Catastrophic Insurance Futures And Options

Definition of "Catastrophic insurance futures and options"

Nelson Montanez  real estate agent

Written by

Nelson Montanez elite badge icon

Brass Moon Realty

First exchange-traded risk management tool specifically developed for the insurance industry by the Chicago Board of Trade as a way for the primary insurance company to offset its underwriting exposures. See also futures tied to reinsurance. These contracts are designed to provide the insurance company with a hedge against underwriting losses resulting from catastrophic occurrences. The futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a commodity or financial instrument at a set price on a given date. The option permits the owner to decide whether or not to exercise the option to buy or sell the commodity or financial instrument by the stipulated exercise date. The insurance option trading is based on the loss ratio concept (losses incurred over a stipulated time period divided by premiums earned over the same time period). For example, assume an insurance company buys an option on the loss ratio that will fall within the range of 50% to 70%. Should losses fall within that range, the insurance company would then exercise the option and sell the contract, thereby enabling the company to make a profit on the option. This profit could then be used by the company to offset losses. Should the loss portion not fall within the 50% to 70% range, the option would expire at zero value.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Insurance Terms

Method of underwriting by which one or a group of Lloyd's underwriters write business on behalf of a number of Lloyd's syndicates and other insurance companies. Among the benefits of ...

Coverage of two or more persons with the death benefit payable at the first death. Premiums are significantly higher than for policies that insure one person, since the probability of ...

Organization based in Washington, D.C., that is composed of risk and insurance managers of various public entities, to include municipalities and school boards. ...

Insurance arrangement in which all employees of a given business firm are accepted into a plan regardless of their physical condition. The employee cannot be required to take a physical ...

Use of engineering approved fire resistive construction materials exclusively within a structure. ...

Same as term Mortality Table: chart showing rate of death at each age in terms of number of deaths per thousand. ...

Coverage provided by the pension benefit guaranty corporation (pbgc) that guarantees participants a certain level of pension benefits even if the plan terminates without assets. The PBGC ...

Group arrangement in which a network of attorneys provides legal services to the participants in the plan with the attorney fees being reimbursed by the provider. The attorneys who are ...

Legal status giving an insurance company all rights to an insured's property. The abandonment clause is usually found in marine insurance and not in other property insurance policies such ...

Popular Insurance Questions