1. The topic of culture and risk taking mostly gets discussed in terms of managing risk. How might culture contribute to opportunities instead, especially for insurers/ reinsurers?
2. Financial markets are increasingly segmented/ fragmented in recent years, particularly from an international perspective. What are three factors leading to fragmentation between a capital markets view of say, UKcompanies/ business environment versus Italy companies/ business environment?
3. If you were a multinational business analyst who wished to express market segmentation AND country risk by adding a buffer (spread or premium) to the cost of capital or required rate of return for doing business in a particular country or region, you would clearly incorporate country and market specific risks into the assessment. In addition to these, which three global risks (from the Global Risks Report 2017) would you incorporate into your country-market assessment, and why?
4. Compare & contrast political risk in an India with political risk in the European Union.
5. How might political risk feed into management decisions regarding capital structure?
6. Currency risk is a factor in the political risk a country represents. Political risk, in turn, likely impacts the currency risk. Hedging offers some protection. Can insurance/ reinsurance offer any protection -- direct or indirect -- against these risks? Explain.
7. Take climate change and sea level rise as example. Cities such as Miami, Amsterdam and Venice are already experiencing the effects. How can these places be made more anti-fragile in light of this risk?
8. Are there ways in which (re)insurance contributes to anti-fragility of an economy (as opposed to just contributing to resilience)?
9. The 4th Industrial Revolution, as discussed early in the semester, is related to intellectual property, privacy, technology, cyber and terrorism risk, among other things. Is there a valid argument then that private sector intellectual property is critical infrastructure with catastrophe potential, and thus subject to consideration of the precautionary principle?
10. The use of risk analytics is discussed as a business opportunity (even as business necessity). For (re)insurers, in what ways is this view of risk analytics true and in what ways is the use of risk analytics an emerging risk itself for (re)insurers?