About a duration index for life insurance contracts

Abstract

In this paper, after having defined the duration for a “generic” life insurance contract, we bring out some of its properties. We also prove that, in some cases, duration is a natural extension of well-known duration indices.     

A performance analysis of participating life insurance contracts

Traditional life insurance products, in particular participating life insurance contracts, are often criticized. Their performance is often said to be poor compared to other investment alternatives. Interestingly, this perception appears to persist although very little research has been conducted into the performance of participating life insurance contracts. But are participating life insurance contracts actually bad for policyholders? We conduct a performance analysis based on contracts offered in the German market, in order to provide evidence to support decision making by policyholders.     

On accounting standards and fair valuation of life insurance and pension liabilities

The actuarial profession is increasingly teaming up with financial economists for a fruitful cooperation on the proper valuation of life insurance and pension (L&P) liabilities. This has been a natural consequence of a recent sharply increased focus on market values in financial reports of L&P companies from regulators, standard setters, the financial press, stakeholders, and others with an interest in the L&P business.

This article provides a financial economist's point of view on recent developments in relation to the fair valuation of L&P liabilities. The role of accounting standards and the background for the international harmonization in this field are first discussed. We then review and explain the concept of fair value and provide a general view on appropriate techniques for estimating fair values of L&P liabilities in accordance with the definition of the concept. The paper also contains a section which briefly reviews recent and quite innovative regulatory initiatives in relation to market value reporting in the Danish market for life and pension insurance.     

寿险合同复效之立法变动及规范方向

保险合同的中止和复效是因人寿保险合同的保险费交付债务的特殊性而在保险法上的特别规定。其规定在强行性上属于半强性规范,是为保护危险团体成员的利益而设,保险人不能通过格式条款或其他方式予以排除适用,或作出较该规范更不利于危险团体成员利益的规定。为此,需要在立法上增加关于认知和判断半强性规范的效力性规定,同时,也需明确复效的具体条件,以消除保险人在实际上通过协商同意来操控处于效力停止状态的保险合同的命运,使危险团体成员的利益得以落实。     

财产保险费率市场化的生成机制研究

我国财产保险费率市场化经历了管制——解除管制——管制三个阶段,目前,费率市场化的生成机制仍未形成。本文从财产保险定价的特殊性出发,探讨财产保险费率市场化应具备的特殊条件,以及促使上述条件得以生成的机制,并对费率市场化的两种生成机制进行比较分析,提出我国下一步费率政策改革的建议。     

Combining fair pricing and capital requirements for non-life insurance companies

The aim of this article is to identify fair equity-premium combinations for non-life insurers that satisfy solvency capital requirements imposed by regulatory authorities. In particular, we compare target capital derived using the value at risk concept as planned for Solvency II in the European Union with the tail value at risk concept as required by the Swiss Solvency Test. The model framework uses Merton’s jump-diffusion process for the market value of liabilities and a geometric Brownian motion for the asset process; fair valuation is conducted using option pricing theory. We show that even if regulatory requirements are satisfied under different risk measures and parameterizations, the associated costs of insolvency – measured with the insurer’s default put option value – can differ substantially.     

法院审理保险合同案件的两种解释方法比较

目前保险合同诉讼案件日趋增多,为探究当事人订立合同时的真正意图,不少法院采用了语境解释,当事人为证实自己的主张不断地举证,法院慎重地审查当事人提出的证据,但法院仍然存在错判的风险,而当事人诉讼成本的增加则是确定的。有时法院采用文本解释,即仅根据保险合同本身也能正确地判案,但诉讼成本大大降低。本文比较了这两种解释方法对法院判决保险合同案件准确性以及当事人花费诉讼成本的影响,指出文本解释优于语境解释。     

The benefit of life insurance contracts with capped index participation when stock prices are subject to jump risk

We analyze the benefit to the insured of newly traded, innovative life insurance contracts. On a sequence of yearly reference days, the insured can choose between a guaranteed return (linked to the insurer’s asset result) and a capped index participation. The cap is adjusted at the beginning of each year such that both alternatives have the same value and the option to select is costless (product structuring condition). We point out that this condition cannot always be met. If the guaranteed return exceeds the upper bound of the capped index participation, the insurer can make a side profit. We show that a rather low insurance result also implies a rather low stock exposure, even if the insured opts for the index participation. Concerning the impact of the index dynamics, we emphasize that it is important to distinguish between jump and diffusion risk because the pricing of jump risk has an impact on cap rates that can be offered to an insured. Finally, we show that the optimal decision strategy of a CRRA investor implies an index selection even if it is unfairly priced such that the insurer indeed makes a side profit.     

Optimal insurance contracts without the non-negativity constraint on indemnities: revisited

In the literature on optimal indemnity schedules, indemnities are usually restricted to be non-negative. Keeler [1974] and Gollier [1987] show that this constraint might well bind: insured could get higher expected utility if insurance contracts would allow payments from the insured to the insurer at some losses. This paper extends Collier’s findings by allowing for negative indemnity payments for a broader class of insurers’ cost functions and argues that the indemnity schedule derived here is more appropriate for practical applications (e.g. in health insurance). JEL Classification D80 · D81 · D89     

中央财政森林保险保费补贴六省试点调研报告

为加快森林保险的发展,根据党中央、国务院有关文件精神,中央财政自2009年7月1日起在福建、江西和湖南三省启动了森林保险保费补贴试点工作,2010年7月1日起试点省又增加了浙江、辽宁和云南三省。我们通过书面调研、实地座谈、深入访谈等方式对试点六省的试点工作进展情况进行了较为广泛和深入的调查研究。同时,对11省的林业部门和人保财险17个省公司开展了问卷调查,并对问卷调查结果进行了统计分析。通过调查研究,总结了中央财政森林保险保费补贴政策试点以来取得的成效和存在的问题,分析了造成问题的原因,并在此基础上提出了政策建议。     

Utilizing NT-proBNP in the selection of risks for life insurance

Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a counter-regulatory hormone produced mainly by ventricular myocardium. Early research studies were performed to ascertain its value in the diagnosis of congestive heart failure in acute care settings. Subsequent studies have explored its utility in screening for asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction in the community, determining prognosis in coronary artery disease, appropriate timing of surgery in valve disorders, and in evaluating many other cardiac diseases. This review summarizes the current status of medical literature, introduces a new test to the insurance industry.     

我国保险格式条款行政监管比较分析

保险合同行政监管是各种保险合同监管方式中最早的一种,同时也是必不可少的一种。我国历来重视对保险格式条款的行政监管。《合同法》、2009年修订的《保险法》、《消费者权益保护法》以及不少地方性法规都不同程度地规定了保险合同监管的主体、内容、方式、原则、宗旨等,这些规定一方面整体确立了保险监管的基本框架,同时又划分了监管主体各自的监管疆界。     

On the design of optimal health insurance contracts under ex post moral hazard

We analyze the design of optimal medical insurance under ex post moral hazard, i.e., when illness severity cannot be observed by insurers and policyholders decide for themselves on their health expenditures. The trade-off between ex ante risk sharing and ex post incentive compatibility is analyzed in an optimal revelation mechanism under hidden information and risk aversion. The optimal contract provides partial insurance at the margin, with a deductible when insurers’ rates are affected by a positive loading, and it may also include an upper limit on coverage. The potential to audit the health state leads to an upper limit on out-of-pocket expenses.     

Medical professionalism in the life insurance industry

Steadily increasing competition has changed the underwriting environment in most life insurance companies. This article attempts to explore how heightened competition presents a new challenge for medical professionals employed in the industry.     

The evolution of the Australian life insurance industry

The life insurance industry in Australia has traditionally been an important source of long term finance for both the public and private sector. However, very little historical analysis has been undertaken into an industry that constitutes a fundamental part of the economy's financial sector. The present climate of deregulation has initiated an irrevocable process of change within the industry. To comprehend the full implications of this change it is necessary to have an understanding of how the industry has evolved. This paper seeks to provide a background account of the growth of the life insurance industry in Australia highlighting the influences that have determined the structure of the industry.     

人寿保险精算监管系统

一、系统目标近年来,我国寿险业的迅速发展,外资寿险公司的不断进入,对寿险监管提出了更高的标准和要求。寿险经营的长期性和经营的复杂性也要求监管者要有强有力的技术手段对保险公司的经营进行监督管理。保险精算技术是寿险公司运营的重要基础,也是寿险监管的重要技术手段。而目前国际上通行的以保险公司偿付能力为核心的监管方式更离不开精算技术。我国目前寿险监管已建立了对保险公司偿付能力监管的制度,颁布和实施了一系列法规、制度。而在监管技术手段上却远远落后于监管制度建设,使得寿险监管手段和监管效率落后于寿险业的快速发展。…     

Insurance contracts portfolios with heterogenous parametric life distributions

In this paper we consider two portfolios: one of m endowment insurance contracts and one of m whole life insurance contracts. We introduce the majorization order, Schur functions, and parametric families of distribution functions. We assume that the owners of the portfolios are exposed to different members of a known parametric family of distributions and study the effect of this stochastic heterogeneity on the premiums and death benefits of the insurance contracts. We show that the premiums paid in both contracts are Schur concave and that the death benefit awarded in the whole life contract is Schur convex. We provide upper and lower bounds for the premiums and for the death benefit, and compute the bounds for four parametric families of distribution functions used frequently in the Actuarial Sciences.     

基于Java平台的寿险精算网络系统

寿险业务的日常运作是以精算方法为基础的，它已贯穿于寿险业务的方方面面。目前，寿险精算已形成较完善和系统的理论和方法，但在国内，寿险精算仍是一项难以理解且很复杂的业务，它涉及定价、营销、控制等各个环节，且随着现代保险产品在功能和结构上的更新而变得日益多样。精算所需处理的问题也越来越复杂，     

Social security, life insurance and annuities for families

In this paper we ask whether an aspect of social security, namely its role as a provider of insurance against uncertain life spans, is welfare enhancing. To this end we use an OLG model where agents have a bequest motive and differ in sex and marital status and where families are formed and destroyed and their characteristics evolve (exogenously) according to U.S. demographic patterns of marriage, divorce, fertility and mortality. We compare the implications of social security under a variety of market structures that differ in the extent to which life insurance and annuities are available. We find that social security is a bad idea. In economies where the private sector provides annuities and life insurance, it is a bad idea for the standard reason that it distorts the intertemporal margin by lowering the capital stock. In the absence of such securities social security is still a very bad idea, only marginally less so compared with economies with annuities and life insurance. We also explore these issues in a world where people live longer and we find no differences in our answers. As a by-product of our analysis we find that the existence of life insurance opportunities for people is important in welfare terms while that of annuities is not.