HSBC 2012 Annual Report Download - page 277

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Overview Operating & Financial Review Corporate Governance Financial Statements Shareholder Information
We manage these risks through pricing (for example, imposing restrictions and deductibles in the policy terms and
conditions), product design, risk selection, claims handling and reinsurance policy. The majority of our non-life
insurance contracts are renewable annually, providing added flexibility to the underwriting terms and conditions.
Financial risks
(Audited)
Our Insurance businesses are exposed to a range of financial risks, including market risk, credit risk and liquidity
risk. Market risk includes interest rate, equity and foreign exchange risks. The nature and management of these risks
is described below.
Manufacturing subsidiaries are exposed to financial risks when, for example, the proceeds from financial assets
are not sufficient to fund the obligations arising from insurance and investment contracts. In many jurisdictions, local
regulatory requirements prescribe the type, quality and concentration of assets that these subsidiaries must maintain
to meet insurance liabilities. These requirements complement Group-wide policies.
Market risk
(Audited)
Description of market risk
The main features of products manufactured by our insurance manufacturing subsidiaries which generate market risk,
and the market risk to which these features expose the subsidiaries, are discussed below.
Interest rate risk arises to the extent that yields on the assets are lower than the investment returns implied by the
guarantees payable to policyholders by insurance manufacturing subsidiaries. When the asset yields are below
guaranteed yields, products may be discontinued, repriced or restructured. A list of the different types of guarantees
within our insurance contracts is outlined below.
Categories of guaranteed benefits
• annuities in payment;
• deferred/immediate annuities: these consist of two phases – the savings and investing phase and the retirement income phase;
• annual return: the annual return is guaranteed to be no lower than a specified rate. This may be the return credited to the policyholder
every year, or the average annual return credited to the policyholder over the life of the policy, which may occur on the maturity date or
the surrender date of the contract; and
• capital: policyholders are guaranteed to receive no less than the premiums paid plus declared bonuses less expenses.
The proceeds from insurance and investment products with DPF are primarily invested in bonds with a proportion
allocated to other asset classes in order to provide customers with the potential for enhanced returns. Subsidiaries
with portfolios of such products are exposed to the risk of falls in market prices which cannot be fully reflected in
the discretionary bonuses. An increase in market volatility could also result in an increase in the value of the
guarantee to the policyholder.
Long-term insurance and investment products typically permit the policyholder to surrender the policy or let it lapse
at any time. When the surrender value is not linked to the value realised from the sale of the associated supporting
assets, the subsidiary is exposed to market risk. In particular, when customers seek to surrender their policies when
asset values are falling, assets may have to be sold at a loss to fund redemptions.
A subsidiary holding a portfolio of long-term insurance and investment products, especially with DPF, may attempt
to reduce exposure to its local market by investing in assets in countries other than that in which it is based. These
assets may be denominated in currencies other than the subsidiary’s local currency. Where the foreign exchange
exposure associated with these assets is not hedged, for example because it is not cost effective to do so, this exposes
the subsidiary to the risk of its local currency strengthening against the currency of the related assets.
For unit-linked contracts, market risk is substantially borne by the policyholder, but market risk exposure typically
remains as fees earned for management are related to the market value of the linked assets.
Asset and liability matching
It is not always possible to match asset and liability durations, partly because there is uncertainty over policyholder
behaviour, which introduces uncertainty over the receipt of all future premiums and the timing of claims, and partly