Catastrophic Insurance Futures And Options
First exchange-traded risk management tool specifically developed for the insurance industry by the Chicago Board of Trade as a way for the primary insurance company to offset its underwriting exposures. See also futures tied to reinsurance. These contracts are designed to provide the insurance company with a hedge against underwriting losses resulting from catastrophic occurrences. The futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a commodity or financial instrument at a set price on a given date. The option permits the owner to decide whether or not to exercise the option to buy or sell the commodity or financial instrument by the stipulated exercise date. The insurance option trading is based on the loss ratio concept (losses incurred over a stipulated time period divided by premiums earned over the same time period). For example, assume an insurance company buys an option on the loss ratio that will fall within the range of 50% to 70%. Should losses fall within that range, the insurance company would then exercise the option and sell the contract, thereby enabling the company to make a profit on the option. This profit could then be used by the company to offset losses. Should the loss portion not fall within the 50% to 70% range, the option would expire at zero value.
Popular Insurance Terms
Observance of an event occurring on a repeated basis that leads one to believe that a certain probability is attached to the occurrence of that event. For example, if there are a red ball ...
Same as term Contingent Business Income Coverage Form: coverage for loss in the net earnings of a business if a supplier business, subcontractor, key customer, or manufacturer doing ...
Frequency with which employees resign, are fired, or retire from a company, usually computed as the percentage, of an organization's employees at the beginning of a calendar year. The ...
Policy under which a portion of the death benefit (generally 25%) becomes payable to the insured for a specified medical condition prior to death. The purpose of the accelerated death ...
Individual prohibited under the employee retirement income security act of 1974 (erisa) from conducting transactions with a trust plan. The prohibition is intended to prevent a conflict of ...
Hospital, physician, or other provider of health care that an insurer recommends to insureds. A PPO allows insurance companies to negotiate directly with hospitals and physicians for health ...
Latin phrase meaning "beyond power or authority" describing an act by a corporation that exceeds its legal powers. For example, corporations do not have the authority to engage in the ...
State law that stipulates the establishment of required reserves for claims made basis liability coverage contracts, removes the excess statutory reserves, and directs that all amounts that ...
To accumulate. For example, under one of the dividend options of a participating life insurance policy, dividends can accumulate at interest by leaving them with the insurance company; cash ...

Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.