The Economics, Regulation, and Systemic Risk of Insurance Markets

The Economics, Regulation, and Systemic Risk of Insurance Markets
Author: Felix Hufeld
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2017
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0198788819

The book brings together academics, regulators, and industry experts to provide a multifaceted array of research and perspectives on insurance, its role and functioning, and the potential systemic risk it could create.

The Financing of Catastrophe Risk

The Financing of Catastrophe Risk
Author: Kenneth A. Froot
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 490
Release: 2007-12-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0226266257

Is it possible that the insurance and reinsurance industries cannot handle a major catastrophe? Ten years ago, the notion that the overall cost of a single catastrophic event might exceed $10 billion was unthinkable. With ever increasing property-casualty risks and unabated growth in hazard-prone areas, insurers and reinsurers now envision the possibility of disaster losses of $50 to $100 billion in the United States. Against this backdrop, the capitalization of the insurance and reinsurance industries has become a crucial concern. While it remains unlikely that a single event might entirely bankrupt these industries, a big catastrophe could place firms under severe stress, jeopardizing both policy holders and investors and causing profound ripple effects throughout the U.S. economy. The Financing of Catastrophe Risk assembles an impressive roster of experts from academia and industry to explore the disturbing yet realistic assumption that a large catastrophic event is inevitable. The essays offer tangible means of both reassessing and raising the level of preparedness throughout the insurance and reinsurance industries.

Global Financial Stability Report, April 2016

Global Financial Stability Report, April 2016
Author: International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 135
Release: 2016-04-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1498363288

The current Global Financial Stability Report (April 2016) finds that global financial stability risks have risen since the last report in October 2015. The new report finds that the outlook has deteriorated in advanced economies because of heightened uncertainty and setbacks to growth and confidence, while declines in oil and commodity prices and slower growth have kept risks elevated in emerging markets. These developments have tightened financial conditions, reduced risk appetite, raised credit risks, and stymied balance sheet repair. A broad-based policy response is needed to secure financial stability. Advanced economies must deal with crisis legacy issues, emerging markets need to bolster their resilience to global headwinds, and the resilience of market liquidity should be enhanced. The report also examines financial spillovers from emerging market economies and finds that they have risen substantially. This implies that when assessing macro-financial conditions, policymakers may need to increasingly take into account economic developments in emerging market economies. Finally, the report assesses changes in the systemic importance of insurers, finding that across advanced economies the contribution of life insurers to systemic risk has increased in recent years. The results suggest that supervisors and regulators should take a more macroprudential approach to the sector.

Insurance and Issues in Financial Soundness

Insurance and Issues in Financial Soundness
Author: Nigel Davies
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 45
Release: 2003-07-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1451856008

This paper explores insurance as a source of financial system vulnerability. It provides a brief overview of the insurance industry and reviews the risks it faces, as well as several recent failures of insurance companies that had systemic implications. Assimilation of banking-type activities by life insurers appears to be the key systemic vulnerability. Building on this experience and the experience gained under the FSAP, the paper proposes key indicators that should be compiled and used for surveillance of financial soundness of insurance companies and the insurance sector as a whole.

Alternative Risk Transfer

Alternative Risk Transfer
Author: Erik Banks
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2004-03-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0470857463

A practical approach to ART-an alternative method by which companies take on various types of risk This comprehensive book shows readers what ART is, how it can be used to mitigate risk, and how certain instruments/structures associated with ART should be implemented. Through numerous examples and case studies, readers will learn what actually works and what doesn't when using this technique. Erik Banks (CT) joined XL Capital's weather/energy risk management subsidiary, Element Re, as a Partner and Chief Risk Officer in 2001.

Systemic Risk and Reinsurance

Systemic Risk and Reinsurance
Author: Weidong Tian
Publisher: MDPI
Total Pages: 146
Release: 2020-07-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3039362984

This Special Issue covers the topic of timely vital risk management - systemic risk - from many important perspectives. It includes novel and scientific approaches from the network with topological indicators on systemic risk, community analysis of the global financial system, welfare analysis of capital insurance and the impact of capital requirement, risk measures, and optimal portfolio and optimal reinsurance under risk constraint. Most articles study the financial sector and insurance companies after the financial crisis of 2008–2009 circa ten years prior. The COVID-19 global pandemic in 2020 has caused similar or even greater challenges for the entire economy. Therefore, this Special Issue will be useful for anyone interested in systemic risk management.

Handbook of Insurance

Handbook of Insurance
Author: Georges Dionne
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 1133
Release: 2013-12-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1461401550

This new edition of the Handbook of Insurance reviews the last forty years of research developments in insurance and its related fields. A single reference source for professors, researchers, graduate students, regulators, consultants and practitioners, the book starts with the history and foundations of risk and insurance theory, followed by a review of prevention and precaution, asymmetric information, risk management, insurance pricing, new financial innovations, reinsurance, corporate governance, capital allocation, securitization, systemic risk, insurance regulation, the industrial organization of insurance markets and other insurance market applications. It ends with health insurance, longevity risk, long-term care insurance, life insurance financial products and social insurance. This second version of the Handbook contains 15 new chapters. Each of the 37 chapters has been written by leading authorities in risk and insurance research, all contributions have been peer reviewed, and each chapter can be read independently of the others.

Macroprudential Solvency Stress Testing of the Insurance Sector

Macroprudential Solvency Stress Testing of the Insurance Sector
Author: Mr.Andreas A. Jobst
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 84
Release: 2014-07-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 149832455X

Over the last decade, stress testing has become a central aspect of the Fund’s bilateral and multilateral surveillance work. Recently, more emphasis has also been placed on the role of insurance for financial stability analysis. This paper reviews the current state of system-wide solvency stress tests for insurance based on a comparative review of national practices and the experiences from Fund’s FSAP program with the aim of providing practical guidelines for the coherent and consistent implementation of such exercises. The paper also offers recommendations on improving the current insurance stress testing approaches and presentation of results.

When Genius Failed

When Genius Failed
Author: Roger Lowenstein
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2001-10-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0375758259

“A riveting account that reaches beyond the market landscape to say something universal about risk and triumph, about hubris and failure.”—The New York Times NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BUSINESSWEEK In this business classic—now with a new Afterword in which the author draws parallels to the recent financial crisis—Roger Lowenstein captures the gripping roller-coaster ride of Long-Term Capital Management. Drawing on confidential internal memos and interviews with dozens of key players, Lowenstein explains not just how the fund made and lost its money but also how the personalities of Long-Term’s partners, the arrogance of their mathematical certainties, and the culture of Wall Street itself contributed to both their rise and their fall. When it was founded in 1993, Long-Term was hailed as the most impressive hedge fund in history. But after four years in which the firm dazzled Wall Street as a $100 billion moneymaking juggernaut, it suddenly suffered catastrophic losses that jeopardized not only the biggest banks on Wall Street but the stability of the financial system itself. The dramatic story of Long-Term’s fall is now a chilling harbinger of the crisis that would strike all of Wall Street, from Lehman Brothers to AIG, a decade later. In his new Afterword, Lowenstein shows that LTCM’s implosion should be seen not as a one-off drama but as a template for market meltdowns in an age of instability—and as a wake-up call that Wall Street and government alike tragically ignored. Praise for When Genius Failed “[Roger] Lowenstein has written a squalid and fascinating tale of world-class greed and, above all, hubris.”—BusinessWeek “Compelling . . . The fund was long cloaked in secrecy, making the story of its rise . . . and its ultimate destruction that much more fascinating.”—The Washington Post “Story-telling journalism at its best.”—The Economist

Agricultural Risk Transfer

Agricultural Risk Transfer
Author: Roman Marco Hohl
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 440
Release: 2019-03-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1119345634

Gain a holistic view of agricultural (re)insurance and capital market risk transfer Increasing agricultural production and food security remain key challenges for mankind. In order to meet global food demand, the Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that production has to increase by 50% by 2050 and requires large investments. Agricultural insurance and financial instruments have been an integral part to advancing productivity and are becoming more important in increasingly globalized and specialized agricultural supply chains in the wake of potentially more frequent and severe natural disasters in today’s key producing markets. Underwriting, pricing and transferring agricultural risks is complex and requires a solid understanding of the production system, exposure, perils and the most suitable products, which vastly differ among developed and developing markets. In the last decade, new insurance schemes in emerging agricultural markets have greatly contributed to the large growth of the industry from a premium volume of US$10.1 billion (2006) to US$30.7 billion (2017). This growth is bound to continue as insurance penetration and exposure increase and new schemes are being developed. Agricultural (re)insurance has become a cornerstone of sovereign disaster risk financing frameworks. Agricultural Risk Transfer introduces the main concepts of agricultural (re)insurance and capital market risk transfer that are discussed through industry case studies. It also discusses best industry practices for all main insurance products for crop, livestock, aquaculture and forestry risks including risk assessment, underwriting, pricing, modelling and loss adjustment. Describes agricultural production risks and risk management approaches Covers risk transfer of production and financial risks through insurance and financial instruments Introduces modelling concepts for the main perils and key data sources that support risk transfer through indemnity- and index-based products Describes risk pricing and underwriting approaches for crop, livestock, aquaculture and forestry exposure in developed and developing agricultural systems Become familiar with risk transfer concepts to reinsurance and capital markets Get to know the current market landscape and main risk transfer products for individual producers, agribusinesses and governments through theory and comprehensive industry case studies Through Agricultural Risk Transfer, you’ll gain a holistic view of agricultural (re)insurance and capital market solutions which will support better underwriting, more structured product development and improved risk transfer.