Catastrophic Insurance Futures And Options
Definition of "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
Stated fixed payment for maternity costs regardless of the actual costs. ...
Property valued according to its earnings potential. However, property insurance contracts generally indemnify an insured on a replacement cost less physical depreciation and obsolescence ...
Risk distribution included by type of coverage, by kind of risk, and by geographical location. ...
Maximum limit of liability of an insurance company for a particular claim or kind of loss that is applicable in general to all such claims or losses. This maximum limit of liability is ...
Means of borrowing at no charge by a policyowner under universal life insurance policies. ...
Coverage underwritten on members of a natural group, such as employees of a particular business, union, association, or employer group. Each employee is entitled to benefits for hospital ...
Statistic indicating the degree of dispersion in a set of outcomes, computed as the arithmetic mean of the differences between each outcome and the average of all outcomes in the set. ...
Coverage for exposures that exhibit a possibility of financial loss. ...
Type of individual retirement account (IRA) allowed by the employees retirement income security act of 1974 (erisa) in which contributions are paid into a custodial account sponsored by a ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.