Insurance

A group of banks and insurance companies recently formed a London-based trade group called the Life and Longevity Markets Association (LLMA). The LLMA aims to develop a liquid market for longevity risk that taps into broader capital markets rather than just the balance sheets of certain insurers and reinsurers. A core focus will be on longevity swaps and making the longevity swap transaction process more efficient. Longevity swaps serve as a risk transfer alternative to pension buyouts. The...

AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company has been an innovator in the variable annuity industry. The company was a pioneer in the area of guaranteed living benefits with the launch of the first guaranteed minimum income benefit . AXA has recently launched a new variable annuity product named "Retirement Cornerstone." Retirement Cornerstone features a "dual account platform" that provides the potential for long-term asset accumulation and growth as well as downside protection through a guaranteed...

China's pension system is in need of reform. The current pay-as-you-go system only covers 30 percent of the population and is funded by a 28 percent payroll tax on participating companies. The remainder of the system is unfunded with liabilities that total almost 140 percent of China's current GDP. Boston University Professor Laurence Kotlikoff provides an interesting set of remedies in a recent op-ed piece. Included in Kotlikoff's set recommendations is the notion of mandatory, state-...

Residencies in the U.S. have been capped at 90,000 per year since 1997 as a result of Congressional attempts to deal with healthcare inflation . According to a recent Bloomberg article: Last year there were 16,721 fewer doctors than needed in inner city and rural areas. By 2025, the U.S. will face a shortfall of as much as 159,300 physicians. This existing physician supply issue will be stoked by health reform and the possibility of 31 million new patients entering the healthcare system with...