The process of life assurance product development in Singapore

Our report attempts to give a general picture of the practices of life assurance product development in Singapore. The emphasis is on the actuarial aspect of the whole process. In this report, we discuss about the pricing philosophy of life insurance companies and how an optimal compromise is achieved among the various often conflicting objectives of the company. We also outline the product development process and how the best estimates of the various elements in the product pricing basis are obtained in practice. Then, we look at the various methods available in putting together these various elements to come up with suitable premium rates. Lastly, we look at the future trend of life insurance products in Singapore. We believe that the current trend is towards unit-linked products. The material of our project is based on the data obtained from a survey that we have conducted on the practices of life insurance companies in Singapore. The other sources of information include studies done on product development practices in the United States and the United Kingdom as well as actuarial journals published there. Lastly, we have interviewed practicing actuaries in Singapore in order to obtain information on the current practices of life offices in Singapore.ACCOUNTANC