Let X1, . . . , Xn be a set of n continuous and non-negative random variables, with log-concave joint density function f, faced by a person who seeks for an optimal deductible coverage for this n risks. Let d = (d1, . . . dn) and d ∗ = (d ∗ 1 , . . . d∗ n ) be two vectors of deductibles...

Premiums and benefi ts associated with traditional life insurance contracts are usually specifi ed as fi xed amounts in policy conditions. However, reserve-dependent surrender values and reserve-dependent expenses are common in insurance practice. The famous Cantelli theorem in life insurance...

This paper contains an overview and an extension of the theory on comonotonicity-based model-free upper bounds and super-replicating strategies for stock index options, as presented in Hobson et al. (2005) and Chen et al. (2008). Whereas these authors only consider index call options, here a...

For lifelong health insurance covers, medical inflation not sufficiently incorporated in the level premiums determined at policy issue requires an appropriate increase of these premiums and/or of the corresponding reserves during the term of the contract. This premium and/or reserve update is...

In this paper, we investigate an optimization problem related to super-replicating strategies for European-type call options written on a weighted sum of asset prices, following the initial approach in Chen et al. (2008). Three issues are investigated. The first issue is the (non-)uniqueness of...

The computation of various risk metrics is essential to the quantitative risk management of variable annuity guaranteed benefits. The current market practice of Monte Carlo simulation often requires intensive computations, which can be very costly for insurance companies to implement and take so...

In this paper, we introduce two classes of indices which can be used to measure the market perception concerning the degree of dependency that exists between a set of random variables, representing different stock prices at a fixed future date.The construction of these measures is based on the...

We introduce a new and easy-to-calculate measure for the expected degree of herd behavior or co-movement between stock prices. This forward looking measure is model-independent and based on observed option data. It is baptized the Herd Behavior Index (HIX).The degree of co-movement in a stock...

Probability statements about future evolutions of financial and actuarial risks are expressed in terms of the ‘real-world' probability measure P, whereas in an arbitrage-free environment, the prices of these traded risks can be expressed in terms of an equivalent martingale measure Q. The...