Reinsurance Fundamentals

Book excerpt: Reinsurance Fundamentals is a comprehensive overview of the reinsurance industry and the financial principles that guide it. It is also a penetrating study of real-world reinsurance problems and how to solve them. After an examination of the industry's underpinnings and a brief but fascinating look at its history, author Ross Phifer presents a detailed reinsurance primer. Writing for those familiar with insurance concepts, he offers an in-depth examination of how the reinsurance industry works, explains fundamental ideas, presents practical illustrations of when and how reinsurance arrangements should be considered, and describes the application of reinsurance to speculative financial transactions such as derivatives. Phifer analyzes different types of reinsurance agreements, clause by clause, and supplies thorough explanations of key concepts and their impact on the overall risk transfer. Among the topics discussed are reinsurance cessions, structures, markets, underwriting, proportional pricing, accounting, claims, and contracts. Reinsurance Fundamentals is an invaluable tool for in-house counsel, compliance officers, internal auditors, and risk managers in investment and commercial banking, securities, investment management, mutual funds, and pension fund management. It is also an important resource for corporate financial officers and an excellent reference for insurance underwriters, claims executives, risk managers, and attorneys.