Ruin theory in the linear model

The probability of ruin is examined in a model where the annual gains of an insurance company are dependent random variables. The model used is the linear model (well known in time-series analysis) which includes the autoregressive model and the moving average model as special cases. It is also shown that a certain credibility model can be interpreted as a first-order model of the mixed type.     

Univariate and bivariate GPD methods for predicting extreme wind storm losses

Wind storm and hurricane risks are attracting increased attention as a result of recent catastrophic events. The aim of this paper is to select, tailor, and develop extreme value methods for use in wind storm insurance. The methods are applied to the 1982-2005 losses for the largest Swedish insurance company, the Länsförsäkringar group. Both a univariate and a new bivariate Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD) gave models which fitted the data well. The bivariate model led to lower estimates of risk, except for extreme cases, but taking statistical uncertainty into account the two models lead to qualitatively similar results. We believe that the bivariate model provided the most realistic picture of the real uncertainties. It additionally made it possible to explore the effects of changes in the insurance portfolio, and showed that loss distributions are rather insensitive to portfolio changes. We found a small trend in the sizes of small individual claims, but no other trends. Finally, we believe that companies should develop systematic ways of thinking about “not yet seen” disasters.     

Ruin probabilities for an insurance company based on some stochastic risk models

The paper is concerned with a stochastic risk model with independent random claims and premiums. Recurrence formulas for the ruin probabilities of an insurance company at times of claim payments are obtained. Both the random premiums and the insurance damages are assumed to be independent and identically distributed. The number of claims and premiums are independent Poisson processes, both of which are independent of the size of premiums and claims. We consider the case when the random premiums and insurance damages are exponentially distributed and the more general case when they are gamma distributed with integer parameters. Based on the probabilities obtained in this paper, it is possible to calculate the ruin probabilities on infinite and finite time intervals. Examples are given.     

MIN-MAD life: A multi-period optimization model for life insurance company investment decisions

This paper presents a model, called the MIN-MAD Life Model, for managing the investments of a life insurance company over a multiperiod planning horizon. The MIN-MAD Life Model is a linear programming under uncertainty model based on Markowitz portfolio theory. Given the insurance company's current position and its forecasts of possible future developments with their associated probabilities, the model helps determine the set of efficient investment decisions over the planning horizon subject to market constraints and to the insurance company's legal and policy constraints. The senior executives of the life insurance company need examine only the set of efficient investment decisions to determine their optimal investment decisions.     

Robust-efficient credibility models with heavy-tailed claims: A mixed linear models perspective

In actuarial practice, regression models serve as a popular statistical tool for analyzing insurance data and tariff ratemaking. In this paper, we consider classical credibility models that can be embedded within the framework of mixed linear models. For inference about fixed effects and variance components, likelihood-based methods such as (restricted) maximum likelihood estimators are commonly pursued. However, it is well-known that these standard and fully efficient estimators are extremely sensitive to small deviations from hypothesized normality of random components as well as to the occurrence of outliers. To obtain better estimators for premium calculation and prediction of future claims, various robust methods have been successfully adapted to credibility theory in the actuarial literature. The objective of this work is to develop robust and efficient methods for credibility when heavy-tailed claims are approximately log-location-scale distributed. To accomplish that, we first show how to express additive credibility models such as Bühlmann-Straub and Hachemeister ones as mixed linear models with symmetric or asymmetric errors. Then, we adjust adaptively truncated likelihood methods and compute highly robust credibility estimates for the ordinary but heavy-tailed claims part. Finally, we treat the identified excess claims separately and find robust-efficient credibility premiums. Practical performance of this approach is examined-via simulations-under several contaminating scenarios. A widely studied real-data set from workers’ compensation insurance is used to illustrate functional capabilities of the new robust credibility estimators.     

线性混合模型中方差分量的广义推断

本文考虑了线性混合模型中方差分量的假设检验和区间估计问题.基于广义P-值和广义置信区间的概念,构造了对应于随机效应的单个方差分量的精确检验和置信区间.所构造的广义p-值和广义置信区间是最小充分统计量的函数.对于两个独立线性混合模型中对应于随机效应的方差分量的比较,建立了精确检验和置信区间.进-步,研究了所给检验和置信区间的统计性质,给出了这些检验方法与文献中已有方法的功效比较的模拟结果.模拟结果表明,新检验在功效方面有显著的改进.最后,通过-个实例来演示本文方怯.     

A Bayesian nonparametric model and its application in insurance loss prediction

Predicting insurance losses is an eternal focus of actuarial science in the insurance sector. Due to the existence of complicated features such as skewness, heavy tail, and multi-modality, traditional parametric models are often inadequate to describe the distribution of losses, calling for a mature application of Bayesian methods. In this study we explore a Gaussian mixture model based on Dirichlet process priors. Using three automobile insurance datasets, we employ the probit stick-breaking method to incorporate the effect of covariates into the weight of the mixture component, improve its hierarchical structure, and propose a Bayesian nonparametric model that can identify the unique regression pattern of different samples. Moreover, an advanced updating algorithm of slice sampling is integrated to apply an improved approximation to the infinite mixture model. We compare our framework with four common regression techniques: three generalized linear models and a dependent Dirichlet process ANOVA model. The empirical results show that the proposed framework flexibly characterizes the actual loss distribution in the insurance datasets and demonstrates superior performance in the accuracy of data fitting and extrapolating predictions, thus greatly extending the application of Bayesian methods in the insurance sector.     

Long-tail longitudinal modeling of insurance company expenses

The insurance industry is known to have high operating expenses in the financial services sector. Insurers, investors and regulators are interested in models to understand the behavior of expenses. However, the current practice ignores skewness, occasional negative values as well as their temporal dependence.Addressing these three features, this paper develops a longitudinal model of insurance company expenses that can be used for prediction, to identify unusual behavior, and to measure firm efficiency. Specifically, we use a three-parameter asymmetric Laplace density for the marginal distribution of insurers’ expenses in each year. Copula functions are employed to accommodate their temporal dependence. As a function of explanatory variables, the location parameter allows us to analyze an insurer’s expenses in light of the firm’s characteristics. Our model can be interpreted as a longitudinal quantile regression.The analysis is performed using property-casualty insurance company data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners of years 2001-2006. Due to the long-tailed nature of insurers’ expenses, two alternative approaches are proposed to improve the performance of the longitudinal quantile regression model: rescaling and transformation. Predictive densities are derived that allow one to compare the predictions for individual insurers in a hold-out-sample. Both predictive models are shown to be reasonable with the rescaling method outperforming the transformation method. Compared with standard longitudinal models, our model is shown to be superior in identifying insurers’ unusual behavior.     

部分线性混合效应模型中方差分量的稳健估计

部分线性混合效应模型中方差分量是我们感兴趣的参数, 文献中已经给出许多估计方法. 但是其中很多方法都可以归结为广义估计方程方法(GEE), 如: 最大似然估计(MLE), 约束最大似然估计(REMLE)等, 而GEE方法对异常点很敏感. 本文提出一组关于部分线性混合效应模型(PLMM)中均值和方差分量的稳健估计方程, 对均值和方差分量同时进行稳健估计; 并进行了随机模拟考察所提出稳健估计的有效性, 最后通过两个实例, 说明了所提方法的可行性.     

Optimal investment and reinsurance of an insurer with model uncertainty

We introduce a novel approach to optimal investment–reinsurance problems of an insurance company facing model uncertainty via a game theoretic approach. The insurance company invests in a capital market index whose dynamics follow a geometric Brownian motion. The risk process of the company is governed by either a compound Poisson process or its diffusion approximation. The company can also transfer a certain proportion of the insurance risk to a reinsurance company by purchasing reinsurance. The optimal investment–reinsurance problems with model uncertainty are formulated as two-player, zero-sum, stochastic differential games between the insurance company and the market. We provide verification theorems for the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman–Isaacs (HJBI) solutions to the optimal investment–reinsurance problems and derive closed-form solutions to the problems.     

A priori ratemaking using bivariate Poisson regression models

In automobile insurance, it is useful to achieve a priori ratemaking by resorting to generalized linear models, and here the Poisson regression model constitutes the most widely accepted basis. However, insurance companies distinguish between claims with or without bodily injuries, or claims with full or partial liability of the insured driver. This paper examines an a priori ratemaking procedure when including two different types of claim. When assuming independence between claim types, the premium can be obtained by summing the premiums for each type of guarantee and is dependent on the rating factors chosen. If the independence assumption is relaxed, then it is unclear as to how the tariff system might be affected. In order to answer this question, bivariate Poisson regression models, suitable for paired count data exhibiting correlation, are introduced. It is shown that the usual independence assumption is unrealistic here. These models are applied to an automobile insurance claims database containing 80,994 contracts belonging to a Spanish insurance company. Finally, the consequences for pure and loaded premiums when the independence assumption is relaxed by using a bivariate Poisson regression model are analysed.     

Random effects Weibull regression model for occupational lifetime

High job turnover rate can cause many problems and each company needs proper strategies to prevent the brain-drain of its manpower. For effective human resource management, predicting the occupational life expectancy or the mean residual life of those who are to leave and join another company is important. In this paper, we propose a random effects Weibull regression model for forecasting the occupational lifetime of the employees who join another company, based on their characteristics. Advantage of using such a random effects model is the ability of accommodating not only the individual characteristics of each employee but also the uncertainty that cannot be explained by individual factors. We apply the proposed model to the occupational lifetime data obtained from the company affiliated to general trading in Korea. From our analyses, we can infer the characteristics of those who have a relatively longer occupational lifetime as follows: the managing director level, relatively old, those who entered the company earlier, high school graduates, those who were involved in technical service, and married female employees. Accordingly, effective human resources management policy is necessary to retain those who are good but want to leave and those who stay but need more improvement for the betterment of the company.     

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??It is assumed that both an insurance company and a reinsurance company adopt the variance premium principle to collect premiums. Specifically, an insurance company is allowed to investment not only in a domestic risk-free asset and a risky asset, but also in a foreign risky asset. Firstly, we use a geometry Brownian motion to model the exchange rate risk, and assume that the insurance company could control the insurance risk by transferring the insurance business into the reinsurance company. Secondly, the stochastic dynamic programming principle is used to study the optimal investment and reinsurance problems in two situations. The first is a diffusion approximation risk model and the second is a classical risk model. The optimal investment and reinsurance strategies are obtained under these two situations. We also show that the exchange rate risk has a great impact on the insurance company's investment strategies, but has no effect on the reinsurance strategies. Finally, a sensitivity analysis of some parameters is provided.     

偏t分布假设下的空间效应模型及其应用

在非寿险索赔强度预测中,目前使用最为广泛的是广义线性模型。索赔强度的广义线性模型假设因变量服从伽马分布或逆高斯分布,且在预测项中仅能考虑协变量的线性效应。这些限制性条件都有可能影响索赔强度预测结果的准确性。本文对索赔强度的广义线性模型进行了推广:用偏T分布代替常用的伽马分布和逆高斯分布;在预测项中引入惩罚样条函数来描述连续型协变量的非线性效应;考虑索赔强度在不同地区的差异性和相邻地区的相依性。最后基于一组实际的车损险数据进行了实证研究,结果表明,本文的推广模型可以明显提高索赔强度预测模型的拟合优度。     

Sarmanov family of multivariate distributions for bivariate dynamic claim counts model

To predict future claims, it is well-known that the most recent claims are more predictive than older ones. However, classic panel data models for claim counts, such as the multivariate negative binomial distribution, do not put any time weight on past claims. More complex models can be used to consider this property, but often need numerical procedures to estimate parameters. When we want to add a dependence between different claim count types, the task would be even more difficult to handle. In this paper, we propose a bivariate dynamic model for claim counts, where past claims experience of a given claim type is used to better predict the other type of claims. This new bivariate dynamic distribution for claim counts is based on random effects that come from the Sarmanov family of multivariate distributions. To obtain a proper dynamic distribution based on this kind of bivariate priors, an approximation of the posterior distribution of the random effects is proposed. The resulting model can be seen as an extension of the dynamic heterogeneity model described in Bolancé et al. (2007). We apply this model to two samples of data from a major Canadian insurance company, where we show that the proposed model is one of the best models to adjust the data. We also show that the proposed model allows more flexibility in computing predictive premiums because closed-form expressions can be easily derived for the predictive distribution, the moments and the predictive moments.     

A hidden Markov model for informative dropout in longitudinal response data with crisis states

We adopt a hidden state approach for the analysis of longitudinal data subject to dropout. Motivated by two applied studies, we assume that subjects can move between three states: stable, crisis, dropout. Dropout is observed but the other two states are not. During a possibly transient crisis state both the longitudinal response distribution and the probability of dropout can differ from those for the stable state. We adopt a linear mixed effects model with subject-specific trajectories during stable periods and additional random jumps during crises. We place the model in the context of Rubin’s taxonomy and develop the associated likelihood. The methods are illustrated using the two motivating examples.     

Optimal Investment-Reinsurance Strategy with Exchange Rate Risk under Variance Premium Principl

It is assumed that both an insurance company and a reinsurance company adopt the variance premium principle to collect premiums. Specifically, an insurance company is allowed to investment not only in a domestic risk-free asset and a risky asset, but also in a foreign risky asset. Firstly, we use a geometry Brownian motion to model the exchange rate risk, and assume that the insurance company could control the insurance risk by transferring the insurance business into the reinsurance company. Secondly, the stochastic dynamic programming principle is used to study the optimal investment and reinsurance problems in two situations. The first is a diffusion approximation risk model and the second is a classical risk model. The optimal investment and reinsurance strategies are obtained under these two situations. We also show that the exchange rate risk has a great impact on the insurance company's investment strategies, but has no effect on the reinsurance strategies. Finally, a sensitivity analysis of some parameters is provided.     

Singular boundary value problem for the integrodifferential equation in an insurance model with stochastic premiums: Analysis and numerical solution

A singular boundary value problem for a second-order linear integrodifferential equation with Volterra and non-Volterra integral operators is formulated and analyzed. The equation is defined on ?₊, has a weak singularity at zero and a strong singularity at infinity, and depends on several positive parameters. Under natural constraints on the coefficients of the equation, existence and uniqueness theorems for this problem with given limit boundary conditions at singular points are proved, asymptotic representations of the solution are given, and an algorithm for its numerical determination is described. Numerical computations are performed and their interpretation is given. The problem arises in the study of the survival probability of an insurance company over infinite time (as a function of its initial surplus) in a dynamic insurance model that is a modification of the classical Cramer-Lundberg model with a stochastic process rate of premium under a certain investment strategy in the financial market. A comparative analysis of the results with those produced by the model with deterministic premiums is given.     

Determination of the portfolio selection for a property-liability insurance company

This paper presents an analysis of a portfolio model which can be used to assist a property-liability insurance company in determining the optimal composition of the insurance and investment portfolios. By introducing insurer's threshold risk and relaxing some non-realistic assumptions made in traditional chance constraint insurance and investment portfolio models, we propose a method for an insurer to maximize his return threshold for a given threshold risk level. This proposed model can be used to optimize the composition of underwriting and investment portfolios regarding the insurer's threshold risk level, as well as to generate the efficient frontier by adjusting insurer's threshold risk levels. A numerical example is given based on the industry's aggregated data for a sixteen year period.     

QUANTITATIVE METHODS FOR DECISION SUPPORT IN THE ICELANDIC FISHING INDUSTRY

Abstract Modern fisheries already collect vast amount of data, for example, through ERP systems and electronic log‐books. It is however well known that the data are rarely used for improving operational decision making. By converting this data into useable information, decision making in the fishing industry could be improved. This paper attempts to show that quantitative methods can be of use in many aspects of decision making in the fishing industry. The paper proposes a hierarchically structured decision support process based on two different optimization models for supporting the long‐ and short‐term decision making in fisheries. For long‐term planning the paper proposes a linear optimization model that describes the entire operation of a vertically integrated seafood company. For short‐term decision making the paper proposes a mixed integer linear optimization model to assist in organizing vessel trips and deciding catch location with regard to raw material quality and yield obtained in processing.