M8 Lognormal Models and Life Insurance Applications
Topics in Insurance, Risk, and Finance
Learning outcomes
- Know and derive the properties of lognormal distributions.
- Derive explicit formulas for the distributions and related quantities of
and in the lognormal model. - Define, calculate, and interpret Value-at-Risk.
- Know basic notation for life insurance analysis.
- Compute expected present value of benefit for life insurance and annuity in stochastic models for rates of return.
- Use the equivalence principle to compute premiums of life insurance products.
Review: normal distribution
Lognormal model
- We have studied the moments of cash series.
- To have a more detailed analysis of investment activities (e.g., probability of default), we need to derive distribution functions.
- In particular, distributions can be used to determine the capital requirements for financial institutions (Value-at-Risk for insurance companies and Expected Shortfall for banks).
- The task of finding distributions is however very challenging.
- We will study the case when the accumulation factor
follows a lognormal distribution, in which case we can derive the exact distribution of .
Review: normal distribution I
We say a random variable
and are the mean and variance of .- If
and , is usually denoted by and is called a standard normal random variable. - The distribution function and the density function of
are usually denoted by and .
Review: normal distribution II
Symmetry:
for .Standalization: For
, we haveMoment generating function: Let
. For ,If
and are independent,Question: If
and , does follow a normal distribution?
Review: normal distribution III
Review: normal distribution example
For
We have
Lognormal distribution
Lognormal distribution: definition
Let
- We write
. - Note that
and here are not the mean and variance of . - The logarithm of
is normally distributed (with mean and variance ), and hence the name. - Equivalently, we can write
where .
Lognormal distribution: density
Proof:
We write
Lognormal distribution: moments
Proof:
Here, we note that
Lognormal distribution: product
Proof:
For this property, we use the fact that sum of independent normal random variables is still a normal random variable, i.e., we can write
As
Lognormal distribution: reciprocal
Proof:
Write
Since
Lognormal models: and
Lognormal model
- Due the properties of lognormal distributions, it is convenient to model the accumulation factors (i.e.,
) as lognormal distributions. - We can derive distributions of
and using lognormal models, which turn out to be lognormal distributions. - However, distributions of
and are still not available. - Even if the accumulation factor is not lognormally distributed, we can still use lognormal distributions to approximate the distribution of
and .
Lognormal model: in a varying rate model
Suppose that
As
Question: What if the rates are not identically distributed?
Lognormal model: in a varying rate model
The present value of 1 due at the end of year
Suppose that in a varying rate model
Lognormal model: example
In a varying rate model, suppose the iid returns,
We have
Lognormal model: example
In a varying rate model, suppose the iid returns,
We have
Lognormal model: approximation I
In a varying model, even if accumulation factors do not follow a lognormal distribution, one can still use lognormal distributions to approximate
Lognormal model: approximation II
- Since
, the summation of iid random variables, by the central limit theorem, has a normal distribution as its limiting distribution, after normalization. - Therefore,
can be approximated by a lognormal distribution. - To apply the central limit theorem, technically, you need to verify the moment constraints/assumptions (though it is not required if not asked in this subject).
Lognormal model: and in a fixed rate model
Suppose that in a fixed rate model
Then,
Lognormal model: Fixed rate model Example I
In a fixed rate model, the annual accumulation factor follows a lognormal distribution with mean
Suppose that the lognormal distribution has parameters
Lognormal model: Fixed rate model Example II
We have
Lognormal model: a comparison
Let the accumulation factor for one period follow
We know that
Question: Why not use variance to compare the spreadness?
Value-at-Risk
With the distribution of
- Here,
is regarded as losses. - In general,
is close to 1 (e.g., ). - VaR is used as a regulatory risk measure in the realm of bank and insurance.
- VaR: the event that the loss is greater than this level has a probability less than
(what is special about VaR?). - For a continuous random variable
, is the inverse of .
Value-at-Risk : example A
Suppose that a loss
Ans:
Value-at-Risk : example B I
In a varying rate model, the annual accumulation factor follows a lognormal distribution with parameters
Since rates are independent and they follow the lognormal distribution,
Value-at-Risk : example B II
By letting the probability function equal to
Life insurance applications
Life insurance applications
We will apply the stochastic model for rate of returns in pricing life insurance products.
- Life insurance will be studied in greater details in another subject. We will cover some simple examples in this subject.
- The pricing of life insurance products usually depends on whether a person survives after or dies before a specified time.
For simplicity, the following assumptions are imposed.
- The rate of returns are iid (we use
as a generic copy of ). - The event of death/survival is independent of the rates of return.
Traditional life insurance products
- Term life insurance: a lump sum is paid on the death of the insured if the death occurs before the end of a specified period.
- Whole life insurance: a lump sum is paid on the death of the insured whenever it occurs.
- Term life annuity: a series of payments is made to the insured up to a specified period if he/she is alive.
- Whole life annuity: a series of payments is made to the insured as long as he/she is alive.
Notation: I
: a life aged : the remaining integer number of years that lives. So is a discrete random variable taking non-negative integer amounts. : the probability that the insured dies within one year (dies in the period , i.e., : the probability that the insured survives the first year, i.e,
Notation: II
: the probability that the insured dies within year (dies in the period , i.e., : the probability that the insured survives the first year, i.e, : the probability that the insured dies after year and before years (dies in the period , i.e.,
Notation: III
Some important properties:
. However, . . .
Example A
Suppose that
We have
Example B
Let
survives beyond 30, dies before 50.
We have
Life insurance I
- Consider a whole life insurance which pays
at the year end of the death of (if , the benefit is paid at ). The present value of this benefit is denoted as . - Given that
, by independence, the expectation of is
Life insurance II
Then we have
Life annuity I
- Consider unit payments at the beginning of every year given that
is alive (the benefit will be paid out at if ). The present value of this benefit is denoted as . - Given that
, by independence, the expectation of is
Life annuity II
Then we have
Life annuity in arrears
- If we wish to calculate the present value of annuities in arrears (units are paid at the end of each period), we can follow a similar procedure.
- However, we notice that the only difference between annuity in advance and annuity in arrears is that the former one pays 1 at the inception. The other payments are the same as long as the insured lives.
- Thus, the difference between the two annuities is simply that the annuity in advance is 1 greater.