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New Products – The Intersection of Pricing, Reserving, Planning. Betsy DePaolo Vice President & Actuary, Personal Insurance Travelers Insurance. Casualty Actuaries of New England September 18, 2007. Pricing a New Product. Many different ways to price a new product High Level Overview:
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New Products – The Intersection of Pricing, Reserving, Planning Betsy DePaolo Vice President & Actuary, Personal Insurance Travelers Insurance Casualty Actuaries of New England September 18, 2007
Pricing a New Product • Many different ways to price a new product • High Level Overview: • New Variables • Determine factors (multivariate analysis) • Determine base rates • Consideration of competition, disruption in marketplace, regulatory • New Underwriting Guidelines • Determine impacts of changes in mix • Will product be New Business Only or Conversion? • Conversion – determine disruption on current book • Calculate / Approximate the adequacy of filed rates • Compare to current book of business • Determine Expected Loss Ratio as starting point
New Product Rolls Out – Now What? • Business team needs metrics to determine how product is doing • Adequacy of pricing • Reserving ultimates for financial reporting • Planning / Forecasting • Expected experience in future years
New Product Rolls Out – Now What? • Use Expected Loss Ratio from pricing analysis as initial “best guess” • As losses begin to be reported, watch out for: • Distortions in Loss Development • Average Accident Date is not at midpoint of time period • Distorts in times of extreme growth or decline • “Large” Losses • Seasonality • Comparisons to current book of business • Changes in Mix • State distribution • Type of insured
Loss Development Distortions • Shift in Average Accident Date as product rolls out
“Large” Losses • How do you provide suitable results to business team without threat of overreaction? • Impact of Large Losses • Large is typically considered $100K or even more • Normally don’t expect large losses to impact short tailed lines (Comprehensive, Collision, Property Damage) • Early in rollout, calculate the Loss Ratio impact of $25,000 loss (average cost of totaled car) • Provide to business team to give sense of materiality
Seasonality • Significant impact on loss ratio experience • Weather • Travel • Geographical differences abound • Impact of catastrophes on comprehensive coverage • First year and beyond – uneven weight of premium by state can cause distortions in the loss ratios • When comparing Actual Loss Ratios to Expected Loss ratios • Adjust ELR’s for seasonality • Normalize actual loss ratios
Seasonality Rolled out in Jan 2006 Rolled out in 2005 Rolled out in Apr 2006
Comparison to Existing Products • Comparison to existing ultimate loss ratios • Adjusted for New Product distribution by month Tool for Comparison • Triangles Files • Triangles of ULTIMATE loss ratios • Drill down to monthly activity • Trend or Blip? • Analyze how quickly loss ratios settle down • Analyze differences in development between New Product / Existing Product
Triangle Files – New Product Please note: All numbers are fabricated but illustrate the types of results that can be seen
Triangle Files – Existing Product Poor experience similar to new product Better experience than new product Please note: All numbers are fabricated but illustrate the types of results that can be seen
Incorporation into Planning / Pricing • Projections of future new business growth • Projections of future retention / renewal • Incorporate projections into loss ratios, making additional adjustments for • Seasonality • Normalize for pricing • May still be a consideration for planning • Expected Excess Losses • Expected Catastrophe Losses • Additional mix shifts • Anticipated rate / factor adjustments
Advantages of Monthly Methodology • Responsive – allows business team to analyze data and make decisions quickly • Monthly loss development limits distortion due to growth • Monthly loss development allows drill down • Comparison to existing products allows recognition of environmental factors
Disadvantages of Monthly Methodology • Responsive – loss ratios can bounce around from month to month • Responsive – susceptible to distortion by large losses • Credibility – takes several months to have enough data to analyze • Monthly loss development still may have some distortion due to growth • Potential differences in loss development between products • Potential impact of mix changes in book of business
Other Applications • Applies to more than just New Product rollout • New Distribution Channel • New States • Accelerated Growth or Decline • Don’t have to go monthly • Be sure to consider implications on development patterns • Make adjustment based on theoretical example