11,414 research outputs found
Methodological problems in solvency assessment of an insurance company
The recent wide development and changes in insurance markets highlighted the necessity to map out the solvency analysis in a more complete framework. The approach we present in the paper comes up with an integrated analysis of the risk profile of an insurance business, taking into account the actual European directives about solvency assessment. The aim of the paper is to construct a methodology apt to incorporate properly the effect of the risk sources in calculating mathematical provisions related to a portfolio of insurance policies.Life insurance, financial risk, demographic risk, capital adequacy, reserves, conditional random processes
Patterns of variability in early life traits of a Mediterranean coastal fish
Spawning dates and pelagic larval duration (PLD) are early life traits (ELT) crucial for understanding life cycles, properly assessing patterns of connectivity and gathering indications about patchiness or homogeneity of larval pools. Considering that little attention has been paid to spatial variability in these traits, we investigated variability of ELT from the analysis of otolith microstructure in the common two-banded sea bream Diplodus vulgaris. In the southwestern Adriatic Sea, along ~200 km of coast (∼1° in latitude, 41.2° to 40.2°N), variability of ELT was assessed at multiple spatial scales. Overall, PLD (ranging from 25 to 61 d) and spawning dates (October 2009 to February 2010) showed significant variability at small scales (i.e. <6 km), but not at larger scales. These outcomes suggest patchiness of the larval pool at small spatial scales. Multiple causal processes underlying the observed variability are discussed, along with the need to properly consider spatial variability in ELT, for example when delineating patterns of connectivity. Copyright © 2013 Inter-Research
Legislative and Public Policy Debate: Should the Social Viewpoints of Religious Groups Play No Role?
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Pension schemes versus real estate
The demographic, economic and social changes that have characterized the last decades, and the dramatic financial crisis that has taken place since 2008, have led to a demand for structural changes in the pension sector and a growing interest in individual pension products. Hence the need, for most elderly people, to liquidate their fixed assets, which are usually the homes in which they live. This highlights products such as reverse mortgages and domestic reversibility plans. Within this context, we propose a contractual scheme where an immediate life annuity is obtained by paying a single-premium in the form of real estate rights (RERs), for example by transferring to an insurer the property title of a house or a similar realty, while keeping its usufruct or a restricted bundle of rights. The level of the installments depends on the fair value of the transferred RER at the contract’s issue, the life expectancy of the insured and the expected growth rate of the real estate market value. The contract design is developed by considering the control of the financial risk inherent in the contract itself, because of the prospective changes in the value of the RERs, and the level of the insurer’s leverage. Finally, we provide some numerical evidence of the proposed contractual structure, in order to compare the level of the installments according to the house return forecasts in different European countries
THE COVID-19 EFFECT ON SECURITY MORTGAGE VALUATION
The reverse mortgage market has been expanding rapidly in developed
economies in recent years. Reverse mortgages provide an alternative source of
funding for retirement income and health care costs. We often hear the phrase
“house rich and cash poor” to refer the increasing number of elderly persons
who hold a substantial proportion of their assets in home equity. Reverse
mortgage contracts involve a range of risks from the insurer’s perspective.
When the outstanding balance exceeds the housing value before the loan is
settled, the insurer suffers an exposure to crossover risk induced by three risk
factors: interest rates, house prices, and mortality rates. In this context,
Covid-19 has occurred and the insurer is faced with this additional source of
risk. We analyse the combined impact of these risks on the pricing and the risk
profile of reverse mortgage loans. We consider a CIR process for the evolution
of the interest rate, a Black & Scholes model for the dynamics of house prices
and the Gompertz model for the trend in mortality Our results show that the
decrease in the mortality curve due to Covid exposes the insurer to higher risks
once the shock is reabsorbed. The risk is higher the higher the age of entry.
Only a significant reduction of the shock adjustment coefficient will return the
situation to normalit
Electromagnetic field measurements in ULF-ELF-VLF [0.001 Hz─100 KHz] bands
We are reporting the technological and scientific objectives of the MEM project. The MEM project has been activated in the INGV Observatory of L'Aquila to create in Central Italy a network of observatories in order to monitoring the electromagnetic signals in the frequency band [0.001 Hz–100 kHz]. Some examples of the instrumentation developed in the frame of the project are reported. An innovative technique, based on the wide band interferometry is proposed to obtain detailed information concerning the several detected electromagnetic sources. Moreover, data from each station will be elaborated to investigate different sectors as the structure of ground electric conductibility, the electromagnetic phenomena connected with seismic activity, the separation of the electromagnetic fields originated in the Earth's interior and the electromagnetic phenomena originated in the magnetosphere, in the ionosphere and in the Earth-ionosphere cavity
The development of the INGV tectonomagnetic network in the frame of the MEM Project
In the middle of 1989, the INGV (Italian <i>Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia</i>) installed in Central Italy a network of magnetic stations in order to investigate possible relationship of the local magnetic field with earthquakes occurrences. Actually the network consists of four stations, where the total magnetic field intensity data are being collected using proton precession magnetometers. Here we are report on the actual state and the future developments of the network. In the frame of the MEM (Magnetic and Electric fields Monitoring) Project, new stations will be added to the network by the end of 2007. The results of the test campaigns carried out in the sites chosen to widen the network are also discussed. Moreover, the 2006 complete data set of the network is also reported. Concerning the data analysis, a new approach is also discussed that takes into account the inductive effects on the local geomagnetic field by means of the inter-station transfer functions time variations analysis
Variation in the μ-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) moderates the influence of early maternal care on fearful attachment
There is evidence that both early experience and genetic variation play a role in influencing sensitivity to social rejection. In this
study, we aimed at ascertaining if the A118G polymorphism of the k-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) moderates the impact of early
maternal care on fearful attachment, a personality trait strongly related to rejection sensitivity. In 112 psychiatric patients, early
maternal care and fearful attachment were measured using the Parental Bonding Inventory and the Relationship Questionnaire
(RQ), respectively. The pattern emerging from the RQ data was a crossover interaction between genotype and maternal caregiving.
Participants expressing the minor 118 G allele had similar and relatively high scores on fearful attachment regardless of
the quality of maternal care. By contrast, early experience made a major difference for participants carrying the A/A genotype.
Those who recalled higher levels of maternal care reported the lowest levels of fearful attachment whereas those who recalled
lower levels of maternal care scored highest on fearful attachment. Our data fit well with the differential susceptibility model
which stipulates that plasticity genes would make some individuals more responsive than others to the negative consequences of
adversity and to the benefits of environmental support and enrichment
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