For insurance companies who wish to understand existing markets and enter new and emerging markets, being able to accurately predict insurance demand is critical. Currently, demand for insurance is predicted predominately by analyzing economic factors (e.g., gross domestic product [GDP], inflation rate). However, we often see gaps in insurance demand between two different countries, despite the similarity of those countries’ economic conditions. This difference indicates that insurance market dynamics cannot always be captured through economic conditions, or through an economic analysis. Clearly, some additional new and improved rating variables would be useful to more effectively predict insurance demand in different markets.

February is a special month for consulting actuaries in Illinois. The days are long and cold, and reconciling data received to Schedule P with immaterial differences generates a real sense of excitement – not quite the excitement of your team winning the Super Bowl in February, but excitement nonetheless. 

Although at times I may sport a “February Face” at work, once March begins and the State of Illinois thaws, I look forward to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival (ISF). The ISF has been providing my community in central Illinois with live outdoor theater since 1978. The ISF has a well-earned reputation for outstanding productions with talented players.

Recently, Pinnacle’s consulting actuaries met for an annual meeting, held this year in breathtaking Vancouver, British Columbia. Beyond the usual continuing education content, team-building and social time (particularly important in a remote work environment!), I got a vivid reminder about what a truly inclusive environment means for employees with disabilities – those seen and unseen.

A useful and illustrative measure of extreme weather events are catastrophic (CAT) insurance claims, herein defined as any occurrence resulting in more than $25 million in insured damages. The insurance industry has seen an increase in large CAT claims over the last decade relative to historical experience – with notable recent events including hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Matthew.

Most current (or recently graduated) college students are familiar with several of the methods that can be used to finance a college education. The most preferred options are college savings programs (529 plans), grants and scholarships, because they do not have to be paid back. Secondly most-preferred are government loans, which have lower interest rates compared to other loans. Once those avenues are exhausted, however, it is up to the students and their families to find other alternatives. Traditionally, this would mean that students (or their families) might resort to taking out private loans with higher rates than those offered by the government. But what if there was another funding method to consider – one that relied more directly on the quantifiable expected return of the education being pursued?