Fifteen years ago, Tim Coomer created “An Actuarial Advantage” with the goal of educating his fellow insurance colleagues on actuarial concepts and methodology. With well over 100,000 copies of the book now in circulation, we are excited to publish a new edition marking the 15th Anniversary of its initial release. Even in light of the […]

This blog introduces a graphic that shows the pieces that make up “Ultimate Losses.”  The ultimate losses of a policy period will typically not be known for many years.  Actuaries are hired to estimate ultimate losses to help a company use appropriate reserve amounts for planning and financial statement purposes. Here are some definitions for […]

In the SIGMA Tech Talk titled “Understanding Loss Development Factors,” we introduced IBNR losses as those losses which occur during a loss period but are not reported until a later date. The definition of IBNR also typically includes development of known claims. In this article, we look further at the significance and calculation of IBNR […]

An underwriter once emailed me declaring that the IB and R load was too high on a particular account. I never had the heart to ask him what the letters I, B, or R signified in that statement, but obviously that must be what IBNR sounds like when pronounced too fast or with an accent. […]