Insurance Risk
Obstacles to reform
Grand statements have been made about the need for a new financial supervision framework in Europe, but can the European Union work out the practicalities of reform? Patrick Blum reports
The sum of its parts?
The latest Basel committee proposals to force insurance subsidiaries’ equity to be financed with the parent’s Tier I capital poses a threat to the bancassurance business model, already wounded from high-profile failures. The increased cost of capital…
Loss leaders
Operational risk is potentially the biggest risk faced by insurers – and also one of the most difficult to model. However, as a number of loss data aggregation initiatives globally either emerge or mature, insurers are much better placed to quantify…
Surviving the fallout
As regulators rush to reassess international banking regulations, insurers are also at threat of seeing more stringent regulations imposed on them on the basis that they are systemically risky. But the industry is fighting back. John Ferry reports
Keeping it consistent
While consensus appears to have been reached over the liquidity premium and hybrid debt issues, whether the current state of the Solvency II directive can truly be called market consistent was debated as leading figures in the directive’s passage met in…
Crumbling relations
The so-called ‘Piigs’ countries – Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain – have been an ongoing source of worry for the financial markets in 2010. While the prospect of a Eurozone country being allowed to default appears low, insurers are under…
Against the grain
Pension fund performance in 2008 was appalling, with funding levels plunging across the globe – but some schemes sidestepped a funding crisis by focusing on effective risk management.
QIS 5 - Making political capital
With the fifth quantitative impact study looming, Ceiops has released its final advice for Solvency II’s level two implementation measures to howls of indignation from the industry. The SCR standard formula’s calibration risks driving a wedge between…
Holistic thinking
Insurers have been focusing their attention to ERM as the deadline for Solvency II looms – but how well is the industry coping with the challenges this presents?
Software survey 2010
Life & Pension Risk’s annual software survey brings together the leading global providers of technology to the insurance and pension sector.
Insurance sofware 2010 - Building defences
In times of increasing regulatory control, software suppliers are going to great lengths to provide insurers with not just efficient business management technology, but added tools to aid risk awareness and give clients more control than ever before…
Australian annuities - from boom to bust
The Australian superannuation system contains over A$1.2 trillion of assets, but the country’s annuity industry has yet to see any tangible inflow from the sector. As baby boomers retire, will this change and if so, does the industry have the risk…
Longevity swaps - a new way forward
The longevity swap market has gone from nowhere to a value of £7 billion in less than a year – offering pension schemes a potential solution to one of their biggest headaches. But do these instruments have a long-term future, or are they simply a…