SAS Releases New Insurance Risk Management Solution

SAS (Cary, N.C.) has released SAS Risk Management for Insurance, which the vendor describes as a comprehensive solution for risk analysis and risk-based capital calculation.

The SAS data management and reporting platform, which includes an insurance-specific data model, will helps life and P&C insurance companies implement the Solvency II standard model for calculating risk-based capital, a vendor news release claims. The SAS Business Analytics Framework also enables insurers to support the internal model approach for risk analysis. The solution helps provide senior management with greater understanding of the company's risk and financial condition, SAS says.

Among the benefits of new solution, according to the vendor, are that it reduces volatility by helping insurers understand the impact of economic factors on the balance sheet; it ensures solvency by stress testing the insurer's assets and liabilities from sudden, dramatic changes in market conditions. Using the SAS product, insurers can perform more accurate risk analysis, employing an enterprise data warehouse that offers more comprehensive data management, the vendor claims. Greater competitive advantage results from better risk-based business decisions, and the solution also helps lower total cost of ownership with a single, extendible solution that provides comprehensive features and can integrate easily with third-party risk software, SAS asserts.

"Solvency II and other regulatory requirements are increasing the adoption of risk management solutions within insurance carriers," comments Karen Pauli, research director, TowerGroup. "Behind these initiatives is an increased focus on data management, especially data quality, analytics, including stress testing, and reporting."

SAS Risk Management for Insurance features an insurance-specific data model that includes prebuilt data management capabilities, and risk analytical and reporting functionality. Other elements, according to the SAS news release, include:

SAS Market Risk Management for Insurance " helps risk analysts configure and calculate market value of financial instruments and assets such as bonds, equity, derivatives, swaps and property.

SAS Underwriting Risk Management for Life Insurance " helps analysts blend actuarial and financial techniques to evaluate complex life insurance liabilities and supports the ability to configure a valuation framework and project cash flows for individual life insurance products, including term, annuity, whole of life and endowment products.

SAS' Underwriting Risk Management for P&C Insurance " helps analysts blend actuarial and financial techniques to value P&C insurance liabilities on both an accident and underwriting year basis.

SAS Firmwide Risk Management for Insurance " aggregates risk across the enterprise and calculates the quantitative measures required for Solvency II.

"The financial crisis and the Solvency II regulations taught insurers that complex risk management requires more advanced, integrated and scalable solutions," remarks Stuart Rose, global insurance industry marketing manager, SAS. "SAS Risk Management for Insurance supports the evolving risk requirements of insurers today and in the future."

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio