Analysis

• Data crunching

  18 September 2014

  The proliferation of so-called 'Big data' as a result of the growth of the internet and the advance of tracking technologies offers great potential for the insurance market, but is not without its challenges, as Marcus Alcock found at the Monte Carlo Rendez Vous

• Bracing for the liquidity squeeze

  16 September 2014

  The push by regulators for the central clearing of derivatives is a serious issue for life insurers that rely on swaps for duration matching. As Hugo Coelho explores, they could be vulnerable to cash collateral calls if interest rates spike

• Reaching the capital summit

  11 September 2014

  On the eve of this year's Monte Carlo Rendez Vous, Marcus Alcock dips his finger into the reinsurance market waters and assesses the temperature with regard to capital, catastrophes and pricing

• Taking some pain out of IFRS 4

  09 September 2014

  The overlaps in terms of data requirements, processes and modelling between the new insurance accounting standard IFRS 4 and Solvency II are considerable and should give some cheer to insurers, argue KPMG's Danny Clark, Peter Ott and Viviane Leflaive

• Border crossing?

  04 September 2014

  Scotland-based insurance companies have drawn up contingency plans ahead of the referendum on independence. In the event of a 'yes' vote they could even move south of the border, as Hugo Coelho reports

• Optimising capital in a Solvency II world

  02 September 2014

  The introduction of Solvency II will bring about both challenges and opportunities from a capital management perspective. Here Sinead Clarke, Scott Mitchell and Eamonn Phelan consider how corporate and portfolio restructuring may be used to optimise capital management under the new regime

• Eiopa to receive more powers - insurers to pay?

  28 August 2014

  The European Commission's recent proposals to increase the power and change the funding sources of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority have raised more than a few eyebrows. Marcus Alcock reports

• Will EWIs make internal models redundant?

  26 August 2014

  The UK's Prudential Regulation Authority continues to press ahead with the use of early warning indicators. Here Simon Yeung examines their usefulness in the face of criticism that they could in effect make internal models themselves surplus to requirements.

• Validation and adjustment of assumptions in catastrophe models

  21 August 2014

  With the industry no closer to standardised benchmarks, companies will need to compare their own data and analysis with available commercial offerings to ascertain reasonable model uncertainty, argues Guillermo Franco

• Reporting: How much more does the ECB want?

  19 August 2014

  The European Central Bank is currently finalising a piece of statistical regulation addressed to insurers, after discussions with the industry ended in July. The requirements will be largely aligned with Solvency II, but in a few areas the bank wants more data, as Hugo Coelho explains