Set . The compound Poisson distribution variance identity and the per-claim excess of loss reinsurance payouts give
Apply differentiation under the integral sign. The endpoint terms in the first two terms cancel, while the last integrand is zero at its lower endpoint. Equivalently, differentiate the two payout squares inside their expected values; the finite second moment supplies a dominating integrable function. This gives the total variance stationary condition for excess of loss
Hence the specified equality makes . When , its interpretation is , where the mean residual life is .
For the exponential distribution of mean , and
Thus is negative below and positive above it. The variance-minimizing exponential retention is the unique global minimizer
For an explicit value, put . The capped claim moments and the excess-claim second moment give
The sign argument establishes global minimality, rather than just stationarity.
For excess of loss reinsurance the insurer pays each claim up to its retention level:
The cap applies separately to every claim. In particular the retained annual loss is , rather than a single cap on the annual total.
Let be the cumulative distribution function for the claim size on risk , and put . The retained severity on that risk has the original probability density function on and an atom of a measure at of mass . Thus has a compound Poisson distribution with rate and the mixture of these capped severity laws. The mixture's mass at is .
For the capped claim moments, use the tail integral formula for moments. Since for and is zero for ,
Substitution into the compound Poisson distribution moment formulas gives
Equivalently, the integrals are and . The annual variance uses the retained raw second moments; subtracting their squared means would omit the variation in the Poisson distribution count.