Risk assessment for synthetic GICs: a quantitative framework for asset–liability management

This study addresses a research gap in quantitative modeling framework and scenario analysis for the risk management of stable value fund wraps, a crucial segment of the U.S. financial market with over USD $400 billion in assets. In this paper, we present an asset–liability model that encompasses an innovative approach to modeling the assets of fixed-income funds coupled with a liability model backed by empirical analysis on a unique data set covering 80% of the stand-alone plan sponsor market, contrasting with models based solely on regular deterministic cash flows and interest rate differences. Our model identifies and analyzes two critical risk scenarios from the insurer’s perspective: inflationary and yield spike. Our approach demonstrates that the tail risk of wraps, used as an economic capital measure, is sensitive to characteristic parameters of the fund, such as the duration, portfolio composition and credit quality of assets. This finding significantly differs from U.S. regulatory approaches like the NAIC’s, which often result in a zero capital requirement. These findings reveal limitations in current actuarial risk and profitability metrics for U.S. insurers and argue that a more sophisticated risk model reproducing the two critical scenarios is necessary.