Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2015 / iii / Paper 34 / 1 / Solution

Write $m_X=\mathbb{E}{X}_1$ and $v_X=\mathrm{Var}(X_1)$. For the random sum of independent claims, conditioning on $N$ givesThe law of total expectation and the law of total variance therefore give the aggregate momentsThe first term in the variance measures variation of the individual claims at a fixed count; the second measures variation of the count itself. These formulas require the indicated moments to be finite.

For the moment-generating function, independent random variables givewhere $G_N(z)=\mathbb{E}[z^N]$ is the probability generating function. This identity holds wherever the expectations are finite; in particular a moment-generating function need not exist for positive $t$ for an arbitrary positive claim distribution. The empty sum for $N=0$ is zero.