Longevity Risk and Capital Markets: The 2013-14 Update

Abstract

Longevity risk and related capital market solutions have grown increasingly important in recent years, both in academic research and in the markets we refer to as the new Life Market, i.e., the capital market that trades longevity-linked assets and liabilities. Mortality improvements around the world are putting more and more pressure on governments, pension funds, life insurance companies, as well as individuals, to deal with the longevity risk they face. At the same time, capital markets can, in principle, provide vehicles to hedge longevity risk effectively and transfer the risk from those unwilling or unable to manage it to those willing to invest in this risk in exchange for appropriate risk-adjusted returns or to those who have a counterpoising risk that longevity risk can hedge, e.g., life offices with mortality risk on their books. Many new investment products have been created both by the insurance/reinsurance industry and by the capital markets. Mortality catastrophe bonds are an example of a successful insurance-linked security.