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Can Risk Be Shared Across Investor Cohorts? Evidence from a Popular Savings Product

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  • Hombert, Johan
  • Lyonnet, Victor

Abstract

This paper shows how one of the most popular savings products in Europe -- life insurance financial products -- shares market risk across investor cohorts. Insurers smooth returns by varying reserves that offset fluctuations in asset returns. Reserves are passed on between successive investor cohorts, causing redistribution across cohorts. Using regulatory and survey data on the 1.4 trillion euro French market, we estimate this redistribution to be quantitatively large: 1.4% of savings value per year on average, or 0.8% of GDP. These findings challenge a large theoretical literature that assumes inter-cohort risk sharing is impossible. We develop and provide evidence for a model in which the elasticity of investor demand to predictable returns determines the amount of risk sharing that is possible. The evidence is consistent with low elasticity, sustaining inter-cohort risk sharing despite predictable returns. Demand elasticity is higher for investors with a larger investment amount, suggesting that low investor sophistication enables inter-cohort risk sharing.

Suggested Citation

  • Hombert, Johan & Lyonnet, Victor, 2019. "Can Risk Be Shared Across Investor Cohorts? Evidence from a Popular Savings Product," CEPR Discussion Papers 14029, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:14029
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Darpeix P.-E., 2016. "Le taux technique en assurance vie (Code des Assurances)," Analyse et synthèse 66, Banque de France.
    2. Laurence Ball & N. Gregory Mankiw, 2007. "Intergenerational Risk Sharing in the Spirit of Arrow, Debreu, and Rawls, with Applications to Social Security Design," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 115(4), pages 523-547, August.
    3. Novy-Marx, Robert & Rauh, Joshua D., 2014. "Linking benefits to investment performance in US public pension systems," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 47-61.
    4. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 1983. "On the Relevance or Irrelevance of Public Financial Policy: Indexation,Price Rigidities and Optimal Monetary Policy," NBER Working Papers 1106, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Benjamin R. Handel, 2013. "Adverse Selection and Inertia in Health Insurance Markets: When Nudging Hurts," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(7), pages 2643-2682, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kubitza, Christian & Grochola, Nicolaus & Gründl, Helmut, 2021. "Life insurance convexity," ICIR Working Paper Series 42/21, Goethe University Frankfurt, International Center for Insurance Regulation (ICIR).
    2. Hombert, Johan & Möhlmann, Axel & Weiß, Matthias, 2021. "Inter-cohort risk sharing with long-term guarantees: Evidence from German participating contracts," Discussion Papers 10/2021, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    3. Axel Möhlmann, 2021. "Interest rate risk of life insurers: Evidence from accounting data," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 50(2), pages 587-612, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inter-cohort risk sharing; Life insurers;

    JEL classification:

    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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