Customer Reviews

Loss Models: From Data to Decisions (Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
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When I took a job to model prediction of loss reserves for workers compensation insurance, I began to realize that the traditional statistical methods that I generally relied n would not help me (without modification). The required modification would be either to transform variables or to model long-tailed probability distributions. This is because in the insurance business you have to reserve for those big catastrophies. The cost data for workers compensation data generally show a high frequency of low to moderate costs... . However occasionally there are a few cases of sever injury causing permanent disability which could run over 1 million dollars. Even though the probability of occurrence is small the cost is so high that it cannot be ignored. Such claims will surely be found when large insurance company cover millions of employees over many years.
The problem occurs when insuring for floods, earthquakes, fires and other disasters. Stuart Klugman and Bob Hogg in 1984 wrote the first introductory text to acquaint statisticians with such probability models that are important in the insurance business. Other books covering the subject were covered in books on risk theory designed for actuaries. This book covers all the topics and assumes mathematical and staistical knowledge at the level of the book by Hogg and Craig (so some calculus is required).

"Loss Models from Data to Decision" is an excellent book that covers many of the areas of mathematics and statistics that property and casualty insurance (aka general insurance) actuaries are required to know. Topics include: frequency and severity models; aggregate loss models; ruin models; Bayesian statistics; credibility and simulation. The theory is well explained; with worked examples throughout and numerous exercises at the end of each section (these questions are based on past SOA and CAS exam questions, so are directly relevant to people studying for either of these exams). Solutions to the exercises are not provided in this book, but a separate solutions manual is available.

I am a lecturer in Actuarial Studies at an Australian university and set this book for one of my (later-year undergraduate) units. In my opinion, this is the best General Insurance text book available and students whom I have spoken to tell me that they like this book very much, too. I highly recommend this text for all student actuaries.

A required book as part of the SOA's syllabus. The authors has taken this for granted and and proceeded to assemble pages and pages of formulas with some awful explanations for how the formulas came about. The focus is more on rote learning and getting you through the exams rather than illuminating the ideas behind the contents.

Nothing else to say. The best book for actuarial mathematics. Also good for risk managers, in particular for operational risk. It does not introduce many concepts but rather take to advance level. Excellent concepts that can be applicable in any topic or situation. A must buy in you want to have your grips on acturial mathematics and concepts

The price was nothing cheaper than a new book that you can buy in the bookstore, and honestly, I bought this one just because the bookstores nearby didn't have this title available anymore.

The book itself was in real good condition, so I'm pretty satisfied.

It's just that the delivery took way too long (even though we knew that before hand, it's still kinda annoying). I hope the seller could improve the speed of delivering.

The book is still in fairly new condition, as was delivered within estimated range of time. I am very satisfied with it.

Nothing else to say. The best book for actuarial mathematics. Also good for risk managers, in particular for operational risk.