Ateneo - UPO

N.B. Topics, teaching goals, teaching materials and the Course evaluation described below only apply to students whose undergraduate curriculum did not include any Course dealing with Insurance. In all other cases, students should complete an ad hoc syllabus agreed upon with the instructors.

The Course deals with the role, the functions and the activities performed by insurance companies in the financial system and provides an in-depth insight about the functioning of the “insurance device” and the economic and technical characteristics of insurance contracts and private retirement plans. Furthermore, it aims at developing the knowledge of the different aspects of the management of insurance companies, from the underwriting process to asset-and-liability management, paying due attention to the EU and national regulatory framework. Both the nature and the dynamic of the need for private retirement plans are finally analysed.

The instructors will provide articles, working papers and reports in order to deepen specific course topics by the course official web page at the following link: https://www.dir.uniupo.it/course/view.php?id=18693. The login to the web page requires a password; please contact the instructors to get it (mario.valletta@uniupo.it or paola.zocchi@uniupo.it ).

1.Knowledge and understanding: the students will acquire the knowledges needed to understand: the features of the various types of “pure” risks as well as of the different techniques aimed at managing them;
the features of the “insurance device”, including the conditions for the insurability of pure risks, the importance of mutuality, the logic underlying the pricing of insurance coverage, the nature and functions of technical reserves; the characteristics of insurance products and private retirement plans; the equilibrium conditions in the management of insurance companies and pension funds.
2. Applying knowledge and understanding: the ability to evaluate insurance and pension products by applying theoretical knowledges, and to evaluate the conditions of managerial equilibrium of insurance companies.
3. Making judgements: the ability of choosing the instruments best suited to satisfy insurance and pension needs and to evaluate their risks.
4. Communication skills: the students will acquire the ability to use the technical language used by professionals in the field at issue. The knowledge of the most important information sources will make them able to better support their arguments.

None.

1. Knowledge and understanding: traditional face-to-face lessons and self-study based on teaching materials. During the Course some qualified guest speakers will be invited to share with the class their professional experience.
2. Applying knowledge and understanding: exercises carried-out by the teacher during the course and exercises based on previous written exams carried-out by the students (homework based on materials published on the course’s webpage).
3. Making judgments: students will be stimulated to make a judgemets on relevant cases, also through assignments and presentations.
4. Communication skills: the meaning of the terms used by professionals in the field of insurance will be adequately explained.
5. Learning skills: every topic will be discussed beginning from the illustration of the problem and then analyzing the various possible solutions.

Further information can be found in the Course official web page at the following link:
https://www.dir.uniupo.it/course/view.php?id=18693.
Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/servicesstudents-physical-or-learning-disabilities Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

One compulsory written exam consisting of six questions (closed books and closed notes), covering the whole course syllabus and including exercises, with a 60-minute duration. During the period of teaching, all students may sit for a mid-term written exam covering the first part of the course contents.

1. knowledge and understanding: by written open questions.
2. applying knowledge and understanding: through exercise.
3. making judgements: by written open questions.
4. communication skills: by written open questions.
5. learning skills: by a mid-term exam during the course

- Introduction on the course: objectives, program, assessment.
- Risk and uncertainty. Pure risks vs. financial risks.
- Methods of managing pure risks.
- The features of the “insurance device” and elements of insurable risks.
- Activities and functions performed by insurance companies.
- The operational and economic characteristics of insurance contracts.
- Life insurance: basic pricing methods, technical reserves, traditional contracts, unit- and index-linked contracts.
- Property and Liability Insurance: basic pricing methods, technical reserves, types of contracts.
- The management of insurance companies: the underwriting and the loss adjustment processes.
- Coinsurance and reinsurance.
- The business model of insurance companies and their balance sheet.
- Capital requirements for insurance companies: from Solvency I to Solvency II.
- The financial management of insurance companies: the differences between Life and Non-Life insurance business; the imapcts of Solvency II; the Asset and Liability Management; the main impacts of accounting principles (IFRS 9 and IFRS 17).
- The distribution of insurance products.
- The need for private finance retirement products.
- Types of private retirement products.

By giving a written exam, students must show:
KNOWLEDGE
- to know the fundamental features of the insurance “mechanism”;
- to know the characteristics of the main types of both insurance and occupational pension contracts;
- to know the fundamental profiles of the regulation of insurance contracts and insurance undertakings;
- to know the logic underlying the definition of premiums and the quantification of technical reserves;
- to know the features of insurance undertakings’ economic equilibrium model;
COMPETENCES
- to be able to interpret the technical and economic features of both insurance and occupational pension contracts from the contractor’s point of view;
- to be able to interpret the technical and economic features of both insurance and occupational pension contracts from the insurer’s point of view;
- to be able to analyze and evaluate the main economic margins of insurance companies (life and nonlife);
- to be able to interpret the managerial implications of Solvency II regulatory environment;
TRANSVERSAL SKILLS
- to be able to interconnect among each other’s topics faced in different chapters of the course;
- to be able to present a set of clear and structured arguments dealing with insurance theory and the management of life and nonlife insurance undertakings;
- to be acquainted with the technical terminology used in the insurance sector at both the domestic and the international level;
- to be able to read, comprehend and comment technical material from books, financial journals or other sources.