We derive optimal strategies for an individual life insurance policyholder who can control the asset allocation as well as the sum insured (the amount to be paid out upon death) throughout the policy term. We first consider the problem in a pure form without constraints (except nonnegativity on...

We study the modelling and valuation of surrender and other behavioural options in life insurance and pension. We place ourselves in between the two extremes of completely arbitrary intervention and optimal intervention by the policyholder. We present a method that is based on differential...

In this paper a portfolio problem is considered where trading in the risky asset is stopped if a state process hits a predefined barrier. This state process need not to be perfectly correlated with the risky asset. We give a representation result for the value function and provide a verification...

This paper studies the life cycle consumption-investment-insurance problem of a family. The wage earner faces the risk of a health shock that significantly increases his probability of dying. The family can buy term life insurance with realistic features. In particular, the available contracts...

The observed hump-shaped life-cycle pattern in individuals' consumption cannot be explained by the classical consumption-savings model. We explicitly solve a model with utility of both consumption and leisure and with educational decisions affecting future wages. We show optimal consumption is...

This paper studies constrained portfolio problems that may involve constraints on the probability or the expected size of a shortfall of wealth or consumption. Our first contribution is that we solve the problems by dynamic programming, which is in contrast to the existing literature that...

Research in insurance and finance was always intersecting although they were originally and generally viewed as separate disciplines. Insurance is about transferring risks between parties such that the burdens of risks are borne by those who can. This makes insurance transactions a beneficial...

“What is complicated is not necessarily insightful and what is insightful is not necessarily complicated: <i>Risks</i> welcomes simple manuscripts that contribute with <b>in</b>sight, <b>out</b>look, <b>under</b>standing and <b>over</b>view”—a quote from the first editorial of this journal [1]. Good articles are not...