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PAK Study Manual: Dynamic Hedging
PAK Study Manual: Dynamic Hedging
CTE
Hull-White
Ito’s Lemma
Agency Theory
Reinsurance
Risk Neutral
Corporate Finance
Stochastic Simulation
Efficient Market Hypothesis
Regime Switching Lognormal
Dynamic Hedging
Economic Capital
Behavioral Finance
Martingale
Value at Risk
Dividend
WACC
Delta
PAK Study Manual
for CFE Fall 2018
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1
PAK STUDY MANUAL A printed copy of the manual can
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1. Summary
The PAK Study Manual covers the entire Foundations of CFE (CFE) syllabus. Not only
does it give you the detailed explanations on conceptual, calculation, and exam materials,
but it also fills in the gaps among the topics that are not covered in the source readings. It
helps you better understand and master the confusing logics and difficult materials.
In addition, it links the similar topics across readings together and connects them to the
syllabus so that you can see the whole picture of this exam.
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PAK Study Manual for CFE Fall 2018
Study Schedule
From the date the SOA release the new syllabus to the exam date, there are around 4 months to study. How to
plan your study schedule?
T=0 T=2.5 months T=3.5 months T=4 months
Step 2: Read the Source Readings Together with the PAK Study Manual
- Write down your notes in the study manual
- Highlight all the key points there (Will be used for memorization later)
- Label any calculations that you will go over again later
- Go over the related past exam questions once you finish that reading
Review Again
After completing the three steps above, you probably have a general idea about how the exam looks like. Now
you should review the source readings again but this time focus more on the key topics, clarify the confusing
concepts/calculations, think of what can be tested and read them carefully (use our mock exam questions)
Practice
The last month is the most critical month. Here are the steps:
- Practice the past exams and my mock questions to identify what you still do not know
- Go back to the readings and find your answers (or send us an email if you need help)
- Start memorizing the key points (use the PAK Flash Cards)
- Use the PAK Test Aid to test your knowledge (Send us your answers and we will give you detailed
feedbacks on how to improve your score in the exams)
More Information
We will explain how to prepare for this exam in much more details in the PAK Study Manual.
Any Questions?
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feel free to contact us at eddy.chan@pakstudymanual.com or paulpeterson@pakstudymanual.com.
F-107-13: A Market Cost of Capital Approach to Market Value Margins (by CFO Forum)
Key Points
1. Executive Summary
Memorization: Definition
MVL
- It represents the market consistent value at which the liabilities could be transferred to a willing,
rational, diversified counterparty in an arms’ length transaction under normal business conditions
Note
“Arms’ Length Transaction” means the transaction made by two totally independent parties.
Memorization: Definition
MVM
- It is the cost of risk (risk margin) in addition to the expected PV of future LCFs required to manage
the business on an ongoing basis
- It is estimated by the PV of the cost of future capital requirements for non-hedgeable risks
- Calculation of MVMs using a MCoC approach is straightforward given that the majority of the calculation
is prescribed under the standard SCR
2. Introduction
- In order to determine the MVL, a MVM is added to the expected PV of future LCFs
o The CRO Forum does not agree with using the percentile method to calculate the MVM since it is
not consistent with the aim of introducing a risk based solvency assessment
o The MCoC approach to MVMs is the CFO Forum’s preferred method
Two Common Approaches to Calculate the Market Value Margins (MVMs) for Non-Hedgeable Risks
Approach Description
1. Market cost of capital
o Sufficient capital is needed to be able to run-off the business
(MCoC) approach
o Sufficient capital is needed to ensure that the liabilities can be met with a
2. Percentile approach
predefined confidence level
o It more appropriately differentiates between risks similar to the way in which capital markets
differentiate between risks (equity investment vs. equity option)
o It ensures that the cost of risk is measured purely based on the economic cost of holding
Market cost of capital capital to support non-hedgeable risks
(MCoC) approach The cost of risk and any allowance for prudence are clearly separated
The reserve reflects the best estimate of the cost of managing risk
Margins for prudence should only be reflected in the capital held (SCR) and not in the
technical provision (MVL)
o Prudence may be incorporated in both the reserves and capital which can lead to inefficient
Percentile approach
management of risks and double counting of risks
o The MVMs will not always reflect the risk inherent in the product because there is no link
Percentile approach between the arbitrary percentile value chosen and the market price
o Also, the percentile approach does not refer to each risk type separately
Figure 1
- For the long tailed gamma distribution (“more-severity” risks: catastrophic risk, terrorist risk, etc)
o The percentile approach underestimates the price of non-hedgeable risk
- For the normal distribution (regular insurance risks: mortality risk, etc)
o The percentile approach greatly overestimates the market price of risk
- The MCoC approach ensures that insurers consider the tails of the distributions
o No consideration is given to the shape of the distribution using the percentile approach
- Swiss Regulators
o The MVMs under a MCoC approach appropriately reflect the risk inherent in the business
The calculation is stable from period to period
Life insurers writing mainly savings products have relatively small MVM since insurance
risk is small
Life insurers writing risk products have relatively large MVM since they have a large
exposure to biometric risk and a long duration of the run-off portfolio
o It implicitly forces the insurer to hold part of the capital needed to support the business in
future years in the form of a prudence margin
o This prudence margin will not suffice to run-off the liabilities with the level of confidence
Percentile approach implied by the SCR
o It does not ensure that there will be sufficient financial resources to cover future capital
costs needed to remunerate either a third party accepting this liability or new capital
providers
Ease of Implementation
Approach Description
Market cost of capital o It is easier to implement since there is only one unknown item (the SCR for non-hedgeable
(MCoC) approach risks) and this can be calculated with ease using the standard SCR
o It is complex (for small entities) to implement since it requires stochastic calculations over
Percentile approach the whole run-off period to determine the appropriate percentile on the distribution of
liability values
Market cost of capital o Supervisors can easily replicate and verify the MVM calculation (using standard SCR and
(MCoC) approach internal model)
o It is not so easily verified because it is not possible for the regulator to use the standard
SCR to benchmark the internal models used to determine the percentile value
Percentile approach
o Australian regulators experienced a wide variation in the results from insurer to insurer ,
when adopting a percentile approach
Testable Topic: Evaluate the two approaches based on the following topics:
Easy to implement ? ?
4. Theory Underpinning the MCoC Approach: The Economic (Solvency) Balance Sheet
Note
In the general accounting framework, we know that assets = liabilities + equities.
Assume that assets = MVA and liabilities = MVL. Then equities = SCR + Excess capital.
Note
To the simplest form, the expected PV of future LCFs is the same as the reserve that we learnt in FAP. Remember the
formula? Reserve = PV(Expenses/Claims) – PV(Premiums)
Hedgeable Risks
- A hedgeable risk is a risk which can be pooled or hedged using a replicating portfolio
o Hedging costs are implicit in the observed market price of those instruments
o Thus, it is not necessary to calculate an explicit MVM for hedgeable risks
Non-Hedgeable Risks
- Risks for which a deep and liquid market is not available are referred to as non-hedgeable
o They are risks for which a market price cannot be observed
- To compensate an investor for the cost of taking non-hedgeable risks, an explicit MVM is demanded
o Under the MCoC approach, the MVM is the compensation required for the cost of holding capital
against non-hedgeable risks over the life of the policy
Figure 6: Flowchart for Determining the Appropriate Method for Calculating the MVL
Note
In the embedded value framework, the CoC means the cost of holding the capital needed to support the businesses of the
whole company. In the MVM calculation here, we just focus on the capital held to cover non-hedgeable risks only.
o The capital charge for non-hedgeable risks can be explicitly calculated by multiplying the
2. Calculate the capital
future SCR at each point in time by the CoC for non-hedgeable risk
charge
o This cost of capital charge only applies to capital that is required for the non-hedgeable risk
3. Discount the
o The projected capital charge stream is then discounted at the risk free rate (swap rate) to
projected capital
get the MVM
charge
Illustrative Example
Circularity
- The issue of circularity in the calculation arises because the MVM is calculated directly from the SCR
o But it also makes up part of the MVL and is assumed to be included in the SCR calculation
- The relative size of the MVM in comparison to the total MVL is small so the impact of including the MVM
in the SCR calculation would be insignificant
o Thus, it is assumed that the MVM will have little or no effect on the SCR
Tax
- The liabilities and the MVM should be set on a pre-tax basis since this is analogous to how market values
are set for assets
Operational risk
- Since operational risk is a non-hedgeable risk, it should be included in the calculation of the MVM
Harmonization
- The MVM calculation is based on the projected capitals but various insurers have various internal models
o The CRO Forum has also formulated recommended approaches of benchmarking internal
models to address these concerns
o The proportion of the MVL that corresponds to the explicit MVM is relatively small so any
discrepancies will have a relatively small impact on the results
Non-Life Business
- The MCoC approach applies for non-life business
o For in-force business, a SCR for non-hedgeable risk will be set up for the current year to support
the insured risk
o In addition to this, SCR for the non-hedgeable reserve risks will be held after the expiration of the
contract
o This capital is held to cover the risk that reserves may not be sufficient to cover claims either
because ultimate claims or the pay out pattern had been incorrectly estimated
Small Entities
- The Swiss Solvency Field Test showed that this MCoC approach works well in smaller entities due to its
simplifying assumptions
- The standard SCR approach can be adopted to determine the SCR for non-hedgeable risks
Variation in CoC
- The CoC for non-hedgeable risks reflects the excess return over risk free rates that an acquiring company
would require to compensate them for the cost of holding capital to run-off the business
- The CRO Forum suggests that the risk margin (MCoC) should not vary by risk type or business
o Since the SCR for non-hedgeable risk will differ between risk types, the MVM will automatically
differ under the MCoC approach thereby better reflecting risk
- With regard to the reference market in which the products are sold, it is possible that the price of risk may
vary between countries due to uncertainty in the market
o Most of this uncertainty is due to the difficulties in hedging unwanted risk and will already be
factored into the SCR and MVM, as these risks are not hedgeable
Time Horizon
- One common misconception regarding the MCoC approach
o The MVM only considers one year worth of risk and everything after the first year is ignored
because the SCR is measured using a one-year shock approach
o This is incorrect
- The SCR calculation does consider the expected LCFs over periods
o The SCR represents the change in liability value between expected future liability cash flows and
worst-case (99.5% percentile) cash flows
o These worst-case cash flows reflect not what we can observe in any one year but rather how far
off we can be in estimating our expected liability cash flows over their entire life
Diversifiable Risk
- The market consistent framework assumes that there is no reward for holding diversifiable risk
o This assumption implies that any cash flows that are not risk free but where risk is diversifiable
should be treated as risk free and hence discounted at the swap rate
o This assumption flows through to the treatment of the MVM for non-hedgeable risks
Non-Diversifiable Risk
- This assumption also implies that expected cash flows that are subject to non-diversifiable risk should be
discounted at a rate that reflects the risk inherent in the cash flow
o The risk-adjusted rate contains a risk premium that investors would demand for
o The greater the expected return driving such a risky cash flow, the greater the discount rate
applied to the cash flow
Note
CFrisky ,t
1. Discount risky cash flows using risk-adjusted rate: V0 =
(1 + rf + rp )t
CFrisk free,t
2. Discount risk-free cash flows using risk-free rate: V0 =
(1 + rf )t
CFrisky ,t − Z t
3. Adjust risky cash flows and discount at risk-free rate: V0 =
(1 + rf )t
Appendix B. Diversification
Products
Non-Hedgeable Risk Type Death Protection Survivorship Protection Savings Accident & Health
Mortality Net amount at risk PV of benefits Economic liability Net amount at risk
Life
Morbidity N/A N/A N/A Net amount at risk
Insurance
Persistency Economic liability Economic liability Economic liability Economic liability
Note
There is a long list in the reading. You should read it once. I personally think the life insurance line is more important so I put it
here.
(Sample)
Note
1. 400+ Practice Questions/Solutions are included in the PAK
Study Manual.
Data for Q1
Suppose XYZ has an investment opportunity. It requires an initial investment of $120 today. XYZ's tax rate is
25%. The investment will generate the following cash flows one year later. Calculate the unlevered net income at
time 1.
Sales 200
Cost of Goods Sold 60
Selling, Gen, & Admin 25
R&D 20
Depreciation 15
Data for Q4
Continue from the data for Q1. Opportunity costs increase the selling, general, and administrative expenses by
$13. Cannibalization reduces the sales of existing products by $20 and the cost of goods sold $9. Calculate the
new unlevered net income at time 1.
The initial capital expenditure is $10,000 at time 0. The $10,000 is used to purchase display equipment and
computer system. Those items will be depreciated at MACRS depreciation rates (20% at time 0, 32% at time 1,
19.2% at time 2, 11.52% at time 3, 11.52% at time 4, 5.76% at time 5). It also sets aside a cash of $2000 at time
0 to pay for unexpected set-up expenses. The after-tax salvage value of the equipment and computer system
after 5 year is $2,000. Its tax rate is 25%. The discount rate to discount this program is 10%.
S7:
FCF = ( Revenus - Costs - Depreciation ) × (1 − τ c ) + Depreciation - CapEx - ΔNWC
= ( Revenus - Costs ) × (1 − τ c ) - CapEx - ΔNWC + Depreciation × τ c
S8:
Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
(+) Depreciation 15 15 15
(x) Tax rate at 25% x 25% x 25% x 25%
(=) Tax Shield 0 3.75 3.75 3.75
S9:
FCF3 × (1 + g ) 1.04
Continuation Value at Year 3 = = $75 × = $1560
r−g 0.09 − 0.04
S10:
Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
(=) FCF -120 60 60 75
(+) Continuation Value 1560
(=) FCF -120 60 60 1635
(=) NPV @9% 1248.07
S11:
Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
(+) Sales - 60,000 60,000 60,000 60,000 60,000 -
(−) COGS - 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 -
(=) Gross Profit - 40,000 40,000 40,000 40,000 40,000 -
(−) Selling, Gen, & Admin - 15,000 15,000 15,000 15,000 15,000 -
(−) R&D - - - - - - -
(−) Depreciation 2,000 3,200 1,920 1,152 1,152 576 -
(=) EBIT (2,000) 21,800 23,080 23,848 23,848 24,424 -
(−) Income Tax @ 25% (500) 5,450 5,770 5,962 5,962 6,106 -
(=) Unlevered Net Income (1,500) 16,350 17,310 17,886 17,886 18,318 -