The Solvency II standard formula measures interest rate risk based on two stress scenarios which are supposed to reflect the 1-in-200 year event over a 12-month time horizon. The calibration of these scenarios appears much too optimistic when comparing them against historical yield curve...

Modern regulatory capital standards, such as the Solvency II standard formula, employ a correlation based approach for risk aggregation. The so-called "square-root formula" uses correlation parameters between, for example, market risk, non-life insurance risk and default risk to determine the...

The capital requirements of Solvency II allow insurers to make discretionary choices. Besides extensive possibilities regarding the choice of a risk model (ranging between a regulatory prescribed standard formula to a full self-developed internal model), insurers can make use of transitional...

Der Entwurf eines Lebensversicherungsreformgesetz der Bundesregierung vom 04.06.2014 adressiert die Folgen der derzeitigen Niedrigzinsphase für Lebensversicherungunternehmen und Lebensversicherte. Helmut Gründl kommentiert die vorgeschlagene Regelung zu den Bewertungsreserven, die Regelung zur...

The European insurance industry is awaiting the new EU-wide harmonized Solvency II framework. Before its introduction, it is important to find out which incentive effects can arise from it. Practitioners predict a trend towards consolidation in the insurance sector due to recognition of...

Low interest rates are becoming a threat to the stability of the life insurance industry, especially in countries such as Germany, where products with relatively high guaranteed returns sold in the past still represent a prominent share of the total portfolio. This contribution aims to assess...

Low interest rates are becoming a threat to the stability of the life insurance industry, especially in countries such as Germany, where products with relatively high guaranteed returns sold in the past still represent a prominent share of the total portfolio. This contribution aims to assess...

Pursuant to art. 45 of the Solvency II Framework Directive, all insurance undertakings will be obliged to conduct an "Own Risk and Solvency Assessment" (ORSA). ORSA's relevance is not limited only to the second pillar of Solvency II, where mainly qualitative requirements are to be found. ORSA...