Unit-linked Life Insurance Products Research Articles

Tanggung Jawab Hukum Perjanjian Asuransi Jiwa Unit Link di PT. Prudential Life Assurance Jakarta

This study aims to determine and understand how the legal liability of the Prudential Life Assurance Company in carrying out and marketing unit-linked life insurance products, namely insurance products that are linked to investment according to the prevailing laws and regulations. In addition, this study also aims to determine how the responsibility of agent who act for and on behalf of the company in entering into unit-linked insurance product agreements and what risks must be borne by the insurer and the insured against the unit-linked life insurance agreement. This research uses normative legal research with a statutory approach and a conceptual approach. The result of this research is that the unit linked insurance agreement is included in the agreement in general which contains the principle of consensualism, namely the existence of a voluntary agreement in this case to enter into an insurance contract agreement between the insurer and the insured. Prudential Indonesia in marketing unit-linked life insurance products has also complied with the provisions in the Financial Services Authority Circular Letter Number /SEOJK.05/2019 concerning Insurance Products Related to Investment.

Testing the risk as feeling and risk as analysis perspective for insurance: the antecedents of purchasing unit-linked life insurance products

Risk and uncertainty are critical to human decision-making. Yet our understanding of the underlying traits that present the foundation of decision-making remains limited. The work develops a causal model of the antecedents of consumers’ purchase behavior in the context of unit-linked life insurance products. Our experimental approach (n = 929) builds on the risk as analysis and risk as feeling perspective, which entails huge theoretical and practical contributions. Risk avoidance and uncertainty avoidance are identified to strongly influence the product perceptions. We complement our findings by investigating the conditions that favor the influence of both traits by investigating moderating effects.

Incorporation of Stochastic Policyholder Behavior in Analytical Pricing of GMABs and GMDBs

Variable annuities represent certain unit-linked life insurance products offering different types of protection commonly referred to as guaranteed minimum benefits (GMXBs). They are designed for the increasing demand of the customers for private pension provision. In this paper we analytically price variable annuities with guaranteed minimum repayments at maturity and in case of the insured’s death. If the contract is prematurely surrendered, the policyholder is entitled to the current value of the fund account reduced by the prevailing surrender fee. The financial market and the mortality model are affine linear. For the surrender model, a Cox process is deployed whose intensity is given by a deterministic function (s-curve) with stochastic inputs from the financial market. So, the policyholders’ surrender behavior depends on the performance of the financial market and is stochastic. The presented pricing scheme incorporates the stochastic surrender behavior of the policyholders and is only based on suitable closed-form approximations.

Inwestycyjny charakter ubezpieczeń na życie z ubezpieczeniowym funduszem kapitałowym

The paper considers the issue of unit-linked life insurance, and seeks to verify two hypotheses: that unit-linked life insurance products available on the Polish market have an investment character, and that their main purpose is to multiply invested capital. The study was based on a detailed analysis of the General Terms and Conditions of Insurance, a review of the market of unit-linked life insurance with a particular emphasis on the insurers' marketing communication and available statistics. It was found that there was no basis to reject the hypotheses, which means that the unit-linked life insurance products in the Polish market represent an alternative form of investment to those offered by other financial institutions. It was also found that the protective part in these products is marginal, and the aim of isolating it is strictly for the legal classification of certain products like unit-linked life insurance.

Risk-minimization for life insurance liabilities with basis risk

In this paper we study the hedging of typical life insurance payment processes in a general setting by means of the well-known risk-minimization approach. We find the optimal risk-minimizing strategy in a financial market where we allow for investments in a hedging instrument based on a longevity index, representing the systematic mortality risk. Thereby we take into account and model the basis risk that arises due to the fact that the insurance company cannot perfectly hedge its exposure by investing in a hedging instrument that is based on the longevity index, not on the insurance portfolio itself. We also provide a detailed example within the context of unit-linked life insurance products where the dependency between the index and the insurance portfolio is described by means of an affine mean-reverting diffusion process with stochastic drift.

How sensitive is the pricing of lookback and interest rate guarantees when changing the modelling assumptions?

This paper aims to give detailed insights into the price sensitivity of embedded investment guarantees provided by unit-linked life insurance products. Particularly, it analyzes the model and parameter risk from the provider’s perspective. We compare two different forms of investment guarantees: Interest Rate Guarantees (IRG) and Lookback Guarantees (LBG). Via Monte Carlo simulation, the prices of the embedded investment guarantees are estimated assuming the underlying to evolve according to a normal or double-exponential jump–diffusion model. The input parameters are derived from empirical data for various asset classes. In a first step, the parameters of the IRG and the LBG are adjusted such the prices of these two guarantees are equal. In a second step, a detailed comparison is made between the price sensitivities of both guarantee forms when the initial modelling parameters are changed. Finally, we investigate how parameter changes affect the investor payoff under the different guarantee forms and model assumptions used for the dynamic of the underlying.

Romanian Unit-linked Life Insurance Market

This study presents the legislation that regulates the Romanian unit-linked life insurance market. The main document that regulates both the insurance business on Romanian market and the organizing and operating of the Insurance Supervisory Commission (CSA) is Law no.32/2000 on insurance undertakings and insurance supervision, as amended and supplemented, which provides: organizing and operating of insurance, insurance/reinsurance and reinsurance undertakings, of mutual undertakings, as well as of insurance intermediaries; organizing and operating of the CSA; supervision of the insurance and reinsurance undertakings conducting business in or from Romania; supervision of the insurance and reinsurance intermediaries, as well as the supervision of other activities related to the insurance mediation. The legislation which regulates the Romanian insurance market includes: norms issued by CSA; laws and governmental ordinances that regulate the Romanian financial market; CSA draft regulations which are to be submitted to consulting with the players on the market; EU Directives in the insurance field; repealed or no longer in force legislative acts and international sanctions. According to Directive, 2002 /83/EC, unit-linked life insurance products were defined as insurance contracts where the benefits provided are directly linked to the value of units in undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) or to the value of assets contained in an internal fund owned by the insurance undertaking, usually divided into units, or a share index or some other reference value. The financial supervision shall include verification, with respect to the insurance undertaking's entire business, of its state of solvency, the establishment of technical provisions, including mathematical provisions, and of the assets covering them, in accordance with the rules laid down or practices followed in the home Member State pursuant to the provisions adopted at Community level. Each Member State shall require of every insurance undertaking whose head office is situated in its territory an adequate available solvency margin in respect of its entire business. In general the European Union requirements and the national requirements are common for all life insurance products offered by an insurance company and also there is not a very clear distinction between the legislation regarding unit-linked life insurance products and the one regarding traditional life insurance products. Policyholders want to enjoy the benefits of equity investment in conjunction with mortality protection, and insurers have developed unit-linked contracts to meet this challenge. Unit linked insurance products are life insurance policies with investment component. Although some unit-linked contract types pass most of the asset risk to the policyholder and involve little or no investment risk for the insurer, it was natural for insurers to incorporate payment guarantees in these new contracts.

Dynamic hybrid products in life insurance: Assessing the policyholders’ viewpoint

Dynamic hybrid life insurance products are intended to meet new consumer needs regarding stability in terms of guarantees as well as sufficient upside potential. In contrast to traditional participating or classical unit-linked life insurance products, the guarantee offered to the policyholders is achieved by a periodical rebalancing process between three funds: the policy reserves (i.e. the premium reserve stock, thus causing interaction effects with traditional participating life insurance contracts), a guarantee fund, and an equity fund. In this paper, we consider an insurer offering both, dynamic hybrid and traditional participating life insurance contracts and focus on the policyholders’ perspective. The results show that higher guarantees do not necessarily imply a higher willingness-to-pay, but that in case of dynamic hybrid contracts, a minimum guarantee level should be offered in order to ensure that the willingness-to-pay exceeds the minimum premium the insurer has to charge when selling the contract. In addition, strong interaction effects can be found between the two products, which particularly impact the willingness-to-pay of the dynamic hybrids.

Dynamic Hybrid Products in Life Insurance: Assessing the Policyholderss Viewpoint

Dynamic hybrid life insurance products are intended to meet new consumer needs regarding stability in terms of guarantees as well as sufficient upside potential. In contrast to traditional participating or classical unit-linked life insurance products, the guarantee offered to the policyholders is achieved by a periodical rebalancing process between three funds: the policy reserves (i.e. the premium reserve stock, thus causing interaction effects with traditional participating life insurance contracts), a guarantee fund, and an equity fund. In this paper, we consider an insurer offering both, dynamic hybrid and traditional participating life insurance contracts and focus on the policyholders’ perspective. The results show that higher guarantees do not necessarily imply a higher willingness-to-pay, but that in case of dynamic hybrid contracts, a minimum guarantee level should be offered in order to ensure that the willingness-to-pay exceeds the minimum premium the insurer has to charge when selling the contract. In addition, strong interaction effects can be found between the two products, which particularly impact the willingness-to-pay of the dynamic hybrids.

How Do Price Presentation Effects Influence Consumer Choice? The Case of Life Insurance Products

An attractive life insurance product design becomes increasingly important due to demographic change and a declining confidence in state-run pension schemes. Most life insurance contracts are often offered with investment guarantees embedded in the savings part of the product. In addition, regulatory authorities and consumers currently ask for more cost transparency with respect to product components (e.g., risk premium for death benefits, savings premium, cost of investment guarantee) including administration costs. In this regard, it is important for insurance companies and regulators to know to what extent the way of presenting the prices of an offer affects consumer choice. The aim of this paper is to measure the effects of different forms of presenting the price of life insurance contract components and especially of investment guarantees on consumer evaluation of this product. This is done by means of an experimental study and by focusing on unit-linked life insurance products. Our findings reveal that contrary to, for example, consumer products, there is no effect of price bundling and price optic on consumer evaluation and purchase intention for life insurance products. However, there is a significant moderating effect of consumer experience and price perception on this relationship.

Price presentation and consumers’ choice

Currently, regulatory authorities and consumers ask for more cost transparency with respect to financial product components. In life insurance, for instance, the premium for products should be split in its components: A premium for death benefits, the savings premium, the cost of an investment guarantee, and the administration costs. In this regard, it is important for insurance companies and regulators to know to what extent the way of presenting the prices of an offer affects consumer evaluation of the product. Based on a paper by Huber et al. (How do price presentation effects influence consumer choice? The case of life insurance products. Working paper, 2011) as presented at the annual meeting of Deutscher Verein fur Versicherungswissenschaft in 2011, this article presents the effects of different forms of presenting the price of life insurance contract components and especially of investment guarantees on consumer evaluation of this product. This is done by means of an experimental study using a representative panel for Switzerland and by focusing on unit-linked life insurance products. The findings reveal that, contrary to consumer products, there is no effect of price bundling and price optic on consumer evaluation and purchase intention for life insurance products. However, there is a significant moderating effect of consumer experience with insurance products on this relationship.

Locally risk-minimizing hedging strategies for unit-linked life insurance contracts under a regime switching Lévy model

This paper extends the model and analysis in that of Vandaele and Vanmaele [Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, 2008, 42: 1128–1137]. We assume that parameters of the Levy process which models the dynamic of risky asset in the financial market depend on a finite state Markov chain. The state of the Markov chain can be interpreted as the state of the economy. Under the regime switching Levy model, we obtain the locally risk-minimizing hedging strategies for some unit-linked life insurance products, including both the pure endowment policy and the term insurance contract.

On the Valuation of Investment Guarantees in Unit-linked Life Insurance: A Customer Perspective

Interest rate guarantees in unit-linked life insurance products ensure that at contract maturity, at least a minimum guaranteed amount is paid, even if the mutual fund falls below the guaranteed level. Strongly depending on the riskiness of the underlying mutual fund, these guarantees can be of substantial value. However, while insurer pricing is based on the replication of cash flows, customers are more likely to base their decisions on individual preferences. The aim of this paper is to contrast reservation prices for guarantees in unit-linked life insurance policies based on customers’ subjective willingness to pay with a financial pricing approach, an investigation that has not been undertaken to date. To do so, we use an online questionnaire survey and calculate reservation prices using option pricing theory. Our findings reveal that even though the majority of the participants in the online questionnaire are employed in the field of insurance, subjective prices are difficult to derive and are significantly lower on average than the prices obtained using a financial pricing model. However, a considerable portion of participants is still willing to pay a substantially higher price.

The Risk Management of Minimum Return Guarantees

AbstractContracts paying a guaranteed minimum rate of return and a fraction of a positive excess rate, which is specified relative to a benchmark portfolio, are closely related to unit-linked life-insurance products and can be considered as alternatives to direct investment in the underlying benchmark. They contain an embedded power option, and the key issue is the tractable and realistic hedging of this option, in order to rigorously justify valuation by arbitrage arguments and prevent the guarantees from becoming uncontrollable liabilities to the issuer. We show how to determine the contract parameters conservatively and implement robust risk-management strategies.