Archive

  • Avoiding the Solvency II train wreck

    07 March 2013

    Not so long ago Solvency II was hailed as the emerging 'gold standard' for setting insurance firms' regulatory capital – but it now bears a closer resemblance to a slow-motion train wreck, says John Hibbert. He identifies the causes of the crisis and speculates on what might be done to avoid repeating the same errors elsewhere.

  • Tom Leonardi: "We have a terrific system in the US"

    05 March 2013

    Whether at the state, federal or international level, Connecticut insurance commissioner Thomas Leonardi is helping to deliver new regulations. He tells Gloria Gonzalez that the US regulatory framework worked very well during the financial crisis

  • How the matching adjustment helps insurers in a crisis

    28 February 2013

    Daily solvency monitoring offers valuable insights into an insurers' risk profile and its regulatory capital requirements – and demonstrates the potential power of the matching adjustment. Matthew Cocke, Russell Osman and Russell Ward explain

  • The unresolved issues of Solvency II

    21 February 2013

    The delay of full implementation to beyond 2014 will allow extra time for important details in all three pillars of Solvency II to be resolved – and may bring old niggles to the surface again. Lorna Davies looks into some of the outstanding issues, for policy-makers and insurers, that will be kicked over in the coming months

  • Using least-squares Monte Carlo in a multi-year context

    19 February 2013

    A year ago on this site, Michael Leitschkis and Mario Hoerig explained the advantages of least-squares Monte Carlo (LSMC) over other proxy modelling techniques for estimating capital. Here, with Florian Ketterer and Christian Bettels, they describe how to extend a one-year application of LSMC to scenarios of several years

  • Insurance enterprise risk managment: the state it's in

    14 February 2013

    Insurers' satisfaction with ERM grows, but plans for using economic capital stall - these are among the seven key findings from Towers Watson's recent worldwide survey. Christopher Cundy asks Laura Santori and Martin Pike to explain

  • Solvency II: who's ready to comply?

    12 February 2013

    As regulators plan to introduce elements of pillars 2 and 3 from 1 January 2014, InsuranceERM takes a tour of the major European countries to see how prepared they are – and where they may have problems complying

  • Solvency II phase-in: complex, costly and arbitrary?

    07 February 2013

    Eiopa's plan for a harmonised introduction of the risk management and reporting elements of Solvency II in 2014 is not without controversy. Most insurers are comfortable with the theory, but concerned about the practice. Christopher Cundy reports

  • Searching for the right proxy approaches to life

    29 January 2013

    Care has to be taken in using replicating portfolio techniques, least-squares Monte Carlo approaches and curve fitting for estimating the risk capital of a life insurer, as Tigran Kalberer and Zeljko Strkalj explain

  • Capital add-ons are here to stay, says IAIS's Kawai

    15 January 2013

    Yoshihiro Kawai heads the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, the body responsible for contentious plans to oversee global insurance companies. He talks to Christopher Cundy about consensus and convergence