<p>This licentiate thesis examines the development of the life insurance industry during the period 1855-1914. The aim with the study is to recognise dimensions not frequently addressed by previous research on the insurance industry, namely the impact of social dimensions, including the implicit and explicit economic importance of social movements and the diffusion of knowledge in society at large for the development of the life insurance industry. The study shows that income and price had limited importance in explaining the demand for life insurance before the 20th century and that this can be attributed to a lack of sufficient knowledge regarding financial issues and to a far too high access cost in acquiring a life insurance for a large part of society. The development of the life insurance industry must therefore be understood through improved knowledge both on the part of the life insurance companies and on part of the consumers. The licentiate further shows how diffusion of knowledge throughout society also was due to a diffusion of democratic ideas and the rise of social movements, movements that life insurance actors were a part of. These actions helped open up the financial market for the masses and probably also strengthened the trust towards the industry. It is however hard to dismiss the life insurance actors’ engagement in women’s movement as a cover-up for other disguised motives not so honourable, while a direct economic gain for the life insurance industry is hard to establish.</p>

The treatment of life insurance policies in deceased estates and the effect thereof on marriages in community of property is the cause of various problems for executors. In terms of section 3(3) of the Estate Duty Act 45 of 1955 life insurance policies are deemed to be assets of the deceased. Consequently life insurance policies are reflected in the estate duty addendum of the deceased estate. Life insurance policies however are not always reflected in the liquidation account of the deceased estate as assets, notwithstanding the fact that life insurance policies are deemed to be assets for estate duty purposes. In this regard a distinction should be made between two situations: firstly where life insurance policies are reflected in the liquidation account of the insured estate and secondly where life insurance policies are not reflected in the liquidation account of the insured. For spouses married in community of property this creates a problem especially when you keep in mind that life insurance policies are in many instances a person's biggest monetary asset. When life insurance policies are reflected in the liquidation account of the insured, the surviving spouse has a claim on half of the policy proceeds. When life insurance policies are not reflected in the liquidation account of the insured, the surviving spouse has no claim on the policy proceeds. The problem that arises in this regard is that there is no certainty as to what extent life insurance policies should be included in the calculation of estate duty, and how these policies must be reflected in the estate of the deceased. This uncertainty has been perpetuated by courts. This research will illustrate how the courts came to different conclusions where the facts were more or less similar. / Thesis (LL.M. (Estate Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

The treatment of life insurance policies in deceased estates and the effect thereof on marriages in community of property is the cause of various problems for executors. In terms of section 3(3) of the Estate Duty Act 45 of 1955 life insurance policies are deemed to be assets of the deceased. Consequently life insurance policies are reflected in the estate duty addendum of the deceased estate. Life insurance policies however are not always reflected in the liquidation account of the deceased estate as assets, notwithstanding the fact that life insurance policies are deemed to be assets for estate duty purposes. In this regard a distinction should be made between two situations: firstly where life insurance policies are reflected in the liquidation account of the insured estate and secondly where life insurance policies are not reflected in the liquidation account of the insured. For spouses married in community of property this creates a problem especially when you keep in mind that life insurance policies are in many instances a person's biggest monetary asset. When life insurance policies are reflected in the liquidation account of the insured, the surviving spouse has a claim on half of the policy proceeds. When life insurance policies are not reflected in the liquidation account of the insured, the surviving spouse has no claim on the policy proceeds. The problem that arises in this regard is that there is no certainty as to what extent life insurance policies should be included in the calculation of estate duty, and how these policies must be reflected in the estate of the deceased. This uncertainty has been perpetuated by courts. This research will illustrate how the courts came to different conclusions where the facts were more or less similar. / Thesis (LL.M. (Estate Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

During the last decade several Japanese life insurance companies failed mainly due to interest losses. In fact, interest rate risk dominates mortality risk for a portfolio of business in force. When the interest rates are modelled as random variables, the yields on bonds are the sum of expected short spot rates and a risk premium for random bond prices. However, in our study, we assume a risk-neutral environment, i.e. zero risk premiums. As tools to deal with stochastic interest rates, various interest rate term structure models are considered. The Vasicek model, the Heath-Jarrow-Morton (hereafter “HJM”) approach and Cairns’ model are explained in detail. The history and nature of the very low interest rate environment in Japan is described in line with the monetary policy framework of the central bank. An unusual interest rate movement in the very low interest rate environment is identified. A modified HJM approach and Cairns’ model are chosen in our study. Cairns’ model is used to graduate the initial yield curve. The HJM approach with a specific volatility function and modified to deal with very low interest rates is used for simulating subsequent developments of the initial yield curve. After the introduction of various concepts needed to investigate a life insurance policy portfolio, we prepare for simulation by collecting information and by fitting parameters to market observations. The Yen swap curve is chosen as a base yield curve. The simulation results show how much initial capital and/or margins are needed in order to avoid the ruin of a portfolio.

The aim of the thesis with title Evaluation of life insurance is to choose the most convenient insurance product for a specific client. Since we choose insurance on the basis of several criteria and it is not obvious at first sight which product is the most advantageous, it is suitable to use methods of multiple criteria decision making. In theoretical part basic notions concerning insurance industry and multiple criteria decision making are explained. Next, all methods which are used to determine weights of criteria and to choose the best variant are described in detail. For purposes of the thesis there were gathered drafts contracts for investment life insurance and risk life insurance from seven insurance companies, which means altogether fourteen contracts. In practical part evaluation criteria are determined in collaboration with client and their weights are calculated. Next, order of particular variants was determined. All process was in person consulted with a specialist from the area of insurance industry. On the basis of used methods of multicriterial evaluation of variants we can say that for the specific client the insurance product Bella Vita from the Insurance Company Generali is the best choice. In comparison with other alternatives it´s advantage is insurance payment already from the fifteenth day in case of incapacity for work, which arose as a consequence of injury and high insurance payment in case of hospitalization. If the client will choose investment variant or risk variant depends only on his decision, because their results are comparable.

The diploma work deals with an analysis of the contemporary income distribution system in the Czech Republic and a chosen country of the EU. In order to compare the social system of the Czech Republic with another one, as the representative of the EU Slovakia was chosen for both countries have the same roots in the social area and their developement after dividing the CSFR is not so different as it is in comparison with other countries of the EU. The aim of this diploma work is to make a rounded-off view of the social systems of both countries and their comparison. Nowadays, scarcely anybody doubts that necessity for regulations and reforms in the area income distribution system is bigger and bigger. So far the inhabitants have been appealed for not relying just for the pension paid by the state but for ensuring their retirement from their own funds, especially if they are economically active. Among these funds belong different forms of investments and savings, life insurance and pension insurance. These funds are believed to be the most suitable and accessible means of creation of financial reserves used in the retirement and this diploma work deals with them as well. The diploma work should clarify the problems and by means of a scheme of the system existing in the Czech Republic make easier appreciation of steps made in various life situations.

A number of articles only present hurdle models for count data. we are motivated to present hurdle models for semi-continuous data. Because semi- continuous data is also commonly seen in non-life insurance. The thesis deals with the parameterization of various hurdle models for semi-continuous data besides for count data in non-life insurance. Two components of a hurdle model are modeled separately. A hurdle component is modeled by a logistic regression. For a semi-continuous data, a continuous component is modeled by several various regressions. Parameters of each component are estimated through maximum likelihood estimation. Model selection is mentioned before theoretical approaches are applied on the vehicle insurance data. Finally, we get some predicted values based on the fitted models. The prediction gives insurance companies a general idea on setting premium but not accurate. 1

[pt] As grandes mudanças mundiais ocorridas a partir da década de 70 tornaram o mercado financeiro mais volátil, exigindo medidas que minimizassem o risco do sistema. Iniciou-se assim a utilização de métodos baseados em análise de risco. Este novo conceito tem como princípio a mensuração e a garantia da solvência de uma empresa para que possa operar resguardando-se dos riscos econômicos a que esteja sujeita, com um alto nível de confiança, dado um horizonte de tempo pré definido, utilizando para isso modelos internos de gestão. O modelo proposto nesta dissertação para o risco de subscrição se baseia na utilização de tábuas de múltiplos decrementos e Simulação de Monte Carlo. Foram aplicadas técnicas de Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR) e Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR), bem como avaliadas suas relações com as provisões técnicas em aplicações de seguro de vida e fundos de pensão, nesta situação considerados dois casos: só tendo participantes ativos no grupo e outro incluindo-se participantes assistidos. / [en] The major global changes that occurred from the 70s became financial market more volatile, requiring measures that minimize the risk of the system. It started the use of methods based on risk analysis. This new concept has in principle the measurement and ensuring the solvency of a company that can operate safeguarding themselves from the economic risks, with a high level of confidence, given a pre defined time, using it for internal models management. The proposed model in this dissertation to the risk of subscription is based on the use of tables of multiple decrements and Monte Carlo Simulation. Techniques were applied to Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR) and Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR) and evaluated its relationship with the technical provisions in life insurance applications and pension funds, in this last two cases were considered: only active participants in the group, and another one including other participants attended.

Claims reserving and claims process estimation present classical problems in general insurance. The overall reserves are often determined under the assumption of independence among the lines of business. Though, recently modelling of the dependence among multiple lines of business has become crucial issue of reserving process. In this context, copulae provide a useful tool to construct models which go beyond the classical ones in terms of dependence structure. This thesis deals, in particular, with the copula regression model, its properties and possible applications in general insurance. This approach combines GLM modelling of margins and then expressing the dependence structure using copula. The theoretical methods are illustrated on a real dataset.

This presented thesis deals with applications of Tweedie compound Poisson model in non-life insurance pricing and claims reserving. Tweedie models are exponen- tial dispersion models with power mean-variance relationships and compound Poisson distribution is a particular Tweedie model. The interest in Tweedie com- pound Poisson model is motivated by its applications to generalized linear models (GLMs) and generalized estimation equations (GEE). The purpose of this thesis is to construct pricing and claims reserving models in which the response variables follow Tweedie compound Poisson model. Theoretical approaches are applied on the real datasets. 1