Department of Finance

 

Date of this Version

2004

Document Type

Article

Citation

Journal of Actuarial Practice 11 (2204), pp. 169-196

Comments

Copyright 2004 Absalom Press

Abstract

This paper presents a new method of obtaining quick and accurate values and deltas for discrete look back options using Taylor series expansions. This method is applied to the case of ratchet guaranteed minimum death benefits attached to annuity contracts, and the method is extended to include annuities where a fixed fund is attached to the variable account. Finally, both the speed and the accuracy of the method are compared to Monte Carlo simulation and the exact analytic solution. The Taylor expansion method is shown to be faster and, in most cases, more accurate than the alternative methods.

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