This book illustrates the EU-wide Solvency II framework for the insurance industry, which was implemented on January 1, 2016, after a long project phase. Analogous to the system for banks, it is based on three pillars and the authors analyze the complete framework pillar by pillar with a consistent data model for a non-life insurer, which was developed by the Research Group Financial & Actuarial Risk Management (FaRis) at the Institute for Insurance Studies of the TH Koeln - University of Applied Sciences. The book leverages the long-standing and close cooperation between the University of Limerick (Ireland) and the Institute for Insurance Studies at TH Koeln - University of Applied Sciences (Germany).

This work illustrates research conducted over a ten-year timespan and addresses a fundamental issue in reliability theory. This still appears to be an empirically disorganized field and the book suggests employing a deductive base in order to evolve reliability as a science. The study is in line with the fundamental work by Gnedenko. Boris Vladimirovich Gnedenko (1912 - 1995) was a Soviet mathematician who made significant contributions in various scientific areas. His name is especially associated with studies of dependability, for which he is often recognized as the 'father' of reliability theory. In the last few decades, this area has expanded in new directions such as safety, security, risk analysis and other fields, yet the book 'Mathematical Methods in Reliability Theory' written by Gnedenko with Alexander Soloviev and Yuri Belyaev still towers as a pillar of the reliability sector's configuration and identity. The present book proceeds in the direction opened by the cultural project of the Russian authors; in particular it identifies different trends in the hazard rate functions by means of deductive logic and demonstrations. Further, it arrives at multiple results by means of the entropy function, an original mathematical tool in the reliability domain. As such, it will greatly benefit all specialists in the field who are interested in unconventional solutions.

The European system of insurance supervision under Solvency II constitutes a parallel to supervision of credit institutions under Basel III. At the heart of this new European insurance supervisory regime are the Solvency II Directive, the attendant regulation, and the EIOPA Regulation. The present volume, "Treatises on Solvency II", includes articles on the bases of European insurance supervision and the associated three pillars of solvency, governance, and disclosure, all viewed predominantly from a legal standpoint.

This book examines good faith in non-marine insurance and takaful (Islamic insurance) contracts in Malaysia, and proposes holistic law reform of the same. The first two-thirds of the book comprise an extensive comparative legal analysis of the issues between Malaysia, Australia and the United Kingdom, with the final third dedicated to a socio-economic analysis of law reform and suggestions for law reform particularly suited to Malaysia. The book evaluates whether the duty of utmost good faith (the cornerstone of insurance and takaful contracts) is effectively regulated and, in turn, observed by insurers (and takaful operators) and insureds alike in Malaysia. The adequacy of the Insurance Act 1996 (Malaysia), the Takaful Act 1984 (Malaysia), the Financial Services Act 2013 (Malaysia) and the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 (Malaysia) is evaluated, along with the supporting infrastructure and oversight measures introduced by the Malaysian government. In doing so, The book examines the duty of utmost good faith from both a doctrinal and a social science perspective, in order to propose suitable legal reform.

The interaction between mathematicians and statisticians has been shown to be an effective approach for dealing with actuarial, insurance and financial problems, both from an academic perspective and from an operative one. The collection of original papers presented in this volume pursues precisely this purpose. It covers a wide variety of subjects in actuarial, insurance and finance fields, all treated in the light of the successful cooperation between the above two quantitative approaches. The papers published in this volume present theoretical and methodological contributions and their applications to real contexts. With respect to the theoretical and methodological contributions, some of the considered areas of investigation are: actuarial models; alternative testing approaches; behavioral finance; clustering techniques; coherent and non-coherent risk measures; credit scoring approaches; data envelopment analysis; dynamic stochastic programming; financial contagion models; financial ratios; intelligent financial trading systems; mixture normality approaches; Monte Carlo-based methods; multicriteria methods; nonlinear parameter estimation techniques; nonlinear threshold models; particle swarm optimization; performance measures; portfolio optimization; pricing methods for structured and non-structured derivatives; risk management; skewed distribution analysis; solvency analysis; stochastic actuarial valuation methods; variable selection models; time series analysis tools. As regards the applications, they are related to real problems associated, among the others, to: banks; collateralized fund obligations; credit portfolios; defined benefit pension plans; double-indexed pension annuities; efficient-market hypothesis; exchange markets; financial time series; firms; hedge funds; non-life insurance companies; returns distributions; socially responsible mutual funds; unit-linked contracts. This book is aimed at academics, Ph.D. students, practitioners, professionals and researchers. But it will also be of interest to readers with some quantitative background knowledge.

This book is the first attempt to re-define objective risk. It addresses the cost of running out of capital as a generalized cost syndrome and explains how it is possible to describe this cost in such a way as to give it practical, real-life significance for personal finances, company finances and the economy as a whole. The discussion begins by presenting an intuitive and useful definition of risk: the probability of prospective capital shortfall. From this point it establishes a risk theory and expands the work of major thinkers such as Frank Knight and John Maynard Keynes, and adds reserve capital as a new financial risk management tool, with an economic function that is different from savings. This book will be of interest to economists, politicians, and decision makers as well as to the general public.

Risk and Return in Asian Emerging Markets offers readers a firm insight into the risk and return characteristics of leading Asian emerging market participants by comparing and contrasting behavioral model variables with predictive forecasting methods.

In January 1976, Raymond Barre, the first President of The Geneva Association, and Orio Giarini, its first Secretary General, founded The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance with the main goal of supporting and encouraging research in the economics of risk and insurance. At that time, research in the field of insurance was still embryonic and insurance was regarded as peripheral social activity. When sustained economic growth gained traction, the function of insurance gradually emerged as a key contributor to economic development. By integrating uncertainty into economic theory and benefiting from the progress of both financial economics and decision theory, research developed further in the field of insurance economics and risk management, and is now prolific. The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance undeniably contributed to this evolution and its impact on research in insurance has largely exceeded what its two founding members could have expected. This volume is a special collection of papers celebrating 40 Years of The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance. The collection looks back at the storied history of The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance and features papers from some of the esteemed authors who have contributed to the journal in its lifetime. This collection of papers highlights just a few of the many themes addressed in the papers published by the journal since it was created. Nevertheless, the selection exemplifies the richness and variety of topics the field of insurance covers.

Capital Requirements, Disclosure, and Supervision in the European Insurance Industry provides an in-depth analysis of Solvency II's issues by combining both a theoretical approach and evidence of the empirical implications and effects on the European insurance industry.

The book examines how the absence of insurance in the past led to some special maritime liability law principles such as 'general average' (i.e., losses or expenses shared by all the parties to a maritime adventure) and the limitation of shipowners' liability. In the absence of insurance, these principles served the function of insurance mostly for shipowners. As commercial marine insurance is now widely available, these principles have lost their justification and may in fact interfere with the most important goal of liability law i.e., deterrence from negligence. The work thus recommends their abolition. It further argues that when insurance is easily available and affordable to the both parties to a liability claim, the main goal of liability law should be deterrence as opposed to compensation. This is exactly the case with the maritime cargo liability claims where both cargo owners and shipowners are invariably insured. As a result, the sole focus of cargo liability law should be and to a great extent, is deterrence. On the other hand in the vessel-source oil pollution liability setting, pollution victims are not usually insured. Therefore oil pollution liability law has to cater both for compensation and deterrence, the two traditional goals of liability law. The final question the work addresses is whether the deterrent effect of liability law is affected by the availability of liability insurance. Contrary to the popular belief the work attempts to prove that the presence of liability insurance is not necessarily a hindrance but can be a complementary force towards the realization of deterrent goal of liability law.

Risk management for financial institutions is one of the key topics the financial industry has to deal with. The present volume is a mathematically rigorous text on solvency modeling. Currently, there are many new developments in this area in the financial and insurance industry (Basel III and Solvency II), but none of these developments provides a fully consistent and comprehensive framework for the analysis of solvency questions. Merz and Wuthrich combine ideas from financial mathematics (no-arbitrage theory, equivalent martingale measure), actuarial sciences (insurance claims modeling, cash flow valuation) and economic theory (risk aversion, probability distortion) to provide a fully consistent framework. Within this framework they then study solvency questions in incomplete markets, analyze hedging risks, and study asset-and-liability management questions, as well as issues like the limited liability options, dividend to shareholder questions, the role of re-insurance, etc. This work embeds the solvency discussion (and long-term liabilities) into a scientific framework and is intended for researchers as well as practitioners in the financial and actuarial industry, especially those in charge of internal risk management systems. Readers should have a good background in probability theory and statistics, and should be familiar with popular distributions, stochastic processes, martingales, etc.

This text focuses on insurance as an industry and speculates what would happen if the insurance industry were to be deregulated. The basics of insurance are incorporated throughout, which allows for a greater understanding of the possible implications of deregulation and trends in competition. . . . What could have been dry and tedious has instead been made pleasant by Banks McDowell, who writes with an easy-to-read and informative style. Examples of small case studies are woven into the text to further illustrate the issues. The material is clear, concise, and thought-provoking and is presented entirely without prejudice. "Business Information ALERT"

The rapid rise in insurance premium costs coupled with the problem of obtaining insurance at any cost for some applicants has precipitated a crisis in the insurance industry. Many scholars and industry analysts have suggested deregulation as a solution, arguing that the actions of a free market are the only efficient means of controlling costs and affordability. McDowell offers an in-depth examination of the arguments in favor of and against deregulation and analyzes what the probable effects of such deregulation would be. Basing his study on the results of past experiments, scholarly recommendations, economic analysis, and his own work in the field, McDowell fully explores the various types of deregulation that could be implemented and assesses the degree to which they would fulfill the goals of maintaining the financial solvency of insurance companies, keeping premiums from being excessive, preventing discrimination among policyholders, and making insurance available and affordable to all who want it.

McDowell begins with a discussion of what deregulation means. Subsequent chapters trace the history of insurance regulation, examine the complex goals of governmental insurance regulation, and explore the nature of insurance in contemporary society. Turning to a discussion of competition, McDowell illustrates the various levels at which insurers can compete and examines both the problems of regulation in each area and the likely effects of introducing such competition. The issue of whether regulation of the industry should be at the federal or state level receives thorough treatment, as does the question of using insurance company mergers to increase efficiency and lower costs. McDowell concludes with an enlightening discussion of the series of choices among aims and policies which must be made before the decision to deregulate or not is taken. Insurance company executives and attorneys as well as students of the insurance industry or of insurance law will find McDowell's work a cogent exposition of the complex facets of the insurance deregulation debate.

This book is an overview of the hazards of firefighting, the health risks of exposure to combustion products that characterize firefighting, the science behind interpreting these risks for purposes of identifying diseases as work-related, and the legal and policy implications of adopting legislated "presumption" for purposes of compensation. The emphasis of the book will be on the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, traumatic hazards, and disabling psychosocial adjustment following major incidents. Several new studies have appeared recently, including the largest study of firefighters ever done, by the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH). They evidence supports the conclusion that firefighters face significant occupational health risks in addition to the obviously severe safety hazards.

This international comparison of pension plans lends great understanding to the transformation taking place in almost every nation around the world. It covers ten of the twelve countries of the European Union, as well as the United States and Japan. The project is interdisciplinary, covering a number of fields, such as economics, law, actuarial science, sociology, and political science, that contribute to the analysis of retirement income systems. The chapters vary in scope - some are comparative, some are restricted to a single country or to one type of plan in one country. Despite their diversity, the chapters share a common awareness of three aspects of pension plans: the importance of actors' roles in shaping each system, the different economic and social domains affected by retirement plans, and the interconnections between social security and supplementary plans.

A step-by-step, practical guide on how to purchase your first investment property, written in easy-to-understand, conversational language that explains complex concepts simply.

Most people believe that property is a great investment, but that in order to get into property you need money, contacts and experience. When you only see the barriers to entry, you tend to give up before you even try. Property investment expert Laurens Boel believes that with the right knowledge anyone can make money in property, regardless of the resources available to them.

Financial Freedom Through Property is filled with practical tips, insider secrets and case studies. It explains the risks and rewards of property investing, how to make the right offer on property deals, raise capital, contract the right team, negotiate win-win scenarios, utilise innovative PropTech, find discounted properties and enjoy positive cash flows from day one. It also tells the story of how the author became one of the top property investors in South Africa – after being retrenched and going broke.

Financial Freedom Through Property is an inspirational book for those who want to create a better financial future for themselves. You don’t need to be a property mogul to make money on the property market – all you need is the willingness and the time to learn how to do it.

This book presents a consistent and complete framework for studying the risk management of a pension fund. It gives the reader the opportunity to understand, replicate and widen the analysis. To this aim, the book provides all the tools for computing the optimal asset allocation in a dynamic framework where the financial horizon is stochastic (longevity risk) and the investor's wealth is not self-financed. This tutorial enables the reader to replicate all the results presented. The R codes are provided alongside the presentation of the theoretical framework. The book explains and discusses the problem of hedging longevity risk even in an incomplete market, though strong theoretical results about an incomplete framework are still lacking and the problem is still being discussed in most recent literature.