The gamma distribution of shape one half and rate has moment-generating function . With mean and positive relative safety loading , write . Dividing out the zero root after squaring the adjustment equation gives . Its unique positive root lies between zero and one, so it belongs to the transform domain and gives the display.
Adjustment coefficient with independent claim expenses Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
If each claim includes an independent expense , replace its payment law by the convolution of independent random variables . Its moment-generating function is and its expected value is . Keeping the relative safety loading fixed therefore changes the premium rate as well. The new coefficient solves , within the common finite-transform domain.
Classical risk model 2026-10-06
The classical risk model has surplus , where is a Poisson process of rate , independent claim sizes are positive, and premiums flow in at constant rate . The relative safety loading is . Ruin is the first time surplus becomes negative.
Cramér–Lundberg ruin asymptotic Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
In the classical risk model with positive relative safety loading and adjustment coefficient , tilting the ruin defective renewal equation gives a proper renewal equation. The key renewal theorem yields . The constant is positive if the denominator is finite and zero if it is infinite; the claim-size density provides the nonarithmetic hypothesis.
Fix positive claim expected value and relative safety loading in a classical risk model. Assume the random claim law has an adjustment coefficient . By Jensen inequality, . Thus . The expression on the left is strictly convex, has negative derivative at zero and tends to infinity, so its unique positive zero satisfies . If the claim size is not almost surely constant, strict Jensen inequality gives . Consequently the Lundberg inequality upper bound for deterministic claims is smaller for . Comparing these upper bounds alone does not establish an ordering of actual ultimate ruin probabilities.
Expected value premium principle 2026-10-13
Finite-claim ruin probability 2026-10-14
In a classical risk model, is the time of the th claim. The displayed probability restricts ruin to the first claims and increases to the ultimate ruin probability. Conditioning on the first arrival and severity gives , with . For exponential distribution claims of mean and relative safety loading , put and . Then and . The recursion follows because a surviving first claim leaves fresh independent future arrivals and claims. The formulas follow by integrating the rate- first-arrival density; the claim-arrival rate cancels with .
Starting from capital , ruin occurs exactly when the aggregate loss exceeds . Positive relative safety loading and the strong law of large numbers make tend to minus infinity, so its supremum is finite almost surely. For exponential distribution claims of rate , has an atom at zero, and, conditional on , has exponential distribution of rate . The ultimate ruin probability determines this mixture directly.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 27 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write the surplus process in the classical risk model as , with positive independent claims. Condition on the first claim time, which has exponential distribution of rate . If that claim occurs at , the available capital is and survival requires its size not to exceed that capital. The independent future process then givesPut and change variables . We obtainThe convolution of bounded with the integrable density is continuous; differentiation of this expression is therefore justified. It proves the survival version of the ruin integro-differential equation:
The density is a hyperexponential distribution with mixture weights and exponential rates . Its total integral is one and its mean isThe relative safety loading means . Substitution of gives and .
Set . Differentiating in its equivalent form gives . The survival equation becomesApply the constant-coefficient operator , where . Since and ,Expanding and cancelling yields . Thus .
Positive loading also fixes the limiting boundary value . Indeed the aggregate-claims process minus premium income tends to minus infinity almost surely by the strong law of large numbers. Its supremum over all time is consequently finite almost surely, since paths have finitely many jumps on bounded intervals. The probability that this supremum exceeds tends to zero. Hence . At zero, the given value is , and the integral equation supplies the extra condition . Thereforeso and . The nonruin probability isThis is the two-exponential-mixture survival probability. It increases from to and satisfies the original integral equation, not just the differentiated equation; the zero-capital derivative condition prevents introducing extraneous solutions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 39 3 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
In the classical risk model, the surplus with initial capital iswhere is a Poisson process of rate , and the nonnegative independent claim sizes, of mean , are independent of that process. Positive relative safety loading makes expected premium income exceed expected claim outflow. With ruin time , the ultimate ruin probability isThe adjustment coefficient is the positive root in the finite domain of the claim moment-generating function satisfyingThe zero root is excluded by definition.
Under the stated transform-divergence assumption this positive root exists and is unique. Indeed has , derivative , and strictly positive second derivative on its positive domain. At a finite endpoint the diverging transform makes positive eventually. At an infinite endpoint, choose with ; the bound makes it dominate the linear term. Strict convexity then gives exactly one positive crossing. This is the secant-slope existence criterion for an adjustment coefficient.
The Lundberg inequality isFor a short justification, the compound-Poisson transform and the defining equation make a nonnegative martingale starting at . Stop it at , a bounded stopping time. On its value is greater than one. The optional stopping theorem therefore gives ; let increase to infinity. No expectation identity at an unbounded ruin time is required.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 43 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For the Poisson process of claims and relative safety loading , the premium rate in the classical risk model is . Dividing the adjustment coefficient equation by explains why the arrival rate cancels. Interpret as the upper endpoint of the finite moment-generating function domain, so for and its stated divergence occurs at that endpoint.
Set . ThenDifferentiation is valid inside the finite-transform domain, and its positive neighbourhood gives finite moments of every order. Thus is strictly convex and negative just to the right of zero. If , divergence of makes at the endpoint. If , choose with ; then , which eventually exceeds every linear function. Again . The intermediate value theorem gives a positive zero.
There is at most one positive zero: strict convexity and make the secant slope strictly increasing for . It starts at and crosses zero exactly once. HenceThis proves the secant-slope existence criterion for an adjustment coefficient in the present setting.
Put . For , the positive remainder of the exponential series gives . Apply it to and take expectations:Dividing by yieldsKeeping the cubic term similarly givesThe polynomial is strictly increasing for , is negative at zero and tends to infinity. Let be its unique positive zero. The last inequality says , soFinally, , whence . Monotonicity gives . Thus the requested upper bounds can in fact be sharpened to the strict ordering . The bounds themselves need not lie in the finite-transform domain; the argument only evaluates the actual transform at and polynomial moments elsewhere. These are polynomial moment bounds for the adjustment coefficient.
For rate- exponential distribution claims,The positive root satisfies after dividing out , soThe cubic-bound equation reduces to , selecting the displayed positive root. In particular , as required by the transform domain, for every .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 43 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
In the classical risk model, the insurer's surplus iswhere is initial capital, is a Poisson process of rate , and the claim sizes are positive independent and identically distributed random variables with expected value , independent of the claim-arrival process. Premium flows in at constant rate . A positive relative safety loading meansso premium income exceeds the expected claim cost per unit time. The ruin stopping time is , with if ruin never occurs, and the ultimate ruin probability is .
Assume the stated positive adjustment coefficient exists and that the claim moment-generating function is finite at . The Lundberg inequality isHere is a proof, including the stopping argument. By conditioning on the Poisson distribution of , the random-sum transform identity givesThe adjustment coefficient equation is . Consequently the exponential surplus martingalehas expected value one at every finite time. More strongly, the claim process has independent increments, so for ,Thus is a nonnegative continuous-time martingale for the filtration generated by arrivals and claim sizes. For a fixed finite horizon , the optional stopping theorem at the bounded stopping time gives . This bounded use is legitimate: the stopped values belong to the closed martingale on given by conditional expectations of the integrable variable .
On , the surplus is negative, and therefore . By nonnegativity on the complementary event,The ruin events increase to as increases, so continuity of probability gives the claimed Lundberg inequality. No expectation identity at the unbounded stopping time is needed. Positive loading by itself does not guarantee a positive adjustment coefficient for every claim law; the existence assumption is used here.
For the exponential distribution of claim sizes, for . Substitution in the adjustment coefficient equation givesDiscard the zero root and divide by . The unique positive solution iswhich lies strictly inside the finite-transform domain.
For deterministic claim sizes, the claim moment-generating function is . Define . It satisfies , , , and as . Thus its strict convexity gives exactly one positive zero , with for .
Put . Since , we have . HenceIt follows thatThus the deterministic-claim Lundberg inequality provides a smaller upper bound at positive capital; at zero capital both bounds equal one. This is a special case of deterministic claims maximize the adjustment coefficient at fixed mean and loading: fixing the mean and loading, variability lowers the exponential decay coefficient relative to deterministic claims. The ordering of these upper bounds alone is not a proof that the actual ultimate ruin probabilities are ordered.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 45 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The claim law is an Erlang distribution of shape two and rate . Direct integration, using for , gives its moment-generating functionDifferentiating at zero gives . The positive relative safety loading condition for the classical risk model is thereforeThe adjustment coefficient is the positive root in the finite-transform domain ofSet and . For , division by reduces the equation toThe two roots are . The minus root lies strictly between zero and one: positivity follows from , and the numerator is smaller than . The plus root exceeds one and is outside the moment-generating function's domain. Consequently the adjustment coefficient for shape-two Erlang claims isThe zero root of the original equation is not an adjustment coefficient. The increasing secant slope on also establishes uniqueness of the positive root.
Now set . Under quota share reinsurance, the retained payment is . For , the change of variables yieldsHere the second gamma parameter is the rate. In particular, and . At full cession the retained payment instead has a point mass at zero.
The reinsurer's expected annual payments are , so its loaded premium is . Subtract it from the original premium income to obtain the direct insurer's net premium rateIts expected retained claim outflow is . Thusby the stipulated lower bound on . In particular , so the retained portfolio satisfies the net profitability condition. Its relative safety loading is .
Apply the same adjustment coefficient for shape-two Erlang claims formula with scale and net premium . WritinggivesEquivalently it is the positive solution, with , of
For fixed positive initial capital, a larger adjustment coefficient reduces the exponential upper bound from the Lundberg inequality. It also makes the large-capital decay exponent in the Cramér–Lundberg ruin asymptotic larger. These are the reasons for maximizing as a ruin-risk criterion; the coefficient alone need not order exact finite-capital ruin probabilities for arbitrary different models.
If , then and is constant. The equal-loading quota share and vanishing retention relation becomesThe numerator is positive for , so decreases strictly with and tends to infinity as . There is no maximizing retention in the stipulated interval ; the best limit is full cession. If the endpoint is admitted as an idealized contract, all claims are transferred and the net premium income is zero, leaving the direct insurer's capital constant and its ultimate ruin probability zero. At that endpoint the coefficient equation is identically zero, so it no longer defines a unique finite adjustment coefficient. Calling optimal requires this explicit extension of the original admissible set.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 45 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The surplus in the classical risk model is . With ruin defined as a strictly negative surplus, its ultimate ruin probability isLet . The first arrival time has exponential distribution of rate , independent of the first claim. Before that claim no ruin occurs, because the premium rate is positive. Given its arrival at and size , available capital just before it is . If ruin is immediate; otherwise the independent increments and fresh claim sizes make subsequent ruin probability . Thus first-claim conditioning givesThis is the ruin counterpart of the first-claim decomposition for survival probability. DefineThe convolution term is continuous: extend the bounded function by zero to negative arguments and use continuity of translations in for the integrable density . The tail function is also continuous. Changing variables to yieldsDifferentiating this exponentially weighted integral establishes differentiability rather than presuming it. The fundamental theorem of calculus givesReversing the integration variable in the convolution therefore proves the ruin integro-differential equation:At zero the derivative is the right derivative; the same representation supplies it.
For the exponential claim law, introduceDifferentiating the explicit convolution gives . Henceusing the proved integral equation. Differentiating that equation once more givesso the required ordinary differential equation isPositive relative safety loading means , so . The general solution is .
The condition at large capital must also be used. The strong law of large numbers for the Poisson process and the independent claims gives almost surely. Thus . Its path has only finitely many jumps on each bounded time interval, so its supremum over all time is finite almost surely. Therefore as , forcing . The supplied initial value then gives ultimate ruin with exponential claims:The decay rate is also the exponential-claim adjustment coefficient.
For the maximum aggregate loss in a classical risk model, the ruin event is exactly . Since , , and its full cumulative distribution function isIn particular it has an atom of mass at zero. Conditional on , its distribution is exponential with rate ; omitting that atom would give an incorrectly normalized law.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 37 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
In the classical risk model, let be the Poisson process of claim arrivals, independent of the independent claim sizes. The reserve starts at and earns premiums continuously at rate , soHere is the ultimate ruin probability and is the survival probability. The relative safety loading is .
To derive the survival integro-differential equation, condition on the first claim time , which has the exponential distribution of rate . Immediately before that claim the available capital is . A claim leaves survival probability , since the future claim process restarts with the same independent law; a larger claim causes ruin immediately. The first-claim decomposition for survival probability is thereforePut and . Changing variables to yieldsThis representation justifies differentiation. The function is continuous: extend by zero to negative arguments, then use continuity of translations of the integrable density in to control its convolution with the bounded function . Differentiating the lower endpoint of the displayed integral gives . Since ,This deduction uses the first-arrival law rather than taking the desired differential equation as an assumption.
For , the claim law is an Erlang distribution of shape two and rate two. Its mean is . With , we have . Changing the convolution variable to givesHence the first requested specialization isLet . Differentiation under the finite integral gives and . Differentiating the preceding equation and using then givesThus the second identity isDifferentiate once more:The preceding second-derivative equation gives . Substitution cancels the undifferentiated terms and provesThis is the Erlang claim-size differential equation for survival probability with and .
Its characteristic polynomial factors as . The limit therefore makes the general bounded solutionThe supplied zero-capital survival probability is , so . We also need the initial derivative carried by the original integral equation: implies , giving . Solving gives and . Therefore the survival and ruin probabilities areThe extra initial derivative is essential: and the limit at infinity alone would leave one free parameter in the third-order equation. The result has and tends to zero. It is positive and decreasing, since for . These signs agree with its interpretation as an ultimate ruin probability.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 40 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the classical risk model surplus , with , and write for its ultimate survival probability. The first-claim decomposition for survival probability follows by conditioning on the first arrival time of the Poisson process. That time has exponential distribution of rate . A claim at time leaves capital if , after which the Markov property restarts the same risk model. ConsequentlyPut and change variable :The convolution is continuous since is bounded and is integrable. Differentiating proves the survival integro-differential equation
For the specified claim law, expand its probability density function as . This is an equal-weight mixture distribution of exponential distributions with rates and . In the convolution, set to obtainSince , the requested coefficients are
For the exponential-mixture differential equation for survival probability, define , and . Differentiating the integrals yieldsApply to the last equation, where . The first two equations eliminate , givingThusThe characteristic polynomial factors asThe ordinary differential equation therefore has solution .
The claim expected value is . The relative safety loading is , and the given zero-capital survival probability is . The limit at infinity sets . A third condition comes from the original survival integro-differential equation: its convolution vanishes at zero, so . Thereforewhich gives and . The final survival probability and ultimate ruin probability areBoth exponential coefficients of are positive. Hence increases from to one, and decreases from to zero. The initial slope is essential: the two stated boundary values alone do not determine all three constants of the eliminated differential equation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 28 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
In the classical risk model write , where the Poisson process has rate and is independent of the claim sizes. Define the ruin time and ultimate ultimate ruin probability byThe relative safety loading is , so . The adjustment coefficient is the nonzero positive solutionExistence and uniqueness follow from the secant-slope existence criterion for an adjustment coefficient. Explicitly, has derivative at zero and is strictly convex for positive claims. The assumed divergence of makes it cross zero once at a positive . When , an exponential lower bound from any positive tail event shows that . In particular is inside the finite-transform domain, not at its endpoint.
Put . Replacing in the survival renewal equation for a classical risk model yieldsBy the tail integral formula for moments, . Therefore this is the defective renewal equationThe original kernel has mass . For the exponential tilt of the ruin renewal kernel, setMultiplying by gives the required proper renewal equationTo verify that this is a probability renewal kernel, Tonelli theorem gives, for in the finite-transform domain,The adjustment coefficient equation consequently implies . Its expected value isIt is finite because is interior to the finite-transform domain and is positive because the strict convex crossing has derivative .
We quote the key renewal theorem in the following form: for a nonarithmetic distribution of positive increments with finite positive mean , and a directly Riemann integrable nonnegative function , the locally bounded solution of satisfies . It has renewal representation ; this follows by iterating the equation, since the probability that arbitrarily many positive increments have sum at most a fixed tends to zero.
Here is absolutely continuous, and hence nonarithmetic distribution, even if the original claim law has atoms. The function is continuous. Choose with . The Markov inequality gives , and hence . Continuity on compact intervals and this exponential bound make the upper Riemann sums finite with uniformly vanishing tails, proving direct Riemann integrability.
A further application of Tonelli theorem evaluates the forcing integral:All hypotheses of the key renewal theorem are now checked, so the interior adjustment coefficient ruin prefactor isThis proves the requested Cramér–Lundberg ruin asymptotic, including its constant.
For the two-component hyperexponential distribution, conditioning on the chosen exponential component givesIts moment-generating function and derivative areThe moment-generating function diverges at , while the derivative of the adjustment equation at zero is negative. Strict convexity therefore places its unique positive adjustment coefficient inThe adjustment equation, divided by , becomesUsing this identity to subtract from givesThus the asymptotic constant in terms of and isThe denominator is positive on the identified domain. If desired, is the smaller root of ; the other algebraic root lies outside the positive finite-transform interval and is not an adjustment coefficient.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 31 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For the original exponential distribution, cancel the nonzero root into obtainIt lies strictly below the transform pole .
With the extra expenses, the insurer's payment per claim is , where has exponential distribution of expected value and is independent of . The convolution of independent random variables gives a hypoexponential distribution withKeeping the relative safety loading fixed means using the new expected payment: the premium rate becomes . It does not mean keeping the old premium rate fixed. The adjustment coefficient with independent claim expenses therefore solvesSet , cancel , and simplify:The quadratic is positive at and equals at . Its leading coefficient is positive, so the smaller root is in and the larger root exceeds . Only the smaller root lies in the finite moment-generating function domain. HenceFor ,Thus the new adjustment coefficient is about smaller, even though the premium rate has been increased to retain the same relative safety loading. The Lundberg inequality consequently has a slower exponential decay rate as a function of capital.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 31 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
First derive the survival renewal equation for a classical risk model. Before the first claim, capital rises deterministically. The first interarrival time has exponential distribution of rate , independently of the claim size. Conditioning on its time and size, and using the Markov property after that claim, givesA claim larger than the capital available then causes immediate ruin and contributes zero. There is almost surely a first claim because .
Put . Changing variables yieldsSince , this representation makes locally absolutely continuous, and differentiation gives, at least almost everywhere,Integrate from to . The integrands are nonnegative, so Tonelli theorem permits interchange in the double integral. In particularSubtracting this from , changing variables once more, and using the permitted boundary value givesThe constant is the zero-capital survival probability. Positive relative safety loading means , so it is positive. The convolution kernel is a multiple of the integrated tail distribution density and has total mass , making this a defective renewal equation.
For the individual portfolios define . Under the positive-loading convention of the question, . At zero capital, portfolio survives with probability . The independence of random variables of the entire portfolio processes makes their ultimate survival events independent. ConsequentlyThe exponential form is not needed for this zero-capital probability under positive loading; only the claim mean enters. For completeness, the company description does not separately repeat positive loading for every portfolio. If nonpositive loadings are allowed, certain ruin with nonpositive loading and finite claim variance instead givesHere the positive part sets a nonpositive factor to zero. To justify the additional case, observe capital at claim times: its independent increments are , with mean . A negative mean sends their partial sums to by the strong law of large numbers. At zero mean, these increments have finite nonzero variance. The central limit theorem gives for each fixed , so the probability of unboundedness below is at least . That event is unchanged by altering finitely many increments and hence is a tail event; the Kolmogorov zero-one law makes its probability one. Ruin therefore occurs almost surely also at zero loading.
For the merged claims, Poisson superposition of insurance portfolios gives total arrival rate . Each arrival is from portfolio with probability , independently of other arrival labels. Thus its claim-size mixture distribution has densityThe weights sum to one, so this density integrates to one. An independent transform verification uses the aggregate for one accounting period. If , then its moment-generating function isThis is precisely a compound Poisson distribution with parameter and the displayed claim-size law. The transform identity can safely be read at ; positive arguments must be below the relevant poles.
Premium incomes and initial capitals add. Therefore the merged premium rate is , the merged initial capital is zero, and its mean claim size isIts zero-capital survival probability is consequentlyUnder the question's positive-loading context this is a premium-weighted average of the individual survival probabilities, rather than their product. If arbitrary individual loadings are admitted, recompute the loading of the merged portfolio; its finite-variance mixture law gives the complete formulaAn individually nonpositive loading does not force merged ruin when aggregate premiums still exceed aggregate expected claims. The survival probability under risk pooling is at least their product because a product of numbers in is at most each factor. Pooling allows one portfolio's surplus to cover another's deficit, so merged survival does not require every original portfolio to remain solvent separately.

