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On the management of life insurance company risk by strategic choice of product mix, investment strategy and surplus appropriation schemes

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  • Bohnert, Alexander
  • Gatzert, Nadine
  • Jørgensen, Peter Løchte

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of management’s strategic choice of asset and liability composition in life insurance on shortfall risk and the shareholders’ fair risk charge. In contrast to previous work, we focus on the effectiveness of management decisions regarding the product mix and the riskiness of the asset side under different surplus appropriation schemes. We propose a model setting that comprises temporary life annuities and endowment insurance contracts. Our numerical results show that the effectiveness of management decisions in regard to risk reduction strongly depends on the surplus appropriation scheme offered to the customer and their impact on guaranteed benefit payments, which thus presents an important control variable for the insurer.

Suggested Citation

  • Bohnert, Alexander & Gatzert, Nadine & Jørgensen, Peter Løchte, 2015. "On the management of life insurance company risk by strategic choice of product mix, investment strategy and surplus appropriation schemes," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 83-97.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:insuma:v:60:y:2015:i:c:p:83-97
    DOI: 10.1016/j.insmatheco.2014.11.003
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    Cited by:

    1. Eckert, Johanna & Gatzert, Nadine & Martin, Michael, 2016. "Valuation and risk assessment of participating life insurance in the presence of credit risk," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 382-393.
    2. Christian Eckert, 2019. "Dealing with Low Interest Rates in Life Insurance: An Analysis of Additional Reserves in the German Life Insurance Industry," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-20, July.
    3. Bruszas, Sandy & Kaschützke, Barbara & Maurer, Raimond & Siegelin, Ivonne, 2018. "Unisex pricing of German participating life annuities—Boon or bane for customer and insurance company?," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 230-245.
    4. Wilaiporn Suwanmalai & Simon Zaby, 2022. "How Do Life Insurers Respond to a Prolonged Low Interest Rate Environment? A Literature Review," Risks, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-16, August.
    5. Chen, Shi & Yao, Wenyu & Huang, Fu-Wei, 2021. "Multiple shadow insurance activities and life insurance policyholder protection," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    6. Schlütter, Sebastian & Fianu, Emmanuel Senyo & Gründl, Helmut, 2022. "Responsible investments in life insurers' optimal portfolios under solvency constraints," ICIR Working Paper Series 45/22, Goethe University Frankfurt, International Center for Insurance Regulation (ICIR).
    7. Antje Mahayni & Matthias Muck, 2017. "The benefit of life insurance contracts with capped index participation when stock prices are subject to jump risk," Review of Derivatives Research, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 281-308, October.

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