A class of non-zero-sum stochastic differential investment and reinsurance games

In this article, we provide a systematic study on the non-zero-sum stochastic differential investment and reinsurance game between two insurance companies. Each insurance company’s surplus process consists of a proportional reinsurance protection and an investment in risky and risk-free assets. Each insurance company is assumed to maximize his utility of the difference between his terminal surplus and that of his competitor. The surplus process of each insurance company is modeled by a mixed regime-switching Cramer–Lundberg diffusion approximation process, i.e. the coefficients of the diffusion risk processes are modulated by a continuous-time Markov chain and an independent market-index process. Correlation between the two surplus processes, independent of the risky asset process, is allowed. Despite the complex structure, we manage to solve the resulting non-zero sum game problem by applying the dynamic programming principle. The Nash equilibrium, the optimal reinsurance/investment, and the resulting value processes of the insurance companies are obtained in closed forms, together with sound economic interpretations, for the case of an exponential utility function.postprin

Stochastic maximum principle for partial information optimal investment and dividend problem of an insurer

We study an optimal investment and dividend problem of an insurer, where the aggregate insurance claims process is modeled by a pure jump Lévy process. We allow the management of the dividend payment policy and the investment of surplus in a continuous-time financial market, which is composed of a risk free asset and a risky asset. The information available to the insurer is partial information. We generalize this problem as a partial information regular-singular stochastic control problem, where the control variable consists of regular control and singular control. Then maximum principles are established to give sufficient and necessary optimality conditions for the solutions of the regular-singular control problem. Finally we apply the maximum principles to solve the investment and dividend problem of an insurer

A class of nonzero-sum investment and reinsurance games subject to systematic risks

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Recently, there have been numerous insightful applications of zero-sum stochastic differential games in insurance, as discussed in Liu et al. [Liu, J., Yiu, C. K.-F. & Siu, T. K. (2014). Optimal investment of an insurer with regime-switching and risk constraint. Scandinavian Actuarial Journal 2014(7), 583–601]. While there could be some practical situations under which nonzero-sum game approach is more appropriate, the development of such approach within actuarial contexts remains rare in the existing literature. In this article, we study a class of nonzero-sum reinsurance-investment stochastic differential games between two competitive insurers subject to systematic risks described by a general compound Poisson risk model. Each insurer can purchase the excess-of-loss reinsurance to mitigate both systematic and idiosyncratic jump risks of the inter-arrival claims; and can invest in one risk-free asset and one risky asset whose price dynamics follows the famous Heston stochastic volatility model [Heston, S. L. (1993). A closed-form solution for options with stochastic volatility with applications to bond and currency options. Review of Financial Studies6, 327–343]. The main objective of each insurer is to maximize the expected utility of his terminal surplus relative to that of his competitor. Dynamic programming principle for this class of nonzero-sum game problems leads to a non-canonical fixed-point problem of coupled non-linear integral-typed equations. Despite the complex structure, we establish the unique existence of the Nash equilibrium reinsurance-investment strategies and the corresponding value functions of the insurers in a representative example of the constant absolute risk aversion insurers under a mild, time-independent condition. Furthermore, Nash equilibrium strategies and value functions admit closed forms. Numerical studies are also provided to illustrate the impact of the systematic risks on the Nash equilibrium strategies. Finally, we connect our results to that under the diffusion-approximated model by proving explicitly that the Nash equilibrium under the diffusion-approximated model is an (Formula presented.) -Nash equilibrium under the general Poisson risk model, thereby establishing that the analogous Nash equilibrium in Bensoussan et al. [Bensoussan, A., Siu, C. C., Yam, S. C. P. & Yang, H. (2014). A class of nonzero-sum stochastic differential investment and reinsurance games. Automatica50(8), 2025–2037] serves as an interesting complementary case of the present framework

Optimal strategies of hedging portfolio of unit-linked life insurance contracts with minimum death guarantee

Dans ce papier, nous nous intéressons à la couverture des contrats en unités de compte avec garanties décès. Nous présentons des stratégies de couverture opérationnelles permettant de réduire de façon significative les coûts futurs liés à ce type de contrats. Suivant les recommandations des nouveaux référentiels (IFRS, Solvabilité 2 et MCEV), la prime de risque est introduite dans les évaluations. L‟optimalité des stratégies est constatée au moyen de la comparaison des indicateurs de risque (Pertes espérée, écart type, VaR, CTE et perte Maximale) des stratégies dans le modèle standard de Black-Scholes et dans le modèle à sauts de Merton. Nous analysons la robustesse des stratégies à une hausse brutale de la mortalité future et à une forte dépréciation du prix de l‟actif sous-jacent.Unit-linked; Death guarantee; Hedging strategies; Transaction and error of re-hedging costs; risk indicators; stress-testing

Optimal Reinsurance-Investment Strategy for a Monotone Mean-Variance Insurer in the Cram\'er-Lundberg Model

As classical mean-variance preferences have the shortcoming of non-monotonicity, portfolio selection theory based on monotone mean-variance preferences is becoming an important research topic recently. In continuous-time Cram\'er-Lundberg insurance and Black-Scholes financial market model, we solve the optimal reinsurance-investment strategies of insurers under mean-variance preferences and monotone mean-variance preferences by the HJB equation and the HJBI equation, respectively. We prove the validity of verification theorems and find that the optimal strategies under the two preferences are the same. This illustrates that neither the continuity nor the completeness of the market is necessary for the consistency of two optimal strategies. We make detailed explanations for this result. Thus, we develop the existing theory of portfolio selection problems under the monotone mean-variance criterion

Switching Diffusions: Applications To Ecological Models, And Numerical Methods For Games In Insurance

Recently, a class of dynamic systems called ``hybrid systems containing both continuous dynamics and discrete events has been adapted to treat a wide variety of situations arising in many real-world situations. Motivated by such development, this dissertation is devoted to the study of dynamical systems involving a Markov chain as the randomly switching process. The systems studied include hybrid competitive Lotka-Volterra ecosystems and non-zero-sum stochastic differential games between two insurance companies with regime-switching. The first part is concerned with competitive Lotka-Volterra model with Markov switching. A novelty of the contribution is that the Markov chain has a countable state space. Our main objective is to reduce the computational complexity by using the two-time-scale formulation. Because the existence and uniqueness as well as continuity of solutions for Lotka-Volterra ecosystems with Markovian switching in which the switching takes place in a countable set are not available, such properties are studied first. The two-time scale feature is highlighted by introducing a small parameter into the generator of the Markov chain. When the small parameter goes to 0, there is a limit system or reduced system. It is established in this work that if the reduced system possesses certain properties such as permanence and extinction, etc., then the complex original system also has the same properties when the parameter is sufficiently small. These results are obtained by using the perturbed Lyapunov function methods. The second part develops an approximation procedure for a class of non-zero-sum stochastic differential games for investment and reinsurance between two insurance companies. Both proportional reinsurance and excess-of-loss reinsurance policies are considered. We develop numerical algorithms to obtain the approximation to the Nash equilibrium by adopting the Markov chain approximation methodology. We establish the convergence of the approximation sequences and the approximation to the value functions. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the applicability of the algorithms

Optimal Monotone Mean-Variance Problem in a Catastrophe Insurance Model

This paper explores an optimal investment and reinsurance problem involving both ordinary and catastrophe insurance businesses. The catastrophic events are modeled as following a compound Poisson process, impacting the ordinary insurance business. The claim intensity for the ordinary insurance business is described using a Cox process with a shot-noise intensity, the jump of which is proportional to the size of the catastrophe event. This intensity increases when a catastrophe occurs and then decays over time. The insurer's objective is to maximize their terminal wealth under the Monotone Mean-Variance (MMV) criterion. In contrast to the classical Mean-Variance (MV) criterion, the MMV criterion is monotonic across its entire domain, aligning better with fundamental economic principles. We first formulate the original MMV optimization problem as an auxiliary zero-sum game. Through solving the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman-Isaacs (HJBI) equation, explicit forms of the value function and optimal strategies are obtained. Additionally, we provides the efficient frontier within the MMV criterion. Several numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the practical implications of the results