Montana Code 33-2-404. Principle-based valuation
33-2-404. Principle-based valuation. (1) A company domiciled in Montana shall establish reserves using a principle-based valuation that meets the conditions for policies or contracts in this section and as specified in the valuation manual.
Terms Used In Montana Code 33-2-404
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
- Principle-based valuation: means a reserve valuation that uses one or more methods or one or more assumptions determined by the insurer. See Montana Code 33-2-402
- Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
- Tail risk: means a risk that occurs either when the frequency of low-probability events is higher than expected under a normal probability distribution or when there are observed events of very significant size or magnitude. See Montana Code 33-2-402
- Valuation manual: means the valuation manual adopted by the NAIC in accordance with its model law regarding standard valuation and adopted by the commissioner by rule. See Montana Code 33-2-402
(2)The principle-based valuation at a minimum must:
(a)quantify the benefits and guarantees as well as the funding associated with the contracts and their risks at a level of conservatism that reflects conditions that include unfavorable events that have a reasonable probability of occurring during the lifetime of the contracts. The principle-based valuation method must reflect conditions appropriately adverse to quantify the tail risk for policies and contracts with significant tail risk.
(b)incorporate assumptions, risk analysis methods, and financial models and management techniques that are consistent with but not necessarily identical to those used within the company’s overall risk assessment process. This process must recognize potential differences in financial reporting structures and any prescribed assumptions or methods.
(c)incorporate assumptions derived:
(i)as prescribed in the valuation manual; or
(ii)if not prescribed in the valuation manual, using:
(A)the company’s available experience to the extent the experience is relevant and statistically credible; or
(B)other relevant and statistically credible experience whenever the company’s own data is not available, relevant, or statistically credible; and
(d)provide margins for uncertainty, including adverse deviation and estimation error to the extent that the greater the uncertainty, the larger the margin and resulting reserve.
(3)A company using principle-based valuation for one or more policies or contracts subject to this section and as specified in the valuation manual shall:
(a)establish procedures for corporate governance and oversight of the actuarial valuation function consistent with those described in the valuation manual;
(b)provide to the commissioner and its board of directors an annual certification of the effectiveness of the internal controls with respect to the principle-based valuation. These internal controls must be designed to ensure that all material risks inherent in the liabilities and associated assets subject to the principle-based valuation are included in the valuation and are performed in accordance with the valuation manual. The certification must be based on controls in place as of the end of the preceding calendar year.
(c)develop a principle-based valuation report that complies with standards prescribed in the valuation manual. This report must be filed with the commissioner upon the commissioner’s request. A report under this subsection (3)(c) is required after the commissioner has adopted rules as provided in 33-2-418.
(4)A principle-based valuation may include a prescribed formulaic reserve component.