Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2004/iii/paper-41/1/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 41 1 i Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let . For , the resulting compound Poisson distribution hasThus the merged claim size probability distribution is a rate-weighted mixture distribution, not an equally weighted mixture distribution unless the rates agree.
To prove this without any moment-generating function assumption, let be the characteristic function of a claim of type . Conditioning on its Poisson distribution count givesIndependence of the aggregate risks therefore givesThe weighted characteristic function inside is precisely that of the displayed mixture distribution. This is the transform of a sum of independent claims with independent count , proving the claim by uniqueness of characteristic functions. This is Poisson superposition of insurance portfolios. If , all risks make no claims almost surely and ; the severity law is then irrelevant.
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