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Gen Re's Tad Montross: why we need Solvency III
09 April 2014Solvency II has focused too much on modelling and should be revisited, says Gen Re CEO Tad Montross. He tells Sarfraz Thind about "model mania", risk culture and how to run a reinsurer in a chronically soft market
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World catching up with Europe on risk disclosure
28 March 2014Guy Carpenter's latest study into ERM disclosures revealed insurers have made great leaps forward, with the most significant improvements among firms based outside Europe. The spectrum of risk metrics remains wide, but is becoming more consistent, the brokerage says.
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Diversification and caution characterise insurers' 2014 asset strategies
05 March 2014Another year of weak yields from bonds is prompting some insurers to continue diversifying their investment portfolios. But with predictions of weaker equity markets and continuing low interest rates, others are battening down the hatches. Jamie Bullen and Christopher Cundy report
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Insurers' models introduce poorly understood risks
26 February 2014Models have become indispensable to managing a modern re/insurer, but their use is creating new risks that are not well understood. Christopher Cundy speaks to the insurer and the academic who are leading a major project to study the systemic risks in modelling
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FCA dices with actuaries in annuity profits probe
14 February 2014The UK's Financial Conduct Authority wants to make the annuity markets more competitive, but tackling excess profitability and price differentiation may be a bigger challenge than it thinks. Christopher Cundy reports
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Raising the standard of internal model governance
05 February 2014Internal models are increasingly used for decision making and producing figures for financial reports, but model governance procedures have not kept pace with these changing demands. Dominic Rau and Christian Wegmann outline a framework for improving assurance
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Panizza overhauls Generali's risk management
10 January 2014After some torrid years, Italian insurer Generali is undergoing a massive transformation aimed at restoring its profitability. Chief risk officer Sandro Panizza explains to Christopher Cundy how, one year into the job, he is changing the risk management function
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ERM basics: Proxy techniques enable risk-based decision making
08 January 2014Proxy techniques, such as least squares Monte Carlo, allow faster analysis of risks and for many insurers they have become essential tools for aiding decision making, as Brian Robinson explains
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Solvency reform a priority for US regulators
20 December 2013US insurance supervision is inefficient and inconsistent, according to the Federal Insurance Office, which has made its long-awaited recommendations for reform. Among its prime targets are solvency regulation, reserving and treatment of captives. Christopher Cundy reports
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Using least squares Monte Carlo proxy functions for internal model validation
18 December 2013LSMC techniques are finding popularity in Solvency II economic capital calculations and multi-year projections of capital requirements. In this article, Christian Bettels explains how they can also apply to validation of internal models