Loss Models: From Data to Decisions

by Stuart A. Klugman, Harry H. Panjer, Gordon E. Willmot

Much of actuarial science consists of constructing and analyzing mathematical models that describe how fluids flow into and out of an insurance system. This book examines contemporary topics such as risk theory and economics, credibility and stochastic processes with a focus on the loss process, or the outflow of cash due to the payment of benefits.

Genres: Textbooks, Reference, Mathematics

Paperback

First published January 9, 1998

Reviews

[Denis Kuznetsov]

The book is definitely a very good and worthwhile read. It's clear the authors have a great understanding of how all the distributions work and how they're connected.
However, this is definitely not the best choice for those who are unfamiliar with the subject. The book often explains one concept with the assumption that the reader is already quite familiar with several others. What's strange is that later, maybe 200 pages in, it will introduce those underlying concepts from the beginning as if the reader doesn't know them, which contradicts the earlier assumption of their understanding.
So, while it's not an introductory-level book, it's still quite a good one for providing an overall understanding and showing the connections between various subjects. This is also one of the few books where the appendix is definitely worth paying attention to.
What I didn't like was the generally intimidating feeling of the book. Even though the explanations are quite clear, maybe it's an editorial issue.

[Sebestyén Máté Attila]

Despite it's awfully chaotic and seemingly random organization (e.g. introducing mathematical statistics only after having spent hundreds of pages with bulding models), completely worthless solutions manual (rarely providing detailed derivations), it is for better or worse still the "best" resource for non-life actuarial mathematics.

[Lisa]

I read sections of this book more as an overview to loss models and credit risk analysis. It was informative for what I needed. Unfortunately most is for actuarial models and insurance. I would have liked to have seen more examples and some case studies and a bit less theory.

3.5/5 stars ⭐️

[Yehia]

Mid life crisis

[Vonny]

systematic and easy to understand ... :D

[Andrew]

Pretty readable for an actuarial exam textbook. There are even some funny parts.