Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-h6jzd Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2025-02-22T22:26:03.991Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A maximum likelihood approach for uncertain volumes in the additive reserving model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2025

Ulrich Riegel*
Affiliation:
Munich Reinsurance Company, Munich 80802, Germany

Abstract

The additive reserving model assumes the existence of volume measures such that the corresponding expected loss ratios are identical for all accident years. While classical literature assumes these volumes are known, in practice, accurate volume measures are often unavailable. The issue of uncertain volume measures in the additive model was addressed in a generalization of the loss ratio method published in 2018. The derivation is rather complex and the method is computationally intensive, especially for large loss development triangles. This paper introduces an alternative approach that leverages the well-established EM algorithm, significantly reducing computational requirements.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The International Actuarial Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arbenz, P. and Salzmann, R. (2014) On a combination of multiplicative and additive stochastic loss reserving methods. Casualty Actuarial Society E-Forum, Summer 2014, pp. 139.Google Scholar
ASTIN Working Party on Non-Life Reserving (2016) Non-life reserving practices report. WP NL Reserving Report1.0 2016-06-15.pdf. [Accessed 11 April 2022].Google Scholar
Bouska, A. (1989) Exposure bases revisited. Proceedings of the Casualty Actuarial Society, Vol. 76, pp. 123.Google Scholar
Clark, D.R. (2008) Reserving with incomplete exposure information. Casualty Actuarial Society E-Forum, Fall 2008, pp. 7197.Google Scholar
Dempster, A.P., Laird, N.M. and Rubin, D.B. (1977) Maximum likelihood from incomplete data via the EM algorithm. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B (Statistical Methodology), 39(1), 122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diers, D. and Linde, M. (2013) The multi-year non-life insurance risk in the additive loss reserving model. Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, 52(3), 590598.Google Scholar
Diers, D., Linde, M. and Hahn, L. (2016) Addendum to ‘the multi-year non-life insurance risk in the additive reserving model’[insurance math. econom. 52 (3)(2013) 590–598]: Quantification of multi-year non-life insurance risk in chain ladder reserving models. Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, 67, 187199.Google Scholar
England, P. and Verrall, R. (2002) Stochastic claims reserving in general insurance. British Actuarial Journal, 8(3), 443518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
England, P.D. and Verrall, R.J. (2006) Predictive distributions of outstanding liabilities in general insurance. Annals of Actuarial Science, 1(2), 221270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fackler, M. (2017) Experience rating of reinsurance premiums under uncertainty about past inflation. Doctorial Dissertation, Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg.Google Scholar
Gesmann, M., Murphy, D., Zhang, Y.W., Carrato, A., Wüthrich, M., Concina, F. and Dal Moro, E. (2024) ChainLadder: Statistical Methods and Models for Claims Reserving in General Insurance. R package version 0.2.19.Google Scholar
Gluck, S.M. (1997) Balancing development and trend in loss reserve analysis. Proceedings of the Casualty Actuarial Society, Vol. 84, pp. 482532.Google Scholar
Hahn, L. (2017) Multi-year non-life insurance risk of dependent lines of business in the multivariate additive loss reserving model. Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, 75, 7181.Google Scholar
Hess, K.T., Schmidt, K.D. and Zocher, M. (2006) Multivariate loss prediction in the multivariate additive model. Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, 39(2), 185191.Google Scholar
Jones, B.D. (2002) An introduction to premium trend. https://www.casact.org/sites/default/files/database/studynotes_jones5.pdf. [Accessed 27 December 2024].Google Scholar
Korn, U. (2016) An extension to the Cape Cod method with credibility weighted smoothing. Casualty Actuarial Society E-Forum, Summer 2016, pp. 121.Google Scholar
Ludwig, A. and Schmidt, K.D. (2011) Calendar year reserves in the multivariate additive model. https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:123887147. [Accessed 15 December 2024].Google Scholar
Mack, T. (2002) Schadenversicherungsmathematik. 2. Auflage. Karlsruhe: VVW.Google Scholar
Mennicken, R. and Wagenführer, E. (1977). Numerische Mathematik. Band 1. Wiesbaden: Vieweg.Google Scholar
Merz, M. and Wüthrich, M.V. (2012) Full and 1-year runoff risk in the credibility-based additive loss reserving method. Applied Stochastic Models in Business and Industry, 28(4), 362380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merz, M. and Wüthrich, M.V. (2009a) Combining chain-ladder and additive loss reserving method for dependent lines of business. Variance, 3(2), 270291.Google Scholar
Merz, M. and Wüthrich, M.V. (2009b) Prediction error of the multivariate additive loss reserving method for dependent lines of business. Variance, 3(1), 131151.Google Scholar
Oakes, D. (1999) Direct calculation of the information matrix via the EM algorithm. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B (Statistical Methodology), 61(2), 479482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parodi, P. (2023) Pricing in General Insurance. Boca Raton: Chapman and Hall/CRC.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radtke, M., Schmidt, K.D., Schnaus, A., et al. (2016) Handbook on Loss Reserving. Karlsruhe: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Renshaw, A.E. and Verrall, R.J. (1998) A stochastic model underlying the Chain-Ladder technique. British Actuarial Journal, 4(4), 903923.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riegel, U. (2015) A quantitative study of chain ladder based pricing approaches for long-tail quota shares. ASTIN Bulletin: The Journal of the IAA, 45(2), 267307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riegel, U. (2018) A generalized loss ratio method dealing with uncertain volume measures. ASTIN Bulletin: The Journal of the IAA, 48(2), 699747.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riegel, U. (2023) An incremental loss ratio method using prior information on calendar year effects. European Actuarial Journal, 13(1), 91123.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saluz, A., Bühlmann, H., Gisler, A. and Moriconi, F. (2014) Bornhuetter-Ferguson reserving method with repricing. Available at SSRN 2697167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saluz, A., Gisler, A. and Wüthrich, M.V. (2011) Development pattern and prediction error for the stochastic Bornhuetter-Ferguson claims reserving method. ASTIN Bulletin: The Journal of the IAA, 41(2), 279313.Google Scholar
Vaida, F. (2005) Parameter convergence for EM and MM algorithms. Statistica Sinica, 15(3), 831840.Google Scholar
Witting, H. and Müller-Funk, U. (1985) Mathematische Statistik II. Stuttgart: Teubner.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, C.J. (1983) On the convergence properties of the EM algorithm. The Annals of Statistics, 11(1), 95103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wüthrich, M.V. and Merz, M. (2008) Stochastic claims reserving methods in insurance. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Riegel supplementary material

Riegel supplementary material
Download Riegel supplementary material(File)
File 231.4 KB