The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of capital and risk transfer instruments on diversification and insolvency risk in a parent-subsidiary relationship. To better assess the effects, we compare this setting to the case of a holding company and an integrated financial group. In the...

In financial groups enterprise risk management is becoming increasingly importantin controlling and managing the different independent legal entities in thegroup. The aim of this paper is to assess and relate risk concentration and joint defaultprobabilities of the group’s legal entities in...

Participating life insurance contracts typically contain various types of implicit options. These implicit options can be very valuable and can thus represent a sig-nificant risk to the insurance companies issuing these contracts in case of in-sufficient risk management. Options can get...

Systematic mortality risk, i.e. the risk of unexpected changes in mortality and survival rates, can substantially impact a life insurers' risk and solvency situation. By using the “natural hedge” between life insurance and annuities, insurance companies have an effective tool for reducing...

In the course of creating a single European market for financial services and in the wake of two financial crises, regulatory frameworks in the financial services industry in the European Union have undergone significant change. One of the major reforms has been the transition from static...

Index-linked catastrophic loss instruments represent an alternative to traditional reinsurance to hedge against catastrophic losses. The use of these instruments comes with benefits, such as a reduction of moral hazard and higher transparency. However, at the same time, it introduces basis risk...

Even though insurers predominantly invest in bonds, credit risk associated with government and corporate bonds has long not been a focus in their risk management. After the crisis of several European countries, however, credit risk has recently been paid greater attention. Nevertheless, the...