Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

From the reviews "The highly esteemed 1990 first edition of this book now appears in a much expanded second edition. The difference between the first two English editions is entirely due to the addition of numerous exercises. The result is a truly excellent book, balancing ideally between theory and practice. ....As already hinted at above, this book provides the ideal bridge between the classical (deterministic) life insurance theory and the emerging dynamic models based on stochastic processes and the modern theory of finance. The structure of the bridge is very solid, though at the same time pleasant to walk along. I have no doubt that Gerber's book will become the standard text for many years to come. "Metrika, 44, 1996, 2"

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

This book is written for the student who likes applied mathematics and wants an introduction to the concepts of life insurance mathematics. Familiarity with basic concepts of probability and an ability to use a spreadsheet for routine calculations are assumed. The first chapter introduces the mathematics of compound interest; the next seven focus on the single policy using the stochastic model where the key element is the future lifetime of a life aged x with the extension to the multiple decrements case and to policies contingent on more than one life. Chapter 9 examines the risks arising from a group of policies, and chapter 10 very briefly introduces the problems of expense loadings. Chapter 11 is more statistical in nature, dealing with the problem of estimating probabilities of death. An appendix contains exercises, some of which require mainly algebraic manipulations and others, spreadsheet computations for each chapter. An additional appendix contains solutions. The book concludes with references to more thorough treatments of compound interest and life insurance mathematics. A well-written work, accessible to undergraduates. F. Giesbrecht North Carolina State University