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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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Annuity firms need own view of longevity improvement
29 January 2014Individual UK annuity providers should confront the fact that their exposures to longevity risk from people living longer may be materially different from those indicated by the UK Office for National Statistics figures, says Matthew Edwards
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Insurers raise the heat on weather derivatives
24 January 2014Rain or shine, the past year has seen a host of insurers jumping into the weather derivatives markets. Weather risks offer significant synergies with existing business lines and deal flow is on the up. Sarfraz Thind reports
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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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Scor takes a dynamic approach to solvency targets
10 December 2013Scor's new strategy has introduced the concept of a dynamic solvency target and a capital-setting framework around which all aspects of the business will be managed. Chief risk officer Philippe Trainar explains to Christopher Cundy how - and why - it works.
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Five years of InsuranceERM, five years on the tortuous journey towards Solvency II
29 November 2013InsuranceERM was launched five years ago, in November 2008, when implementation of Solvency II was less than four years away. Now, it's still over two years away and a lot of water has passed under the bridge. Delving into the InsuranceERM archives, Peter Field charts the ebbs and flows on the way to the European Parliament vote last week for a January 2016 go-live date for Solvency II