Insurance Futures
Futures contracts (legally binding contract that stipulates that delivery of an asset will be taken or delivery of an asset will be made at a future time at an agreed upon price at the current moment) on insurance lines to include catastrophic insurance futures, automobile insurance futures, homeowners insurance futures, and so forth, traded on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). Traditionally, precious metals such as gold and silver; agriculture commodities such as cattle, corn, and soy beans; and United States Treasury issues such as bonds and bills, have all been traded on the CBOT. The aim of the transaction with these futures is to cancel the contract with a gain before the delivery of the commodity. (Who would want cattle delivered to their house?) On the other hand, the insurance futures contract concerns itself with the dollar value the market attaches to an index. In turn, this index is an expectation of how much of the premium income generated by a particular line of insurance will have to be allocated to pay off incurred losses. For example, if the automobile insurance line generates an income of $5,000,000 and the market has an expectation that 90% of that income will have to be allocated to paying off incurred losses, the market will value that futures contract at a price somewhat less than $450,000. This is because of such factors that have to be accounted for as incurred but not reported losses (IBNR).
Popular Insurance Terms
Contract sold by insurance companies that pays a monthly (quarterly, semiannual, or annual) income benefit for the life of a person (the annuitant). The annuitant can never outlive the ...
method of determining the worth of property to be insured, or of property that has been lost or damaged; method of setting insurance company reserves to pay future claims ...
Rules of conduct and commissions paid to agents. For example, under the rules of conduct agents may be required to submit all of their business to only that agency. The contract also lists ...
Method of comparing the costs of a set of cash value life insurance policies that takes into account the time value of money. The true costs of alternative cash value policies with the same ...
Term describing illness, sickness, or disability incurred by the insured such that the insured is restricted to his or her home, a hospital, or a nursing home. Many health insurance ...
Detail showing distribution of property coverages written by an insurance company. Illustrates a potential danger of concentration of insured risks. ...
Period of time of insurance coverage. If a loss occurs during this time, insurance benefits are paid. If a loss occurs after this time period has expired, no insurance benefits are paid. ...
Statistical procedure applied to the data that comprises a mortality table. It is designed to smooth out the irregularities in that data believed to not be truly indicative of the ...
Act that requires the Department of Labor (DOL) to have a formal program to educate the public about the importance of saving for retirement. The DOL is also required to educate the public ...
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