Due to demographic changes and the resulting challenges for government-run pay-as-you-go systems, the importance of funded private or occupational old age provision will increase in the future. These changes have led to many product developments within the segment of old age provision. Life insurers in some markets nowadays offer a great variety of products. The globalisation and cross-border activities have stimulated the transfer of ideas and product innovations between the markets, especially within the deregulated EU-market with its principle of single license over the last years. The low interest rate environment as well as the solvency requirements following Solvency II ask for new concepts in many markets, especially – but not only – with regard to products that integrate guarantees into the saving process.

This web session will therefore consider modern life insurance products with a special focus on innovations in the life insurance markets.

Organised by the EAA - European Actuarial Academy GmbH .

The web session is suited for actuaries or actuarial trainees who are directly or indirectly involved in issues related to developing or controlling life insurance products, such as product development actuaries, risk managers, marketing managers, members of product strategy projects, supervisors, and auditors. Since the focus of the web session will be on innovative products, the main target group are people already concerned with or interested in product development. The web session is also suited for persons who have not yet gained a deep and long-term experience in life insurance product development.

Technical Requirements
Please check with your IT department if your firewall and computer settings support web session participation (the programme GoToTraining is used for this online training). Please also make sure that you are joining the web session with a stable internet connection.

The aim is to present current aspects and innovations in life insurance. Special attention will be given to capital-market oriented products and the design and financing of guarantees in the saving process that are under pressure given the low interest rate environment.

The web session starts with a short discussion of current challenges for the life insurance sector followed by an illustration of typical reactions of insurance companies on this environment. One major reaction was and still is the re-design of guarantee products and/or their substitution by unit-linked concepts. The web session provides a broad overview over different unit-linked (guarantee) products that have been developed over the last 15 years.

Besides that, new challenges driven e.g. by the demographic developments observed throughout of Europe are discussed, including techniques of stochastic modelling of future mortality and modern ways of risk management by product design regarding this specific topic.

The second day is mainly concerned with the comparison of life insurance products from a policyholder as well as an insurance company’s perspective. We close the web session with a discussion of several case studies where risk management by product design is applied to mitigate different issues that may arise for certain product categories.

Dr Stefan Graf
Stefan Graf is senior consultant at the Institut für Finanz- und Aktuarwissenschaften (Institute for Financial and Actuarial Sciences), Ulm Germany. The main focus of his work is on the development and design of unit-linked life insurance products with guarantees with special interest in product comparison methodologies.
He graduated from Ulm University (diploma in Mathematics and Economics) in 2008 and completed his dissertation on “Risk-Return Profiles for Retirement Planning” in 2013. He is a member of the German Association of Insurance and Financial Mathematics (DGVFM) and of the German Actuarial Association (DAV) where he is a member of the consumer protection working group. His academic research interests cover practical issues e.g. of the implementation of the PRIIP-regulation and the assessment of risk-return profiles for financial products.

Dr Alexander Kling
Alexander Kling is partner and senior consultant at the Institut für Finanz- und Aktuarwissenschaften (Institute for Financial and Actuarial Sciences), Ulm Germany. The main focus of his work is on the development and design of innovative life insurance products.
He graduated from University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (MSc. in Mathematics) in 2002 and from Ulm University (diploma in Mathematics and Economics) in 2003. He has completed his doctoral thesis at Ulm University in 2007 and his habilitation in 2019.
Alexander Kling is a member of the German Actuarial Association (DAV), the International Actuarial Association (IAA), the German Association of Insurance and Financial Mathematics (DGVFM), and associated member of the Munich Risk and Insurance Center (MRIC).
Besides his consulting work, he is a lecturer at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Ulm University, and the German as well as European Actuarial Academy (DAA and EAA).