This paper is the first that formally compares investment risk taking by pension funds and insurance firms. Using a unique and extended dataset that covers the volatile investment period 1995-2009, we find that, in the Netherlands, insurers take substantially less investment risk than pension...

This paper assesses the impact of variable investment-linked deferred annuities (VILDAs) on lifecycle consumption, saving, and portfolio allocation patterns given stochastic and systematic mortality. Insurers have taken two approaches to manage systematic mortality risks, namely self-insurance...

Insurance Industry is going through a very important stage of its transformation - the transition from the classical system of management into a risk-based management. These changes were launched in Europe by international organizations which deal with the development of the necessary...

In this paper, we investigate the problem of immunization of insurers’ surplus when liabilities are financed by a stream of assets. The term structure of interest rates is assumed to be random, as are the streams of assets and liabilities. A new inequality for changes in the portfolio surplus...

Berkshire Hathaway has realized a Sharpe ratio of 0.76, higher than any other stock or mutual fund with a history of more than 30 years, and Berkshire has a significant alpha to traditional risk factors. However, we find that the alpha becomes insignificant when controlling for exposures to...

Savings rate in Pakistan is one of the lowest in the regional countries. As a result, investment to GDP ratio has been dismally low as well. Low investment results in low capital formation and hence lower long term growth and hence low levels of development. The long term growth literature from...

Using novel data on investors' bond portfolios, we study the contagion of the crisis from securitized bonds to corporate bonds. When securitized bonds became “toxic” in August 2007, mutual funds retained the now illiquid securitized bonds and sold corporate bonds. Funds with negative flows...

Infrastructure as a new asset class is said to have several distinct and attractive investment characteristics. This article reviews concepts, market developments and empirical evidence on the rist-return and cash flows profile, and the potential for diversification and inflation protection in...