We test the joint dynamics between the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index futures and the underlying cash index using a Bivariate Threshold AutoRegressive model, which is better able to capture the complex return dynamics evident in financial time series. The results are consistent with a three-regime...

To better understand the distribution of resources and health care consumption patterns in different geo-ethnic and socio-economic settings, we sought to describe the patterns of illness, care-seeking behavior and health services utilization in Hong Kong compared to the US and UK. Data were...

The variable annuity market in Japan is still young, but growing rapidly. Most variable annuities in Japan are sold with one or more investment guarantees, such as a Guaranteed Minimum Maturity Benefit (GMMB), which guarantees that the ultimate annuity principal will not fall below a pre-set...

In Singapore personal injury litigations, successful claimants usually receive their compensations as a lump sum. The main advantage of a lump sum payment is that the proceedings can be concluded with a 'clean break' between the parties. The lump sum is a result of discounting the future...

Conventionally, isolated (point-wise) prediction intervals are used to quantify the uncertainty in future mortality rates and other demographic quantities such as life expectancy. A pointwise interval reflects uncertainty in a variable at a single time point, but it does not account for any...

In this paper the effects of temporal aggregation on a class of Markov switching models known as MSG models, are investigated. Mathematical formulae are derived for the first and second moments of an aggregated MSG model.