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
Publication that lists premiums charged for products sold by an insurance company. A manual also has underwriting guidelines for agents. A life insurance rate manual includes minimum ...
Projections of future accidental losses based on analyses of historical loss patterns. A projected loss picture is used to determine the pure cost of protection and the resultant basic ...
Professional designation conferred by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to professional business ...
Irrevocable living trust (rights to make any changes are forfeited by the grantor permanently) in which the grantor forfeits control of all assets placed in the trust. However, the grantor ...
Coinsurance requirement such that if a loss is less than $10,000 and also less than 5% of the total of insurance to cover a loss, then the insurance company will not require that the ...
Authority that administers state laws regulating insurance and licenses insurance companies and their agents. ...
Record of losses, whether or not insured. This record is used in predicting future losses and in developing premium rates based on expectation of insured losses. ...
Situation in which several liability insurance policies are in force to cover the same risk, thereby resulting in higher limits of coverage than is required to adequately insure the risk. ...
Same as term Excess of Loss reinsurance: method whereby an insurer pays the amount of each claim for each risk up to a limit determined in advance and the reinsurer pays the amount of the ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.