| Abstract: | Life insurance company (LIC) risk exposure increased during the 1980s while capital ratios declined. State guarantee funds that exist to handle policyholder's losses in the event of LIC failure can create incentives for excessive risk taking, just as the federal deposit insurance system did for savings and loan associations. This paper examines the relationship between stock market risk and LIC risk exposure. A sample of 44 LICs revealed that stock market risk is positively related to financial leverage as well as to differences in asset mix. This finding confirms that market data can help identify LICs with greater risk exposure . |
