Information Matrix

The risk-transfer market for defined-benefit pensions in the UK has been  buoyant for many years.  There is considerable demand from pension schemes — to say nothing of their sponsoring employers — for solutions that transfer risks to insurers. 

We have written extensively about how to use postcodes for mortality modelling. The best approach in the UK is to use so-called geodemographic profilers, which map postcodes to relatively homogeneous groups of households sharing certain socio-economic characteristics.

Last night an paper on the management of annuities was presented to the Faculty of Actuaries in Edinburgh.

We have written extensively about the use of postcodes and geodemographics for mortality modelling.  Two peer-reviewed papers recently presented to the Institute of Actuaries in London have testified to the power of geodemographics when applied to pensioner mortality: Richards (2008) and Madrigal et al (2009).

We've created a short graphical summary of the application of postcode-driven lifestyle within actuarial mortality models.

In recent years insurers have looked to making better use of the data they already have. The appeal is simple: if you have already collected the data, then it is like leaving money on the table if it is not being exploited to the full.

Just a short post to announce we've revised our overview videos for both Longevitas and mortalityrating.com.

In an earlier post we discussed the correct way of using postcodes for analysing mortality, and also how this works in countries outside the UK.  It is worth re-iterating why insurers use so-called geodemographic profiling.

We get a lot of interest in our software from Canada. We don't know specifically why this might be — despite that fact that two of our founders are Scottish, we are not aware of any distant relatives still panning for gold out there.

Following a previous entry on postcodes, we have been asked how US zip codes can be used for mortality modelling.