Insurance Management Simulation Unlocking the potential in managing a captive

We focus on the two main areas in any insurance business, the underwriting side and the investment side. Understanding both and their impact on the required capital are crucial in successfully managing an insurance business. 

Session 1 – Underwriting and financial statements 

• Get familiar with how we measure underwriting performance, understand the definition of economic value, and define the key figures cost of equity and return on equity.
• Identify the different drivers of underwriting performance.
• Get familiar with the overall performance ratios and underwriting profitability ratios.
• Discover the relationship between underwriting risk and required capital, learn about the importance of underwriting capital intensity ratios and apply strategies for improving underwriting performance.

Session 2 - Investment 

• Familiarise yourself with the four major asset classes and learn about the key drivers of investment returns.
• Discover the relationship between investment risk and capital required, and learn about asset-liability-matching as a strategy to mitigate interest risk on an insurance company's balance sheet.
• As both underwriting and investment decisions require capital, you will learn optimising capital allocation between underwriting and investment activities.

Session 3 – Solvency and the role of reinsurance 

• We start with an introduction on Solvency and the role of reinsurance in capital management.  
• Learn about the solvency fundamentals (we use the Solvency II framework) and why capital is needed for an insurance company.
• Identify the three major sources of risk and explore the impact of diversification.
• We conclude with a deep-dive into the implications for a Captive’s capital efficiency, like single line versos exotic risks.
• Discover the different sources of capital (equity, subordinated debt, and reinsurance) and learn about the capital and dividend policy implications for a Captive.
• We will explain the impact of reinsurance on solvency, and compare the cost of alternative sources of capital. We conclude this session to deep-dive into optimising net retention levels within a reinsurance programme for a Captive.

Session 4 – Insurance Management Simulation 

• You will now receive your briefing as a new member of the company's executive team.
• Set up your team's organisation, get familiar with your virtual insurance company by using the SWOT technique, and start analysing your company.

Session 5 - Insurance Management Simulation

• We start by focusing on underwriting activities and identify key ratios to analyse underwriting profitability by line.
• Explore how to calculate the capital intensity of different lines of business and hence construct a focused underwriting strategy.
• Recap your learnings about the contribution margin and consider this concept when implementing your underwriting decisions.
• It is then up to you and your team to discuss your strategy, take decisions on the lines of business, the target customer groups, pricing, underwriting, reinsurance and much more. Hand in your period one decisions before lunchtime.

Session 6 Insurance Management Simulation 

• We start with a debriefing of the first round's results, where we focus on underwriting.
• Next, we will move on to focus on investment decisions. Understand cash generation and review the bond schedules to improve your cash management and apply ALM to set the investment strategy.
• In teams, you analyse your company's results from the previous period, familiarize yourselves with the current economic environment in Atlantis, and adjust your business and reinsurance decisions to meet your strategic goals.
• You will need to determine your capital requirements and choose your preferred funding mix, taking into account your risk appetite as well as the financial market outlook in Atlantis.
• In addition, you will also be given the opportunity to implement a project within your company to support your company's overall strategic direction.

Session 7 Insurance Management Simulation

• When reviewing round two results, we focus on the solvency ratios of each company and the reason for any differences between them.
• We then focus on different capital management strategies and sources of capital. Consider how to compare the costs of equity, subordinated debt and reinsurance, and look at a range of different reinsurance structures to determine when each structure creates value.
• You and your team will again analyse your company's results. Changing customer buying behaviour, challenges from insurance market developments, as well as economic conditions will need to be taken into account when making decisions for round four.

Session 8 Insurance Management Simulation

• We debrief round 3 and examine the capital structures of your insurance companies, and discuss the effectiveness of your different reinsurance strategies.
• Your team will now engage in the last round of decision making.
• After handing in your decisions, you hold an investor pitch and highlight reasons why investors should consider your company as a major investment.
• In our last debrief, we focus on how you have managed all the different elements of insurance company performance and in particular the trade-off between solvency and profitability.
• Now we are ready to reveal the winner of the challenge!
• A short feedback session will mark the end of the official programme and we will farewell you with awarding you the certificates.

The event may be photographed, videotaped, filmed and /or digitally recorded. You consent to Swiss Re's use, free of charge, of any memorialization of the event in which you may appear for any Swiss Re publication or promotional purpose.