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).
Popular Insurance Terms
Total premiums generated from all policies written by an insurance company within a given period of time. ...
Right of an insured to make additional purchases of life insurance without having to take a physical examination or show other evidence of insurability. Additions can be bought at stated ...
Group of insurers or re insurers involved in joint underwriting. Members typically take predetermined shares of premiums, losses, expenses, and profits. Syndicates, more common in ...
Sum total of the annual effective rate of return earned by an owner of a bond if that bond is held until its maturity date. This effective return includes the current income generated by ...
Coverage that pays a fixed dollar amount of interest at regular intervals. ...
Expectation of illness or injury. The probability of such occurrence is shown by a morbidity table, which is important in determining the premiums for health insurance policies. ...
Land and attached structures. Interest in real estate can be protected through various insurance policies. ...
Employee benefit program that emphasizes the pursuit of a lifestyle that minimizes the occurrence of sickness through an organized program of preventive medicine. Such a program includes ...
Coverage against foreign country expropriation underwritten by the overseas private investment corporation (OPIC) for U.S.-owned companies investing in given developing countries. ...
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