The "Financialisation"of Non-Life Insurance:The Impact of the New Accounting and Prudential Standard

The introduction of new accounting (IFRS) and prudential standards (Solvency II) is bringing about a radical change in the operational context of insurance companies, in this pedagogical contribution we provide a presentation of the theoretical framework that is implicitly taken as a reference. Following a traditional approach, the insurance firm is described as a "double portfolio", made of assets and liabilities measured at fair value, and decisions are made with consideration of their impact on global risk and return. We successively analyse pricing, underwriting, reinsurance and investment decisions stressing the expected impact of new norms. The final discussion focuses on capital adequacy with reference to the Risk Based Capital principle that inspired solvency II. Our conclusion raises the issue of the applicability of these new norms.