Since we consider mortality to be the biggest factor affecting life insurance pricing and profitability, mortality expertise is a valuable benefit that we bring to our client relationships. For nearly 40 years we have focused on the life market, gaining insight into mortality trends, underwriting practices, risk pricing and risk management. Access to mortality data from numerous sources including our own large, diverse pool of mortality risk provides intelligence that is difficult to replicate even for the largest companies.
In addition to mortality expertise, we understand and assist clients with related factors that influence portfolio performance including lapse and persistency risks, changing regulations, distribution and taxation.
Our ability to assess and stratify mortality and persistency risk is essential to providing the best possible reinsurance solutions. Whether we’re pricing reinsurance programs, helping clients manage portfolio risks or developing new retail products, our mortality expertise sets us apart in the industry.
Mortality Studies
Our pricing actuaries examine and integrate into our pricing the findings of multiple mortality studies including authorized industry studies, in-house research and experience as well as client experience. This allows us to price our solutions competitively, help clients better manage their mortality exposures and aid them in fielding competitive products on a sound and profitable basis.
Lapse/Persistency Risks
We believe the role that lapse assumptions play in pricing is becoming more important. Several factors, such as the transparency that will emerge from changing regulation, product features and the secondary market for life insurance, play a role in this increased interest.
Lapse trends and analysis has become an increasing area of focus in pricing and valuation for Transamerica Reinsurance. We have conducted our own proprietary lapse study and constantly monitor and compare public industry studies. Our associates routinely write articles and deliver presentations on the implications of lapse trends on product pricing and valuation in newsletter articles, including these by Michael N. Failor, ASA, MAAA, Modeling Actuary, Life Solutions:
Automatic Underwriting Support
Our pricing actuaries work closely with clients to improve the performance of their preferred risk business. For example, our actuaries analyze clients’ preferred risk criteria and guidelines using a proprietary program that models expected performance against a database of more than 400,000 lives. Our underwriters provide consultation on risk selection practices, and they benchmark client practices against industry or peer companies to help ensure product profitability. Our actuarial and underwriting experts consult with clients on the benefits of an underwriting control environment and the value of utilizing a mortality management system.
Facultative Underwriting
Transamerica Reinsurance’s facultative underwriting capabilities combine maximum capacity, fast turnaround and competitive rates for large dollar cases and substandard risks.
Our medical and facultative underwriting staffs represent many decades of combined experience in the art of underwriting complex medical and financial cases. We are an industry leader in:
- Impaired risk selection
- Financial underwriting of large, complex cases
- Underwriting time service and competitiveness
- Complex/problem case resolution
- Retrocession capacity, including coverage on professional athletes
- Expanded standard programs
Our facultative underwriting service allows companies to receive the fast and streamlined support needed to satisfy the most successful agents and brokers.
Medical Research & Development
Our Medical Research and Development team analyzes new opportunities in products and markets. They also advise internal and external clients on the mortality of specific impairments and the use of underwriting tools.
Retail Product Services
Transamerica Reinsurance offers a range of term product solutions that enable companies to field competitive products on a sound and profitable basis in a highly competitive market. These solutions, which attach to our core reinsurance offering, include term development programs for the traditional market and rapid issue term programs for the middle market (see VELOGICA®). In addition to leveraging our strengths in mortality risk management, these programs are enabled by advanced technology and robust reserve financing capabilities.