Paid-incurred chain claims reserving method

We present a novel stochastic model for claims reserving that allows us to combine claims payments and incurred losses information. The main idea is to combine two claims reserving models (Hertig’s (1985) model and Gogol’s (1993) model ) leading to a log-normal paid-incurred chain (PIC) model. Using a Bayesian point of view for the parameter modelling we derive in this Bayesian PIC model the full predictive distribution of the outstanding loss liabilities. On the one hand, this allows for an analytical calculation of the claims reserves and the corresponding conditional mean square error of prediction. On the other hand, simulation algorithms provide any other statistics and risk measure on these claims reserves.     

Combining chain-ladder claims reserving with fuzzy numbers

In this paper we extend the classical chain-ladder claims reserving method using fuzzy methods. Therefore, we derive new estimators for the claims development factors as well as new predictors for the ultimate claims. The advantage in using fuzzy numbers lies in the fact that the model uncertainty is directly included in and can be controlled by the “new” fuzzy claims development factors. We also provide an estimator for the uncertainty of the ultimate claims for single accident years and for aggregated accident years.     

Chain ladder method: Bayesian bootstrap versus classical bootstrap

The intention of this paper is to estimate a Bayesian distribution-free chain ladder (DFCL) model using approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) methodology. We demonstrate how to estimate quantities of interest in claims reserving and compare the estimates to those obtained from classical and credibility approaches. In this context, a novel numerical procedure utilizing a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique, ABC and a Bayesian bootstrap procedure was developed in a truly distribution-free setting. The ABC methodology arises because we work in a distribution-free setting in which we make no parametric assumptions, meaning we cannot evaluate the likelihood point-wise or in this case simulate directly from the likelihood model. The use of a bootstrap procedure allows us to generate samples from the intractable likelihood without the requirement of distributional assumptions; this is crucial to the ABC framework. The developed methodology is used to obtain the empirical distribution of the DFCL model parameters and the predictive distribution of the outstanding loss liabilities conditional on the observed claims. We then estimate predictive Bayesian capital estimates, the value at risk (VaR) and the mean square error of prediction (MSEP). The latter is compared with the classical bootstrap and credibility methods.     

A copula based Bayesian approach for paid–incurred claims models for non-life insurance reserving

Our article considers the class of recently developed stochastic models that combine claims payments and incurred losses information into a coherent reserving methodology. In particular, we develop a family of hierarchical Bayesian paid–incurred claims models, combining the claims reserving models of Hertig (1985) and Gogol (1993). In the process we extend the independent log-normal model of Merz and Wüthrich (2010) by incorporating different dependence structures using a Data-Augmented mixture Copula paid–incurred claims model.In this way the paper makes two main contributions: firstly we develop an extended class of model structures for the paid–incurred chain ladder models where we develop precisely the Bayesian formulation of such models; secondly we explain how to develop advanced Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling algorithms to make inference under these copula dependence PIC models accurately and efficiently, making such models accessible to practitioners to explore their suitability in practice. In this regard the focus of the paper should be considered in two parts, firstly development of Bayesian PIC models for general dependence structures with specialised properties relating to conjugacy and consistency of tail dependence across the development years and accident years and between Payment and incurred loss data are developed. The second main contribution is the development of techniques that allow general audiences to efficiently work with such Bayesian models to make inference. The focus of the paper is not so much to illustrate that the PIC paper is a good class of models for a particular data set, the suitability of such PIC type models is discussed in Merz and Wüthrich (2010) and Happ and Wüthrich (2013). Instead we develop generalised model classes for the PIC family of Bayesian models and in addition provide advanced Monte Carlo methods for inference that practitioners may utilise with confidence in their efficiency and validity.     

An individual loss reserving model with independent reporting and settlement

The main purpose of this paper is to assess and demonstrate the advantage of claims reserving models based on individual data in forecasting future liabilities over traditional models on aggregate data both theoretically and numerically. The available information consists of the reporting delays, settlement delays and claim payments. The model settings include Poisson distributed frequency of claims produced by each policy, claims payable at the settlement time, and the amount of payment depending only on its settlement delay. While such settings are applicable to certain but not all practical cases, the principal purpose of the paper is to examine the efficiency of individual data against aggregate data. We refer to loss reserving as to estimate the projections of the outstanding liabilities on observed information. The efficiency of the individual loss reserving against classical aggregate loss reservings, namely Chain-Ladder (C-L) and Bornhuetter–Ferguson (B–F), is assessed by comparing the asymptotic variances of the errors in estimating the conditional expectation (projection) of the outstanding liability between individual, C-L and B–F reservings. The research shows a significant increase in the accuracy of loss reserving by using individual data compared with aggregate data.     

Full Bayesian analysis of claims reserving uncertainty

We revisit the gamma–gamma Bayesian chain-ladder (BCL) model for claims reserving in non-life insurance. This claims reserving model is usually used in an empirical Bayesian way using plug-in estimates for the variance parameters. The advantage of this empirical Bayesian framework is that allows us for closed form solutions. The main purpose of this paper is to develop the full Bayesian case also considering prior distributions for the variance parameters and to study the resulting sensitivities.     

Micro-level reserving for general insurance claims using a long short-term memory network

Detailed information about individual claims are completely ignored when insurance claims data are aggregated and structured in development triangles for loss reserving. In the hope of extracting predictive power from the individual claims characteristics, researchers have recently proposed to use micro-level loss reserving approaches. We introduce a discrete-time individual reserving framework incorporating granular information in a deep learning approach named Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network. At each time period, the network has two tasks: first, classifying whether there is a payment or a recovery, and second, predicting the corresponding non-zero amount, if any. Based on a generalized Pareto model for excess payments over a threshold, we adjust the LSTM reserve prediction to account for extreme payments. We illustrate the estimation procedure on a simulated and a real general insurance dataset. We compare our approach with the chain-ladder aggregate method using the predictive outstanding loss estimates and their actual values.     

Comments on Taylor's see-saw approach to claims reserving

Taylor (1981) introduces the See-Saw (SS) model for claims reserving in order to make allowance for speed of finalization. The model is applied to live data given in Taylor (1981) and there is prima facie evidence to suggest that it does well, especially in the light of comparisons of actual versus expected payments for each payment year.The purpose of the present paper is to demonstrate that from the point of view of operational forecasting, which is the object of the claims reserving exercise, the fitting of the linear SS can be improved upon. Moreover, we employ the SS as a vehicle for indicating the kind of validation tests that ought to be carried out once the parameters of a proposed model have been estimated from the data. Essentially, we indicate how the properties of the residuals may be used for diagnostic checking of the model.Many researchers involved in the claims reserving area are of the view that the data are extremely noisy especially if the model put forward only explains a small proportion of the total variation. Why not test whether this is the case? It turns out that the particular linear SS used by Taylor does not explain the signal accurately so that the balance of the variation is not entirely due to noise.     

SUSTAINABLE YIELDS IN FISHERIES: UNCERTAINTY,RISK‐AVERSION,AND MEAN‐VARIANCE ANALYSIS

Abstract We consider a model of a fishery in which the dynamics of the unharvested fish population are given by the stochastic logistic growth equation Similar to the classical deterministic analogon, we assume that the fishery harvests the fish population following a constant effort strategy. In the first step, we derive the effort level that leads to maximum expected sustainable yield, which is understood as the expectation of the equilibrium distribution of the stochastic dynamics. This replaces the nonzero fixed point in the classical deterministic setup. In the second step, we assume that the fishery is risk averse and that there is a tradeoff between expected sustainable yield and uncertainty measured in terms of the variance of the equilibrium distribution. We derive the optimal constant effort harvesting strategy for this problem. In the final step, we consider an approach that we call the mean‐variance analysis to sustainable fisheries. Similar as in the now classical mean‐variance analysis in finance, going back to Markowitz [1952] , we study the problem of maximizing expected sustainable yields under variance constraints, and with this, minimizing the variance, e.g., risk, under guaranteed minimum expected sustainable yields. We derive explicit formulas for the optimal fishing effort in all four problems considered and study the effects of uncertainty, risk aversion, and mean reversion speed on fishing efforts.     

A marked Cox model for the number of IBNR claims: Theory

Incurred but not reported (IBNR) loss reserving is an important issue for Property & Casualty (P&C) insurers. To calculate IBNR reserve, one needs to model claim arrivals and then predict IBNR claims. However, factors such as temporal dependence among claim arrivals and environmental variation are often not incorporated in many of the current loss reserving models, which may greatly affect the accuracy of IBNR predictions.In this paper, we propose to model the claim arrival process together with its reporting delays as a marked Cox process. Our model is versatile in modeling temporal dependence, allowing also for natural interpretations. This paper focuses mainly on the theoretical aspects of the proposed model. We show that the associated reported claim process and IBNR claim process are both marked Cox processes with easily convertible intensity functions and marking distributions. The proposed model can also account for fluctuations in the exposure. By an order statistics property, we show that the corresponding discretely observed process preserves all the information about the claim arrivals. Finally, we derive closed-form expressions for both the autocorrelation function (ACF) and the distributions of the numbers of reported claims and IBNR claims. Model estimation and its applications are considered in a subsequent paper, Badescu et al. (2015b).     

A multivariate evolutionary generalised linear model framework with adaptive estimation for claims reserving

In this paper, we develop a multivariate evolutionary generalised linear model (GLM) framework for claims reserving, which allows for dynamic features of claims activity in conjunction with dependency across business lines to accurately assess claims reserves. We extend the traditional GLM reserving framework on two fronts: GLM fixed factors are allowed to evolve in a recursive manner, and dependence is incorporated in the specification of these factors using a common shock approach.We consider factors that evolve across accident years in conjunction with factors that evolve across calendar years. This two-dimensional evolution of factors is unconventional as a traditional evolutionary model typically considers the evolution in one single time dimension. This creates challenges for the estimation process, which we tackle in this paper. We develop the formulation of a particle filtering algorithm with parameter learning procedure. This is an adaptive estimation approach which updates evolving factors of the framework recursively over time.We implement and illustrate our model with a simulated data set, as well as a set of real data from a Canadian insurer.     

A machine learning approach for individual claims reserving in insurance

Accurate loss reserves are an important item in the financial statement of an insurance company and are mostly evaluated by macrolevel models with aggregate data in run‐off triangles. In recent years, a new set of literature has considered individual claims data and proposed parametric reserving models based on claim history profiles. In this paper, we present a nonparametric and flexible approach for estimating outstanding liabilities using all the covariates associated to the policy, its policyholder, and all the information received by the insurance company on the individual claims since its reporting date. We develop a machine learning–based method and explain how to build specific subsets of data for the machine learning algorithms to be trained and assessed on. The choice for a nonparametric model leads to new issues since the target variables (claim occurrence and claim severity) are right‐censored most of the time. The performance of our approach is evaluated by comparing the predictive values of the reserve estimates with their true values on simulated data. We compare our individual approach with the most used aggregate data method, namely, chain ladder, with respect to the bias and the variance of the estimates. We also provide a short real case study based on a Dutch loan insurance portfolio.     

Multi-year non-life insurance risk of dependent lines of business in the multivariate additive loss reserving model

We derive analytical estimators of non-life insurance risk in multi-year view for the multivariate additive loss reserving model. Thereby we jointly assess reserve and premium risks of multiple years for portfolios of possibly dependent lines of business in one integrated approach. By extending existing formulae for the univariate additive model to the multivariate case, risk estimators for the aggregated portfolio now include the inherent dependencies among all lines of business. The resulting risk evaluation over one-year and general multi-year horizons is fundamental to regulatory reporting (e.g. the ORSA process in Solvency II) and risk-based business planning of non-life insurers with multiple lines of business. A case study illustrates the fruitful application of our formulae and reproduces previous findings for the special case of ultimo view.     

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Besides the claims data in the past, certain assumptions about the distribution of claimsare required to derive the credibility premium in the classical theory. In the paper, the credibility premium can be calculated via the maximum entropy method if we know nothing about the distribution of claims. Furthermore, two corollaries are obtained under certain assumptions, that is, new claims have more weight than the old ones and the classical credibility formula is a special case of the credibility premium derived in the present paper. Finally, the simulation study is presented to illustrate that the credibility premium in the present paper is better than other models if the mean square error is taken as the evaluation criterion.     

A generalized linear model with smoothing effects for claims reserving

In this paper, we continue the development of the ideas introduced in England and Verrall (2001) by suggesting the use of a reparameterized version of the generalized linear model (GLM) which is frequently used in stochastic claims reserving. This model enables us to smooth the origin, development and calendar year parameters in a similar way as is often done in practice, but still keep the GLM structure. Specifically, we use this model structure in order to obtain reserve estimates and to systemize the model selection procedure that arises in the smoothing process. Moreover, we provide a bootstrap procedure to achieve a full predictive distribution.     

Robust loss reserving in a log-linear model

It is well known that the presence of outlier events can overestimate or underestimate the overall reserve when using the chain-ladder method. The lack of robustness of loss reserving estimators leads to the development of this paper. The appearance of outlier events (including large claims—catastrophic events) can offset the result of the ordinary chain ladder technique and perturb the reserving estimation. Our proposal is to apply robust statistical procedures to the loss reserving estimation, which are insensitive to the occurrence of outlier events in the data. This paper considers robust log-linear and ANOVA models to the analysis of loss reserving by using different type of robust estimators, such as LAD-estimators, M-estimators, LMS-estimators, LTS-estimators, MM-estimators (with initial S-estimate) and Adaptive-estimators. Comparisons of these estimators are also presented, with application of a well known data set.     

Risk aggregation and stochastic claims reserving in disability insurance

We consider a large, homogeneous portfolio of life or disability annuity policies. The policies are assumed to be independent conditional on an external stochastic process representing the economic–demographic environment. Using a conditional law of large numbers, we establish the connection between claims reserving and risk aggregation for large portfolios. Further, we derive a partial differential equation for moments of present values. Moreover, we show how statistical multi-factor intensity models can be approximated by one-factor models, which allows for solving the PDEs very efficiently. Finally, we give a numerical example where moments of present values of disability annuities are computed using finite-difference methods and Monte Carlo simulations.     

Semiparametric model for prediction of individual claim loss reserving

The estimation of loss reserves for incurred but not reported (IBNR) claims presents an important task for insurance companies to predict their liabilities. Conventional methods, such as ladder or separation methods based on aggregated or grouped claims of the so-called “run-off triangle”, have been illustrated to have some drawbacks. Recently, individual claim loss models have attracted a great deal of interest in actuarial literature, which can overcome the shortcomings of aggregated claim loss models. In this paper, we propose an alternative individual claim loss model, which has a semiparametric structure and can be used to fit flexibly the claim loss reserving. Local likelihood is employed to estimate the parametric and nonparametric components of the model, and their asymptotic properties are discussed. Then the prediction of the IBNR claim loss reserving is investigated. A simulation study is carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed methods.     

具有共同效应的信度回归模型

在经典的Hachemeister(1975)信度回归模型中,各个风险被假定为相互独立的.本文假设风险之间存在由共同效应导致的风险相依,建立了共同效应的信度回归模型,得到未来索赔的信度预测与风险参数的信度估计.结论表明,在共同效应模型,信度估计仍然是个体索赔数据与聚合保费的加权和.     

Bayesian analysis of loss reserving using dynamic models with generalized beta distribution

A Bayesian approach is presented in order to model long tail loss reserving data using the generalized beta distribution of the second kind (GB2) with dynamic mean functions and mixture model representation. The proposed GB2 distribution provides a flexible probability density function, which nests various distributions with light and heavy tails, to facilitate accurate loss reserving in insurance applications. Extending the mean functions to include the state space and threshold models provides a dynamic approach to allow for irregular claims behaviors and legislative change which may occur during the claims settlement period. The mixture of GB2 distributions is proposed as a mean of modeling the unobserved heterogeneity which arises from the incidence of very large claims in the loss reserving data. It is shown through both simulation study and forecasting that model parameters are estimated with high accuracy.