Actuarial executives and insurer’s risk level : do actuarial executives make difference?

We examine the relationship between the presence of actuarial and other risk-related top executives on the risk levels of property-casualty insurance companies in the United States during 2007-2010. We find that the presence of actuarial top executives is associated with lower cash ratio, higher rei...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ang, Zie Sen, Goh, Choon Yung, Lim, Wei Thong
Other Authors: Nanyang Business School
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/51528
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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Summary:We examine the relationship between the presence of actuarial and other risk-related top executives on the risk levels of property-casualty insurance companies in the United States during 2007-2010. We find that the presence of actuarial top executives is associated with lower cash ratio, higher reinsurance assumed and higher reinsurance ceded in an insurance company, and do not observe similar results for chief risk officers (CRO) and other risk-related positions. We also identify features that insurance firms tend to exhibit associated with the change of actuarial professionals in top executives’ positions. Our paper contributes in several ways. First, this paper provides the first evidence that the presence of actuarial and other risk-related top executives in insurance firms is associated with firms’ risk level. Second, we analyze the effects of the presence of actuarial, CRO and other risk-related positions in top executives has on the risk taking level of a company. Overall, our paper provides insights to companies aiming to control their risk level by including actuarial staff in top executive’s position as one of the solutions.