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: In this article, the current state of the liabilities market is discussed. Two paradigms are then explored for defining and subsequently calculating an insurance liability market value. From Society of Actuaries Financial Reporting Monograph, M-AS99-1.

Description: International Accounting Standards: a discussion of Exposure Draft 5 dealing with specific requirements for insurance companies

Description: Insurance company financial reporting and performance measurement are going through a significant transformation. Insurers are beginning to look at their business based on what many refer to as the “economic value framework.” Under this framework insurance companies determine the economic value of the capital invested in their business and the economic value of earnings to derive a risk-adjusted return on capital. Standard setters, primarily European insurance regulators through Solvency II and the International Accounting Standards Board through IFRS Phase II, propose adopting many of these concepts for solvency and performance reporting.

Description: This article discusses fair value reporting for insurance companies and how to get fair value in the real world.

Description: Analysis of IASB position on the discount rate to use in computing the Fair Value of Insurance Liabilities

Description: The paper explores developments through 2006 in the application of market-consistent concepts to the measurement of fair values of liabilities for financial reporting purposes. A set of criteria is presented that should be useful in the evaluation of proposed fair value measurement approaches where inputs based on prices observed in an active market with reliable transaction prices are not available. Based on these criteria, one approach is examined that might serve as a basis for the fair value measurement of the liability of life insurance contracts and other financial instruments issued by insurers.

Description: This article explains the issue causing from asset dependency discounting as required by IFRS 17, and proposed some possible methods to solve the issue.

Description: U.K. life insurers writing participating business have, since the end of 2004, been required by their regulator, the Financial Services Authority FSA, to value their assets and liabilities on a market-consistent basis. The purpose of this paper is to explain the new valuation approach based on market-consistent values and its rationale set out the issues faced by life insurers in implementing the new regime and explain how these issues have been addressed by insurers.

Description: Article explores two very different approaches that are currently being considered for use in projecting credited rates on interest sensitive products and show how they can be reconciled with one another.