Definition of "Insurance futures"

Futures contracts (legally binding contract that stipulates that delivery of an asset will be taken or delivery of an asset will be made at a future time at an agreed upon price at the current moment) on insurance lines to include catastrophic insurance futures, automobile insurance futures, homeowners insurance futures, and so forth, traded on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). Traditionally, precious metals such as gold and silver; agriculture commodities such as cattle, corn, and soy beans; and United States Treasury issues such as bonds and bills, have all been traded on the CBOT. The aim of the transaction with these futures is to cancel the contract with a gain before the delivery of the commodity. (Who would want cattle delivered to their house?) On the other hand, the insurance futures contract concerns itself with the dollar value the market attaches to an index. In turn, this index is an expectation of how much of the premium income generated by a particular line of insurance will have to be allocated to pay off incurred losses. For example, if the automobile insurance line generates an income of $5,000,000 and the market has an expectation that 90% of that income will have to be allocated to paying off incurred losses, the market will value that futures contract at a price somewhat less than $450,000. This is because of such factors that have to be accounted for as incurred but not reported losses (IBNR).

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

Liability coverage mandated by the employee retirement income security act OF 1974 (erisa) under which employers are required to purchase insurance to cover their contingent liability for ...

Let's dive into the world of real estate and investments! Today, we'll learn about the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, or SIPC for short. This is a genuine mouthful, but this ...

Anticipated insurance-related costs, not including claims-related costs. ...

Same as term Defined Benefit Plan: retirement plan under which benefits are fixed in advance by formula, and contributions vary. The defined benefit plan can be expressed in either of two ...

Specified requirements of minimum age and years of service to be met by an employee before the individual's benefits are vested. For example, under the ten year vesting rule, "n employee ...

Primary responsibility for overseeing the insurance industry that has rested with individual states since 1945, after Congress passed the MCCARRAN-FERGUSON ACT (PUBLIC LAW 15). In addition ...

Cost incurred in adjusting a claim. Claim-adjustment expenses include such items as attorneys' fees and investigation expenses (e.g., witness interviews). The claim settlement dollar amount ...

Policy that pays benefits only when coverage under other applicable insurance policies has become exhausted. For example, the personal umbrella liability policy pays after the liability ...

Coverage for property damage caused by untimely discharge from an automatic sprinkler system. This coverage, available through an endorsement to the Standard Fire Policy, typically excludes ...

Popular Insurance Questions