cause of insurers’ failure. In addition, the current Basel II definition of operational risk is not suitable for the insurance sector. Consequently, the invention of models and tools based on the definition is incomplete and illusionary. My findings are based on the analysis of dozens of interviews with insurance industry professionals. I demonstrate the way operational risk is quantified in practice, show that the result obtained from this computation is of littl e use in managerial decision making and propose a set of policy recommendations illustrating the characteristics of operational risk in insurance. This study can be used as a platform for launching dialogues to initiate fresh thinking about operational risk in insurance beyond the current artificial and narrow boundaries.

Description: An overview of the recent Advanced Risk Management Seminar New York, December 2002.