Risk Measurement and Management of Operational Risk in Insurance Companies from an Enterprise Perspective

Operational risk can substantially impact an insurer’s risk situation and is now increasingly in the focus of insurance companies, especially due to new European risk-based regulatory framework Solvency II. The aim of this paper is to model and examine the effects of operational risk on fair premiums and solvency capital requirements under Solvency II. In particular, three different approaches of deriving solvency capital requirements are analyzed: the Solvency II standard model, a partial internal model, and a full internal model. This analysis is not only of relevance for Solvency II, but also regarding an insurer’s Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) that is not only planned in Solvency II, but also by the NAIC in the United States. The analysis emphasizes that diversification plays a central role and that operational risk measurement and management is highly relevant for insurers and should be integrated in an enterprise risk management framework