Geschäftsstrategien deutscher Pensionsfonds: Eine Analyse strategischer Gruppen

On January 1, 2002 the Altersvermögensgesetz went in force which established the Pensionsfonds as an additional form of organization providing company pension plans. This law includes very few restrictions on Pensionsfonds’ pension products and investments. To explore this new market for occupational pension plans empirically, the Institute for Insurance Science at the University of Cologne conducted a comprehensive survey among the German Pensionsfonds. We follow the strategic group literature and use cluster analysis to identify strategic groups of German Pensionsfonds. We then examine the differences in business strategies across strategic groups in detail. Our empirical analysis provides the first overview of business strategies adopted by German Pensionsfonds.     

Der neue Standard zur bilanziellen Abbildung von Versicherungsverträgen (IFRS 17) – Eine kritische Analyse der Auswirkungen auf die Versicherungsbranche

The new standard for the accounting of insurance contracts (IFRS 17) will entail substantial changes for the insurance industry. In the following article the new standard is critically analyzed. First and foremost the coming valuation model, the so-called building block approach, is presented which will be the basis for all insurance contracts within the scope of IFRS 17. (For certain insurance contracts, especially those with direct participation features, or for less complex or short-term insurance contracts, there are some modifications.) To be more precise, IFRS 17 introduces an enterprise-specific valuation approach that is grounded on the so-called fulfilment value. This fulfilment value is determined by four separate building blocks (fulfilment-cashflow, discount rate, risk margin and contractual service margin), which will be addressed in detail. Finally, major changes in performed accounting practices that insurance enterprises are confronted with and will have to adapt to in their financial statements and accounts are pointed out.     

Ursachen geschlechtsspezifischer Kostenunterschiede in der Privaten Krankenversicherung: Eine empirische Untersuchung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Anforderungen des AGG

The new “Allgemeine Gleichbehandlungsgesetz” (General Equal Treatment Act) also influences the premium calculation of the German Private Health Insurance to antagonize gender discrimination in premiums. The higher premiums in the Private Health Insurance women pay are caused by higher expectation of life, by the risk of fertility, and by higher individual health-care costs for health services. We study how strong the gender influence in health-care costs of men and women are and if they are influenced by the factors mentioned above. We analyse if there is any gender discrimination in premium calculation in the Private Health Insurance. The results show that after eliminating the factors only a small reduction of premiums is found. We still find a cost difference between women and men. This difference can be explained by the different usage of health services but this depends less on the gender rather on individual psychosocial factors.     

Determinanten der Liquidität in der deutschen Schaden- und Unfallversicherungsindustrie: Bedeutung,Erklärungskraft und Auswirkung der Finanzkrise

The aim of this paper is to analyze the corporate liquidity and its determinants for the German property-liability insurance industry using company-level data for the period 2002–2014. We first investigate the differences in cash holdings across insurers. We then quantify the relative importance of firm-level determinants compared with macroeconomic determinants in explaining insurers’ cash holding choices. In addition, we examine whether the financial crisis of 2008 has an impact on the liquidity situation of insurers. Our results indicate that cash holdings vary significantly across German property-liability insurers. The firm-level determinants size, group affiliation and reinsurance utilization explain more than 50% of the variation. We also find that macroeconomic conditions appear to have negligible effects on the liquidity situation of insurers. In addition, we do not find evidence that the liquidity of German property-liability insurers is influenced by the financial crisis of 2008. The proportion of cash remains relatively stable at 6% of the total assets.