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
method of gaining illegal entry to perform a criminal act. If a policyholder makes a claim for loss of jewelry or rugs under a homeowners policy, or if a business owner makes a claim for ...
Re-registration of existing shares when there is any change in the name of the owner (s). Such a circumstance may occur when the owner (s) of the shares gives these shares to another ...
Measure used in the retrospective rating method for workers compensation insurance. A factor is applied to the incurred losses during the rating period in question in order to generate a ...
Rating system under which a specific premium rate, rather than a manual or class rate, is assigned to each unit of exposure. ...
Providing coverage for physicians' fees, expenses associated with nonsurgical care whether in the insured's home, hospital, or the physician's office, and expenses connected with X-rays and ...
Method of rating that compares property to be insured to a standard and adjusts the rate for deviations from the standard. A standard building is situated in a standard city of specific ...
Coverage for specialists in various professional fields. Since basic liability policies do not protect against situations arising out of business or professional pursuits, professional ...
State law by which insurance companies are permitted to establish deferred tax assets and liabilities subject to maximum limitations. ...
Interest adjusted method that measures the cost of life insurance. Named for the late distinguished actuary M. Albert Linton. This method compares a whole life policy with a combination of ...

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