I examine how IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts affects the firm value of insurers reporting under IFRS (“IFRS insurers”). Studying 427 insurers' stock returns around sixteen events affecting the chance that IFRS 17 passes, I find that the introduction of IFRS 17 is on average associated with...

This paper shows that the notion of rate of return is best understood through the lens of the average-internal-rate-of-return (AIRR) model, first introduced in Magni (2010a). It is an NPV-consistent approach based on a coherent definition of rate of return and on the notion of Chisini mean, it...

This paper provides a detailed description of a new measure of reserve error, the Full Information Reserve Error (FIRE), which was first proposed by Grace and Leverty (2018). We briefly describe the philosophy of FIRE and its advantages. We then present the details on how to calculate it. We...

The new Solvency II regime and the upcoming IFRS 4 Phase II regime bring significant changes to current reporting of insurance entities, and particularly in relation to valuation of insurance liabilities. Insurers will be required to valuate their insurance liabilities on a risk-adjusted basis...

Appointed actuaries are responsible for estimating the largest liability on property-casualty insurance companies' balance sheet. Actuarial independence is crucial in safeguarding accurate estimates, where this independence is self-regulated by actuarial professional institutions. However,...

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Robert Engle and colleagues at New York University developed the NYU Stern Systematic Risk Model (SRISK), a market-based substitute for regulatory measures of systemic risk of financial institutions. This study identifies four shortcomings of SRISK....

This paper examines how the interactions between the valuation regime and solvency requirements influence investment behaviour of long-term investors with stable liabilities, such as life insurers. Under limited liability, solvency requirements based on historical cost valuation encourage...

We examine whether fair value (FV) input levels and estimation sources are related to FV inflation, the difference between an insurer's FV estimate and the consensus FV estimate across the security's holders. FV inflation is higher and self-estimation more likely, when insurers report using...

Firm managers of defined-benefit (DB) pension plan sponsors reveal their primary motives — risk-shifting or risk-management — through their assumed expected rates of return (ERRs) on the plan assets. Managers with risk-shifting motives choose high ERRs to exploit flexible internal financing...

In merger agreements, the seller makes contractual representations and warranties (“reps”) about the state of the target, e.g., attesting to the accuracy of the target’s financial statements. We obtain a proprietary sample of claims for breaches of the reps in acquisition agreements...