Twenty Third Floor

Figuring out the future and the now

Category: life insurance

Actuarial and Risk, Embedded Value, financial reporting, insight, insurance, life insurance, measurement, Solvency Assessment and Management, Solvency II

The Perfect Storm – Part 0

6 February 2013

David Kirk

The world of financial reporting for insurers has never been this close to the edge. There is more change brewing now even than when Europe adopted “European Embedded Values” and later “Market Consistent Embedded Values”. The irony is that Embedded Values may well fall away as a result of the latest change. So what is…
Read more: The Perfect Storm – Part 0
Actuarial and Risk, healthcare, life insurance, measurement, statistics

US Life Expectancy and the dangers of superficial analysis

16 November 2012

David Kirk

Life Expectancy is going up. In general. But what really matters isn’t the general but the specifics. I know it’s hard to work through maths and actual calculations, but it doesn’t help if you run your analysis off slogans. US Life Expectancy is going up. But not as much “at retirement” as it is up…
Read more: US Life Expectancy and the dangers of superficial analysis
Actuarial and Risk, insight, insurance, life insurance, news, Solvency Assessment and Management, Solvency II

Kings, constitution and SAM legislation

8 November 2012

David Kirk

I haven’t posted in ages – plenty happening on the work front, which is mostly good news. I also don’t really have time to comment properly on this article but Wits academic, Robert Vivian, but it’s interesting reading all the same. Read Vivian’s letter first and then come back to my comments. I can’t help…
Read more: Kings, constitution and SAM legislation
financial reporting, insurance, life insurance, measurement, news, valuation

IASB re-exposing IFRS 4 Phase 2

2 October 2012

David Kirk

So, as I expected given the fundamental changes to IFRS 4 in recent months, the IASB is doing the grown-up thing and is re-exposing the latest version of the insurance accounting standard later this year early next year. They are restricting questions to areas that have changed or where final decisions haven’t been made, which…
Read more: IASB re-exposing IFRS 4 Phase 2
Actuarial and Risk, insurance, life insurance, Solvency Assessment and Management, Solvency II

Summary of SAM Interim Measures

25 September 2012

David Kirk

A client was asking about the key changes coming up for SAM Interim Measures. This document (from the FSB) is about the best summary I’ve seen:Â Interim Measures Update (Governance) My take on this is that the FSB is basically expecting compliance or a pretty concerted effort and reasonable compliance with these requirements NOW. The original…
Read more: Summary of SAM Interim Measures
Actuarial and Risk, capital, financial risk, life insurance

Life insurer placed into curatorship

7 September 2012

David Kirk

All I can say is financial reinsurance that is just smoke and mirrors is just smoke and mirrors. More small insurers should take advice from someone other than their reinsurers when evaluating financial reinsurance in terms of its financial, regulatory and capital implications. Financial reinsurance doesn’t typically cause financial problems but it can gloss over…
Read more: Life insurer placed into curatorship
Actuarial and Risk, capital, complexity, financial risk, insurance, life insurance, news, Solvency Assessment and Management, Solvency II

Systematic risk in insurance

13 June 2012

David Kirk

Lots on this topic to come over the next few months. IAIS chair Peter BraumÃ¼ller acknowledged that traditional insurance does not “generate or amplify systemic risk† within the financial system or in the real economy. Although non-traditional risks do (derivatives exposures, CDS etc.) Meanwhile, the IAIS has released it’s proposals for identification and assessment of…
Read more: Systematic risk in insurance
Actuarial and Risk, insurance, life insurance, Solvency II

Insurers dealing with regulatory change

4 May 2012

David Kirk

Insurers around the world are dealing with increased regulations and increasingly nervous regulators, just waiting for the next crisis to see how insurers will cope. In South Africa, SAM presents opportunities and challenges and the potential for a great deal of expense with limited direct business benefits. Of course, the regulations in some form or…
Read more: Insurers dealing with regulatory change

About David Kirk

Featured Posts

The “Indemnity Trap”: Why Outdated Legal Models are Deferring the Promise of Parametric Insurance
by David Kirk
Parametric insurance is often marketed as the “clean” alternative to traditional risk transfer. The pitch is compelling: if a hurricane hits a specific GPS coordinate… Read more: The “Indemnity Trap”: Why Outdated Legal Models are Deferring the Promise of Parametric Insurance
The Complexities of Comparing SCR Cover Ratios Across Insurers
by David Kirk
In the insurance industry, we often use Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR) cover ratios as a key metric for comparing insurers’ financial strength. While these ratios… Read more: The Complexities of Comparing SCR Cover Ratios Across Insurers
One answer could be pet insurance
by David Kirk
I firmly believe major demographics shifts are going to have massive social, political, economic, financial market and commercial impacts in the coming decades. The balance… Read more: One answer could be pet insurance
A piece of the failure puzzle – decreasing insurer failure rates through Skilled Person Reviews
by David Kirk
Every failure hits policyholders’ savings or cover, impact their lives and their livelihoods. They destroys shareholder value and decrease confidence in the entire financial sector.… Read more: A piece of the failure puzzle – decreasing insurer failure rates through Skilled Person Reviews
How and why insurers fail
by David Kirk
I’ve been updating my presentation from 2021 on “How and Why Insurers Fail”. I now estimate the annual failure rate (or at least getting into… Read more: How and why insurers fail
The hidden dangers of opinion shopping and trusting good news.
by David Kirk
I had a recent discussion on the value of getting a second opinion. There’s the old line that “if you want five opinions, ask three… Read more: The hidden dangers of opinion shopping and trusting good news.
40,000
by David Kirk
40,000. That’s the ballpark figure I usually work with as the minimum number of micro insurance policies required for scale. The expenses of running even… Read more: 40,000

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