Pricing and Ratemaking in Plain English
Learn the pricing skills and rate making concepts and techniques that will let you do your own pricing, or support your company’s actuaries.
Please click on the following to learn more about our Pricing and Ratemaking in Plain English Seminar.
- List of the tools you will learn
- You can handle the pricing for your products if you can add, subtract, multiply, and divide.
- Who should attend?
- What will you learn?
- When you leave this seminar, you will know:
- Comments from recent attendees
- Companies whose employees have attended this seminar
List of the tools you will learn
In just two days, and in plain English, this comprehensive seminar will show you:
- How to make a profit in every segment of your business
- How rate relativities make pricing easier and rate comparisons simpler
- How to avoid adverse selection through better understanding of market segmentation and risk selection
- What effect your expense ratio, reserves, tails, loss development and credibility have on your ability to properly price your products
- How to easily handle your own rate revisions, even without the help of an actuary
You can handle the pricing for your products if you can add, subtract, multiply and divide.
That may sound hard to believe, but it’s true. This seminar will teach you all the basic skills needed. It’s easy and can be done by almost anyone involved with product design or development, underwriting or marketing.
In fact, the real skill isn’t in the numbers at all. It’s in the concepts and ideas. This seminar will cover them in a complete and easy way. We have designed this two-day program to teach you the hows, whys, and whats of pricing and rate making. And, best of all, this program uses a “plain English” approach that you’ll grasp right from the beginning.
Some insurance people feel there’s a certain “mystique” to pricing and think only an actuary can set rates. Not so. After this two-day program, anyone in product design, underwriting, marketing or general management should be able to correctly set prices for their products in a way designed to make an underwriting profit. When you leave this course, you’ll have a practical understanding of all the essentials behind pricing and rate-making. You’ll learn, step-by-step, how to analyze your book of business and make profitable pricing decisions. You’ll also leave with a detailed workbook including both class and additional exercises that clearly demonstrates the approach. You will be ready to test your knowledge and put the skills to work the day you get back. This course doesn’t cover theory; it covers a full range of bottom-line, applicable skills.
The most successful P&C products require significant input and involvement from the people closest to the product and the market. Whether you expect to do the pricing yourself, or need to work with and understand the actuaries and others who handle the pricing, this seminar will give you the knowledge and skills you need and the confidence to create more profitable products.
Who should attend?
- Product managers, underwriting managers, marketing managers and others directly involved with the product.
- Actuarial trainees, analysts and support staff; product, pricing and rate analysts.
- Anyone who needs to understand the pricing and rate making aspects of their products.
- Anyone who needs additional knowledge to improve their product’s profitability.
- Anyone who works with actuaries and wants to better understand what they do and why.
What will you learn?
Risk Selection and Market Segmentation
How to determine good and bad risks. How to differentiate your product from your competition. How to profitably segment a market. Three ways to create profit making niche-markets.
Company Profitability and the Expense Ratio
What makes a product profitable. How the expense ratio critically affects your ability to price. How to figure the exact loss ratio needed to make a profit.
Rates and Relativities
What is a rate relativity. How relativities are used for product pricing. How an expense constant or policy fee affects pricing. Three methods to use for effective rate comparisons.
The Right Accounting Method for Pricing
How to use each of the three methods of accounting for pricing. How each method calculates premiums and losses. Which is the single best method for pricing.
Loss Reserves, Product Tails and Loss Development
How reserves are counted and analyzed. Why the length of a product’s tail affects your accuracy. How to calculate loss development and why it is almost never exactly correct. Why judgment and product knowledge are so critical in the calculation.
Trend Analysis and Other Key Calculations
What is trending and why is it used. When do you trend both losses and premiums. Three ways to calculate earned premium at current rate level.
Credibility Analysis – Pros and Cons
What is credibility analysis. Why it is used and how it is determined. What are the problems with this approach. How you can improve your product’s credibility.
The Basics of Rate Making
The four key items you must know to set prices. Why exposure counts are so critical to the pricing process. How to determine appropriate rating variables and properly price each one.
The Rate Revision Process
When is the right time to change rates and by how much. How to actually make the rate change. How to determine the overall change that you have taken. Why the actual results rarely equal the change you tried to take.
When you leave this seminar, you will know:
- the REAL difference between good and bad risks
- why every ONE dollar saved in expenses can lower rates by up to TWO dollars
- how to do a rate comparison even when the competition has 1,000 or more different rates
- how to make it more difficult for your competitors to figure out your rating structure
- how to set your rates even when your data is “not credible”
- why loss development analysis rarely gives you the exact correct answer
- why and when you have to adjust both premium and losses for trend
- how you can set your rates with only four items of data
- why you need to increase your rates even when your loss ratio is clearly profitable
- why the rate change you take rarely equals the rate change you get
Comments from recent attendees
“A clear and concise program essential for product pricing professionals. Very good material with practical exercises.”
Barry LaRue, VP – Product Management
Victoria Insurance Group“This seminar can literally reduce the ratemaking learning curve from 2 years to 2 days.”
Jay Kampf, Product Manager
Permanent General Insurance Company“This course should be mandatory to all persons participating in the rate structure process.”
Ed Oden, Director – Compliance and Filings
Unicare Insurance Company“Best insurance seminar I’ve ever attended. Powerful 2 days. This seminar took my understanding of the business to another level.”
Carol R. Newman, Senior Vice President
Interstate Insurance Group“My only regret is that I hadn’t attended this seminar years ago.”
Wally Waldhart, Vice President – Underwriting
Heritage Insurance Company“A top-notch pricing program that would be helpful for all insurance professionals with responsibility for the rate making process.”
Geoffrey T. Bohanan, Vice President
Worcester Insurance Company“The class presents critical concepts that are required for my product’s success in this hyper-competitive market.”
Randal Smith, President
Transportation Specialists Insurance Agency“This seminar should be attended by everyone who is involved in underwriting or rate making, whether a standard, specialty or surplus lines carrier.”
Don Culpepper – President
T.H.E. Insurance Company“This course is an excellent way to acquaint MGA’s with the process of rate making and accurately pricing an insurance product and becoming a true partner with the insurer.”
Jim Wegner, VP – Product Development
Kenneth I. Tobey, Inc.“This ranks as the best professional training course I’ve ever taken. Everything was relevant and inspiring.”
Jennifer Daley, Underwriter
Bunker Hill Insurance Company“Remarkable clarity and simplification of a complex subject.”
Greg Reichert, Vice President – Product Management
Guidant Insurance Group“I learned more about ratemaking in 2 days than I did in 10 years as an underwriter”
David West, Marketing Manager
SAS Institute“This seminar is a small investment that will pay enormous dividends for insurance professionals who are not actuaries”
Fred Petillo – Assistant Vice President
PIC WisconsinCompanies whose employees have attended this seminar
21st Century Ins. Co. First American P&C NLC Ins. Co. A.I.B. Financial Group First Auto & Casualty Ins. Co. Nodak Mutual Ins. Co. AAA Michigan First Floridian Auto & Home Nonprofits Ins. Alliance of CA AAA Missouri First Ins. Co. of Hawaii Norcal Mutual Ins. Co. AAA Southern New England First Marine Ins. Co. Norfolk & Dedham Group AARP Financial First Nonprofit Ins. Co. North Carolina Rate Bureau Acadia Ins. Co. First State Mgt. Group Inc. North Pointe Ins. Co. Acceleration National Ins. First Trenton Indemnity Co. Northland Ins. Co. AccessIns. Co. Fitchburg Mutual Ins. Co. Norwich Group, Ltd. Accident Fund Co. Florida Farm Bureau Ins. Co. Nova Casualty Co. Accredited Surety & Casualty Florists’ Mutual Ins. Co. Nuclear Electric Ins. Ltd. ACUITY Ins. Group Ford Motor Co. Occidental Fire & Casualty Addison Farmers Ins. Co. Foremost Ins. Co. OHIC Ins. Co. Administrators for the Professions Fortress Ins. Co. Ohio Casualty Group Admiral Group PLC Founders Ins. Co. Ohio Mutual Ins. Group Admiral Ins. Co. Frankenmuth Mutual Ins. Co. Oklahoma Farm Bureau Ins. Co. Aegis Security Ins. Co. Freedom General Ins. Svcs. Omaha Property & Casualty Co. Affinity Ins. Services Fremont Mutual Ins. Co. Omni Ins. Group Agency Ins. Co. Frontier Ins. Co. One Beacon Ins. Group Agway Ins. Co. G.J. Sullivan Co. Oregon Mutual Ins. Co. AI Transport Gateway Ins. Co. Orion Specialty Ins. Co. AIG GE Reins. Corp. Oswego County Mutual Ins. Co. AIG Agency Auto GE/Medical Protective Pa. Lumbermens Mutual Ins. AIG Hawaii Ins. Co. GEICO Casualty Co. Pacific Indemnity Ins. Co. AIPSO General Accident Ins. Co. Paragon Ins. Group AIU North America General Cologne Re Patrons Mutual Ins. Co. Alaska Muni League Ins. Assoc. General Fire & Casualty Co. Patterson Ins. Co. ALFA Ins. Co. General Star Mgt. Co. PC General Agy, Inc. All Risks Limited Generali US Peace Hills General Ins. Allegany Ins. Co. Georgia Farm Bureau Ins. Co. Pekin Ins. Co. Allendale Mutual Ins. Co. GeoVera Holdings PEMCO Mutual Ins. Co. Alliance United Ins. Services Gerling Global Re Peninsula Ins. Co. Allied Group Ins. German Mutual Ins. Co. Penn Millers Ins. Co. Allied Ins. Brokers Germania Cos. Penn Mutual Ins. Co. Allmerica Financial Group GHS Property & Casualty Penn National Ins. Co. Allstate Ins. Co. GMAC Ins. Co. Penn-America Ins. Co. AMA Ins. Co. GMAC Re Permanent General Cos. Amercian Commerce Ins. Co. GoAmerica Auto Ins. Petrosurance Casualty Co. American Access Casualty Grain Dealers Mutual Ins. Co. Pharmacists Mutual Ins. Co. American Agricutural Ins. Co. Grange Mutual Casualty Co. Philadelphia Ins. Co. American Alternative Ins. Co. Grange Mutual Ins. Co. Phoenix Aviation Mgrs. American Ambassador Casualty Co. GRE Ins. Group Phoenix Indemnity Ins. Co. American Century Casualty Co. Great American Ins. Co. PIC Wisconsin American Contractors Ins. Group Great Northwest Ins. Co. PICA Management Resources American Express P&C Ins. Co. Great Pacific Ins. Co. Pilgrim Ins. Co. American Family Ins. Co. Great River Ins. Co. Pilot Ins. Co. American Hallmark Ins. Great West Casualty Co. Pinnacol Assurance American Honda Finance Corp. Greater NY Ins. Co. Pioneer State Mutual American Interstate Ins. Co. Greenwich Ins. Co. Platinum Group of Cos. American Management Corp. Greenwich Transportation Und. Plymouth Rock Assurance American Modern Ins. Group Grinnell Mutual Ins. Co. Pratt Lambert & Brown American Reinsurance Co. Guaranty National Ins. Co. Preferred Mutual Ins. Co. American Reliable Ins. Co. Guardian General Ins. Svc. Premier Ins. Co. of MA American Service Ins. Co. GuideOne Ins. Group Princeton Ins. Co. American Sterling Ins. Co. Guy Carpenter Co. Priority One Ins. Co. AmFed Cos. Hannover Re Professional Ins. Underwriters Anchor General Ins. Agy. Hanover Ins. Co. Professional Risk Mgt. Svcs. Andover Cos. Harbor Ins. Co. Progressive Corp. Aon Corp. Hartford Ins. Group Providence-Washington Group Arch Ins. Group Hartford Steam Boiler Ins. Co. Prudential Ins. Co. ARECA Ins. 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