2. User Guides

The User Guides show how to access aggregate functionality and apply it to solve actuarial problems. It alternates between access-oriented reference guides and problem and application based practice guides. New users should start reading the Student or Actuarial Student guide and scan through A Ten Minute Guide to aggregate. See Technical Guides for the theory and implementation details. Sections in the guides marked Details can be skipped. There is some duplication between sections to make them independent.

  1. Student (practice): Introduction to aggregate distributions using simple discrete examples for actuarial science majors and short-term actuarial modeling exam candidates; get started using aggregate.

  2. Actuarial Student (practice): Introduce the aggregate library for working with aggregate probability distributions in the context of actuarial society exams (SOA exam STAM, CAS exam MAS I, or IFOA CS-2) and university courses in (short-term) actuarial modeling.

  3. A Ten Minute Guide to aggregate (reference): A whirlwind introduction—don’t expect to understand everything the first time, but you will see what you can achieve with the package. Read in parallel with the Student or Actuarial Student practice guides. Follows the pandas model, a long 10 minutes.

  4. The Dec Language (reference): Introduce the Dec Language (DecL) used to specify aggregate distributions in familiar insurance terminology.

  5. Individual Risk Pricing (practice): Applications of the Aggregate class to individual risk pricing, including LEVs, ILFs, layering, and the insurance charge and savings (Table L, M), illustrated using problems from CAS Part 8.

  6. Reinsurance Pricing (practice): Applications of the Aggregate class to reinsurance exposure rating, including swings and slides, aggregate stop loss and swing rated programs, illustrated using problems from CAS Parts 8 and 9.

  7. Reserving (practice, placeholder): Applications of the Aggregate class to reserving, including models of loss emergence and determining ranges for IBNR and case reserves.

  8. Catastrophe Modeling (practice): Applications of the Aggregate class to catastrophe risk evaluation and pricing using thick-tailed Poisson Pareto and lognormal models, including occurrence and aggregate PMLs (OEP, AEP) and layer loss costs. Covers material on CAS Parts 8 and 9.

  9. Capital Modeling and Risk Management (practice, placeholder): Application of the Portfolio class to capital modeling, including VaR, TVaR, and risk visualization and quantification. Covers material on CAS Part 9.

  10. Strategy and Portfolio Management (practice, placeholder): Application of the Portfolio and and Distortion classes to strategy and portfolio management, including margin (capital) allocation, determining benchmark pricing within a portfolio using alternative pricing methodologies, and the evaluation of reinsurance.

  11. Case Studies (practice): Using aggregate to reproduce the case study exhibits from the book Pricing Insurance Risk and build similar exhibits for your own cases.

  12. Working With Samples (reference): How to sample from aggregate and how to a build a Portfolio from a sample. Inducing correlation in a sample using the Iman-Conover algorithm and determining the worst-VaR rearrangement using the rearrangement algorithm.

  13. Published Problems and Examples (practice): aggregate solutions to a wide selection of problems and examples from books (Loss Models, Loss Data Analytics), actuarial exam study notes, and academic papers. Demonstrates the method of solution and verifies the correctness of aggregate calculations.

Guides marked practice are problem and application based and give possible driving destinations; those marked reference are access-based and describe how to unlock the car, start the engine, and engage a gear.

Guides marked placeholder are work in progress, often just a sketch of planned content.