Insurance and Hedging compared
The concept of hedging is to transferring the risk to the speculator through purchase of future contracts .An insurance contract, however, is not the same thing as hedging .Although both technique are similar in that risk is transferred by a contract, and no new risk is created, there are some important difference between them.
First, an insurance transaction involves the transfer of insurable risks, because the requirement of an insurable risk generally can be met .However, hedging is a technique for handling risks that are typically uninsurable ,such as protection against a decline in the price agriculture products and raw materials.
A second difference between insurance and hedging is that insurance and hedging is that insurance can reduce the objective risk of an insurer by application of the law of large numbers. As the number of exposure units increases, the insurer’s prediction of future losses improves, because the relative variation of actual loss from expected loss will decline .thus, many insurance transactions reduce objective risk.
In contract, hedging typically involves only risk transfer , not risk reduction .The risk of adverse price fluctuation is transferred because of superior knowledge of market conditions .The risk is transferred, not reduced, and prediction of loss generally is not based on the law of large numbers.
The concept of hedging is to transferring the risk to the speculator through purchase of future contracts .An insurance contract, however, is not the same thing as hedging .Although both technique are similar in that risk is transferred by a contract, and no new risk is created, there are some important difference between them.
First, an insurance transaction involves the transfer of insurable risks, because the requirement of an insurable risk generally can be met .However, hedging is a technique for handling risks that are typically uninsurable ,such as protection against a decline in the price agriculture products and raw materials.
A second difference between insurance and hedging is that insurance and hedging is that insurance can reduce the objective risk of an insurer by application of the law of large numbers. As the number of exposure units increases, the insurer’s prediction of future losses improves, because the relative variation of actual loss from expected loss will decline .thus, many insurance transactions reduce objective risk.
In contract, hedging typically involves only risk transfer , not risk reduction .The risk of adverse price fluctuation is transferred because of superior knowledge of market conditions .The risk is transferred, not reduced, and prediction of loss generally is not based on the law of large numbers.