Navigating Complexity in Queue Management: Slightly serious insights from the Motor Vehicle Licence Renewal Office Queue management at the motor vehicle licence renewal office offers a window into a realm of complexity that extends far beyond the waiting room. Exploring priority queuing and weighted fair queuing (WFQ), we uncover a world of probabilistic models, dynamic…
It’s been years since I helped author the ASSA Information Note on Loss Absorbing Capacity of Deferred Taxes (LACDT). Yet I still see fundamental errors and misunderstanding recurring, especially when it comes to ORSA scenarios and LACDT. Weirdly, for life insurance, despite the complexities of multiple tax funds, it’s usually relatively simple. The large Deferred…
APN116 was recently issued and is effective for reporting periods starting on or after 31 March 2024. This therefore applies to all South Africa life insurers’ quarterly QRT for March and all annual QRTs for those with a March year end. It outlines the requirement to stress life IBNR provisions using the standard life underwriting…
As the insurance industry evolves, so do the complexities of distribution. When distribution channels don’t perform, it can be hard to just diagnose the problem. Have we stopped doing the right things? Are our competitors getting better? Do we have the right product and is our pricing still right? It’s tempting to chalk it up to…
The reality of international insurers withdrawing coverage or exiting specific regions is not just speculative fiction—it’s happening now. In Louisiana, insurers have departed due to heightened storm and flood risks, while in California, wildfires have prompted similar actions. Even State Farm, a major insurer, is suspending new sales and opting not to renew some of…
As climate risk looms over insurers, the challenges surrounding its identification, quantification, and management remain significant. Insurers have to make decisions today on pricing, product, guarantee terms, geography and market segment, that may incorporate a future quite different from past experience. Non-life insurance is annually renewable right and protected by reinsurance? Where’s the risk there?…
I’ve been brewing a wild idea for a while. Insurance regulations weren’t written with IFRS17 in mind. This causes some head scratching when it comes to premium volume measure for non-life insurance, but common sense gets you to the right answer without much trouble. Those who say otherwise seem to be looking for problems where…
The goals of two-pot are admirable. The implementation somehow both rushed and drawn out. The promises – of decreased unnecessary financial hardships, fewer self-defeating decisions, and improved long term savings rates are dazzling. The nagging fear though, is that whatever institutions and professionals and government departments may learn from Chile and Peru, individuals will inevitably…
