Section A - part II Flashcards
Current approach to assess risk margins
- CoVs determined for individual portfolios
- Correlation matrix
- Distribution is selected to combine the CoVs and correlations to determine the aggregate risk margin at a particular probability of adequacy
How are CoVs determined?
Combine quantitative methods with qualitative analysis of the sources of uncertainty not captured in historical experience
How is the correlation matrix populated?
Mostly actuarial judgment. Quantitative methods require significant amount of time, data and cost to produce credible and intuitive results
How is the statistical distribution selected?
Usually lognormal is used. Normal distribution can be used too, at lower probabilities where it would produce higher risk margins than lognormal.
Define claims portfolio
Aggregate portfolio for which the risk margins must be estimated
Define valuation classes
Portfolios that are considered individually as part of the risk margin analysis (auto and home)
Define claim group
A group of claims with common characteristics (auto PL, auto OCL)
Define independent risk
Risk due to the randomness inherent in the insurance process
Describe the two sources of independent risk
Process risk: Pure randomness effect
Parameter risk: Represents the extent to which the randomness associated with the insurance process affects the ability to select appropriate parameters in the valuation models
Define systemic risk
Risks that are common across valuation classes
Describe the two types of systemic risk
Internal systemic risk: Risk internal to the insurance liability valuation/modeling process (model specification error)
External systemic risk: Risk external to the insurance laibility valuation/modeling process
How to prepare the claims portfolio for risk margin analysis?
Split into valuation classes based on:
-same as used for central estimate
-may not be possible at the same granularity level so need to check for credibility concerns (conduct the quantitative analysis on an aggregate basis and allocate back)
Should specific classes be divided further into claim groups
-based on development patterns
How to analyze independent risk sources
Using modeling techniques: when model fits past data well it is possible to remove past systemic risk and leaving only random sources of uncertainty.
How to analyze internal systemic risk?
Using qualitative techniques such as the balance scorecard. Quantitative methods don’t work since it relates to possible inadequacies of the model
3 sources of internal systemic risk
- Data error: Risk arising from incorrect data or lack of knowledge of the PF being analyzed
- Specification error: Error that arises because the model cannot perfectly model the insurance process
- Parameter selection error: Error arising because the model cannot adequately measure all predictors of future claim costs or trends in these predictors
How to analyze external systemic risk?
Can model past external systemic risk with modeling techniques but must consider that future risk may not be the same as the risk in historical data.
Examples of external systemic risk
Economic and social risks
Legislative, political and claim inflation risks (dominate OCL and PL risk for long-tailes LOB)
Claim management process change risk
Expense risk
Event risk (dominates volatility of premium liabilities for property)
Latent claim risk
Recovery risk
Why quantitative methods are not used to populate the correlation matrix
- technique very complex and requires large amounts of data
- techniques yield correlations heavily influenced by corerlations experienced in the past
- difficult to separate past correlation effects btwn independent risk and systemic risk OR to identify the pure effect of each past systemic risk
- internal systemic risk cannot be modeled using standard correlation modeling techniques
Risk margin distributions
- Normal : ZCoV(TOT)Sum liabilities
2. Lognormal : Liabilities * ((e^(u + Z*sigma)/weights)-1)
Sensitivity testing usage
Change key assumptions (correlations, CoVs) to see the sensitivity of the risk margins
Scenario testing usage
How do key assumptions need to change to result in a central estimate at the higher level (estimate + risk margin)
Internal benchmarking usage
- Independent risk: Larger PF and shorter tailed LOB the smaller the CoV
- Internal systemic risk: Similar groups have similar CoVs and short tailed lines have lower CoVs
- External systemic risk: Short tailed lines should have lower CoVs
Hindsight analysis
Compares past estimate PL’s and OCL’s against the the latest view of the equivalent libilities. Any movement/varaition can be converted to a CoV reflecting actual past volatility. **Careful: models may have improved over time and future external sources of risk may be significantly different from past episodes. Better on short-tailed portfolios where serial correlation between consecutive valuations is less significant
Mechanical hindsight
Applies a mechanical approach to estimating the OCL’s and PL’s by systematically removing the most recent claims experience.
Do usual Chain ladder to get you current estimate. Remove diagonals one at a time and apply chain ladder to derive claims payments outstanding at past valuation dates. Compare each with current estimate.
Analyse:
- Independent risk: focus on periods with stable development
- Internal systemic risk: Apply this techniques with many methods to observe the differences in volatility
- All past sources of uncertainty: Apply this approach to all past periods