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Business and Economics > Insurance

You are looking at 1 - 6 of 6 items for :

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Cover IMF Working Papers
Stress Tests for Defined Benefit Pension Plans – A Primer
Gregorio Impavido
Stress testing is a useful and increasingly popular, yet sometimes misunderstood, method of analyzing the resilience of financial systems to adverse events. This paper aims to help demystify stress tests and illustrate their strengths and weaknesses. Using an Excel-based template with institution-specific data, readers are walked through the basics of liability valuation and stress testing of assets and liabilities of a typical defined benefit plan.
Keywords:
WP; present value; interest rate
Cover IMF Working Papers
How the Financial Crisis Affects Pensions and Insurance and Why the Impacts Matter
Ian Tower
and
Gregorio Impavido
This paper discusses the key sources of vulnerabilities for pension plans and insurance companies in light of the global financial crisis of 2008. It also discusses how these institutional investors transit shocks to the rest of the financial sector and economy. The crisis has re-ignited the policy debate on key issues such as: 1) the need for countercyclical funding and solvency rules; 2) the tradeoffs implied in marked based valuation rules; 3) the need to protect contributors towards retirement from excessive market volatility; 4) the need to strengthen group supervision for large complex financial institutions including insurance and pensions; and 5) the need to revisit the resolution and crisis management framework for insurance and pensions.
Keywords:
WP; pension assets; rate of return; asset volatility; balance sheet; financial crisis; holding company; interest rate; investment risk
Cover IMF Working Papers
Public Pension Reform: A Primer
Mr. Alain Jousten
The present paper reviews key issues in pension design and pension reform encountered all across the world. The paper heavily refers to the recent U.S. Social Security reform debate in general and to the Personal Retirement Accounts proposal in particular. A particular emphasis is put on annuitization and risk-taking in the economy. Our discussion signals some inadequacy of the proposed measures with respect to the goals of viability of the system and individual financial security during retirement.
Keywords:
WP; pension plan; rate of return; early retirement; present discounted value; investment strategy; household behavior; welfare programs; social security; pension funds; demographic trends; retirement; risk pooling; adverse selection; retirement age; PRA proposal; plan sponsor; PRA saving; economic value; PRA investor; Pensions; Pension spending; Aging; Insurance; Europe; Africa; Asia and Pacific
Cover IMF Survey
IMF Survey: Volume 29, Issue 01
International Monetary Fund. External Relations Dept.
The Web edition of the IMF Survey is updated several times a week, and contains a wealth of articles about topical policy and economic issues in the news. Access the latest IMF research, read interviews, and listen to podcasts given by top IMF economists on important issues in the global economy. www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/home.aspx
Keywords:
SV; IMF's website; structural adjustment Facility; SDR; gold sale; contingency financing facility; fund Facility; decision-making role; Poverty reduction strategy; Insurance; Exchange rate arrangements; Employment; Poverty reduction; Global; Europe; Africa; Pacific Islands; Central and Eastern Europe; Asia and Pacific
Cover IMF Working Papers
Regulation of Withdrawals in Individual Account Systems
Mr. Jan Walliser
Funded mandatory pension systems based on individual accounts are spreading around the world. With the maturation of these systems, regulating the withdrawal of retirement savings will become increasingly important. Government regulation of withdrawals should mandate the purchase of inflation-indexed life annuities exceeding income available from government welfare programs for the retiree and potential survivors. Proper functioning of insurance markets does not, however, require annuitizing the entire account balance. Instead, more flexibility for the choice of withdrawals could be permitted for any remaining funds, helping to tailor income streams to individual needs and living arrangements.
Keywords:
WP; annuities market; annuity insurance markets well; investment portfolio; refund annuity; annuity; pension reform; individual accounts; family annuity contract; annuity company; Insurance; Aging; Retirement; Pensions; Income; Eastern Europe
Cover IMF Working Papers
The Insurance Role of Social Security: Theory and Lessons for Policy Reform
Mr. Victor Hugo Valdivia
This paper examines the impact of social security on welfare. The provision of social security reduces precautionary savings and encourages early retirement. Consequently, it lowers aggregate capital, employment, output, and consumption. On the other hand, it also provides old age insurance. This trade-off is examined using a life-cycle general equilibrium model. The paper finds that the current U.S. Social Security system can improve welfare even though the levels of aggregate output, employment, capital, and consumption fall relative to their levels without such a system. The welfare gains arise from insurance against living much longer than expected.
Keywords:
WP; early retirement; adverse selection; Social Security; Public Finance; Computable General Equilibrium; welfare gain; earnings profile; Social Security benefit; impact of Social Security; consumption decision rule; insurance value; Securities; Insurance; Aging; Retirement; Consumption