Do We Really Know - 1040 Words

Do We Really Know? Within the writing of Steve Earle’s, A Death in Texas, he tells a shorthand story about the prisoner Jonathan Wayne Nobles, and his journey of prison before the death penalty. The question asked when reading this is, â€Å"Was Jon Nobles actually rehabilitated?† Steve Earle thought that Nobles was rehabilitated and didn’t deserve the penalty he received, but I respectively disagree. There are many reasons that contribute to my thought that he was not rehabilitated. One is the buildup of rejection from his childhood into adulthood, causing him to thrive for love, affection, acceptance, and respect. Another reason is that on his death bed, Nobles still had a selfish speech, which was focused more on his feelings towards the victims and their family’s than their wants and needs of closure. Although he did get clean and changed the way he acted, being in a controlled environment rather than a regular society highly influenced this change, especially knowing th ere was no chance of getting out alive. A Merriam-Webster definition of rehabilitate is â€Å"to teach (a criminal in prison) to live a normal and productive life† which, in my opinion prison did not provide this for Nobles. On Nobles death bed speech, October 7, 1998, he proceeded to confront the victim’s families, after being told not to. He proceeded to say how sorry he was, and that he knew what he had done. He wanted the spot light, and closure for himself, even if that was affecting the family’s ability toShow MoreRelatedTeen Pregnancy, Do We Really Know The Facts?1169 Words   |  5 PagesTeen pregnancy, do we really know the facts? Do we even know the common early signs of early pregnancy? Teenagers tend to close themselves off when they find out they are pregnant. Teenagers can not predict what life will be like with a new baby. They will go through several different emotions, exhaustion, and peer pressure-related stress. Teenage mothers are more likely to have lower school achievement and often drop out of school and develop health problems and also face unemployment as youngRead MoreHow Advertising Works: What Do We Really Know?2905 Words   |  12 Pagesor brand. So how to set up an effective and positive advertisement is something that has a very high priority in every business. In order to create that positive advertising campaign you need to know what the do and don’ts are and which pitfalls need to be avoided. I consider it very important to know what advertising exactly means and what the definition of the word advertising is. Advertising is a paid form of communicating a message by the use of various media. It is persuasive, informativeRead More PMS: How Much Do We Really Know? Essay1666 Words   |  7 PagesPMS: How Much Do We Really Know? Basically, PMS has been piecemealed. Its like the story of the five blind men and the elephant. One checked the trunk, another the leg and so on, but nobody has the full picture. --Dr. Susan Thys-Jacobs (1). The Controversy There has been much controversy over the biological factors involved in the mood disorders and discomfort felt by countless women before the onset of menses. The common term for this discomfort is pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS). PMSRead MoreEssay What Do We Really Know About The Beginning Of Time?1406 Words   |  6 PagesWhat Do We Really Know About The Beginning Of Time? Most people take for granted important discoveries, such as the Big Bang. It is widely accepted that the Big Bang created the universe, and while most people can explain the basic theory behind it, little else is common knowledge. Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes called it â€Å"The Horrendous Space Kablooie,† but many people do not grasp the enormous concept (Milne). How exactly do you prove how time began? A writer for Scientific American put this subjectRead MoreHow Much Do We Really Know About Crime? Essay593 Words   |  3 PagesHow do we know about crime? A crime is an action or behavior that is made illegal. What we know about crime comes from what we see and what we hear from our peers and in the media. But how much do we really know about crime? What we see gives us some knowledge of crime. We might be a witness to a crime but this can mislead us because we may not actually witness a crime happening at all. For example, a person may see someone trying to break into a car and report it, when in reality the person lockedRead MoreIs God A True God? Essay971 Words   |  4 Pagesthen the rest of creation. An example of this would be able to be found in naturalism. When we are looking at the world through the Bible, though, things change. One topic of discussion is whether we will live eternally from the time we have come into existence or not. Do we just go into oblivion or is their a way we still exist? Well since I base what I believe from the Bible, the Bible tells us that we will live forever in heaven or in hell depending on our decisions while here on earth. ThisRead MoreWhy Do You Think It Is Important? Essay1450 Words   |  6 PagesInterviewer: Okay, I started recording, do I have your permission to record? Interviewee: Yes, you do. Interviewer: Okay, thank you so much. You asked me why I am interested in this research and I’m really curious about you too. What interested you in joining the study? Interviewee: The reason is really simple, because I know I have experience in anal sex and I am willing to share my experience contributing to any further research or maybe contribute to the awareness of gay sex. So, I thinkRead MoreVideo : Doing The Right Think By Chuck Colson Essay1144 Words   |  5 Pageswrite it down. I really do like this quote and it has a lot of meaning, but the problem I have is what is ‘unjust’? To me unjust could mean something, but to somebody I pass on the street, unjust could mean something totally different. I think the whole video has a great idea, but one guy in it said â€Å"there is no fundamental agreement on the way the world works†, and I completely agree with this. There is no agreement across the board on right and wrong. Another guy mentioned we follow our conscienceRead MoreVideo : Doing The Right Think By Chuck Colson Essay1144 Words   |  5 Pageswrite it down. I really do like this quote and it has a lot of meaning , but the problem I have is what is ‘unjust’? To me unjust could mean something, but to somebody I pass on the street, unjust could mean something totally different. I think the whole video has a great idea, but one guy in it said â€Å"there is no fundamental agreement on the way the world works†, and I completely agree with this. There is no agreement across the board on right and wrong. Another guy mentioned we follow our conscienceRead MoreThe Main Characters Of Norma And Arthur In Button Button814 Words   |  4 Pagesnot the people she knows will die, but her husband died. She finally realizes her husband’s life insurance policy for $25000; double indemnity if he died by accident. Mr.steward said about was that. â€Å"Do you really think you knew your husband?† in the end Richard Matheson teaches us that is the theme of the story, it makes me think about Do we really know each other? Do I know my parents, my good friends? When I think about Norma and Arthur, I realize people didn’t really know the people in our life

Private Peacefull Free Essays

This is a book review on the book â€Å"private peaceful. † This is the best book I have read this year. This book is all about â€Å"innocence and love, courage and cowardice† as it is clearly written on the front of the cover of the book. We will write a custom essay sample on Private Peacefull or any similar topic only for you Order Now This is a book about two brothers called Charlie who is the older brother and Tommo who is the smaller brother who go through the good side and the bad side of life because their father has died and other family issues.As they grow up they start to drift apart from each other because of a friend that they both love called molly who starts to gain love for to Charlie therefore leaving poor Charlie alone. Suddenly they have to go to war. So they pack their things say bye to their loved ones and go off to war†¦. †¦. The book ‘Private Peaceful’ written by Michael Morpurgo is a book that explores the life of Tommo through past and present throughout of his life. The reader is also introduced to Charlie the brother of Tommo and how they are different towards each other. The book is one that also explores the relationship that Charlie and Tommo have. This book tells you how someone is like as a child, and how they are when they are older. An example to me of this would be Charlie. Charlie as a child was completely different to Tommo. Charlie is a very independent person he stands up for what he believes in, basically he is brave. Charlie is responsible to look after Tommo because he is very sensitive and his small brother. Example of this is when Tommo is getting beat up by Jimmy Parsons, Charlie comes to help, in the end Charlie is the one who gets punished but he just accepts it because he is brave, ‘†¦when it’s Charlie’s turn, all you hear are the punches’p24.Charlie is a character that stands up for what he believes in and what he believes was right. It was this believing attitude that made Charlie a man and took him through life. Charlie and Tommo had a really tight relationship when they were young but as time when on it started to fade a little until towards the end of the book when Charlie knew he was going to be punished after his actions. Then it became pretty intense and their relationship that was once strong when they were young became even stronger than it had ever been.An example of this is before Charlie gets shot. â€Å"This is going to be difficult enough without tears. † He holds me an arm length away. ’pg176. The book ‘Private Peaceful’ is one that makes a change on the individual. It is a book that shows how a person is able to change throughout life over a distance of time. It is also a book that tell you how individuals can stay the same, the things learnt in childhood, is able to be carried on into adult life. Tommo and Charlie are examples of this.The author is also trying to make the reader how one mistake can change a relationship so quickly and the change it can have on somebody. The book makes people realise that even though there is often change, it is really about the keeping the relationships with the people you love and using your past to change your future. In conclusion I think that this book is a fantastic book and a very emotional book and maybe a life changing book, for some individuals. For example it tells you to keep your relations tight with the ones you love, and also learn from your mistakes in the past. By Kaiser Saeed How to cite Private Peacefull, Papers

Marine insurance free essay sample

1988 General Insurance Convention M A R I N E I N S U R A N C E R E I N S U R A N C E A N D GISG 1988 Working Party Members:Chairman: Colin J. W. Czapiewski David H. Craighead Peter A. G Green David M. Hart Peter N. Matthews Chris Mellor Hugh Rice Peter D. Smith David I. Tomlinson Marine Insurance Reinsurance An Introduction Page Index 1. Introduction 2 2. Classes of Marine Business 3 3. Types of Insurance and Reinsurance 6 4. Organisations and systems 7 5. Claims 12 6. Rating 14 7. Data Problems 21 8. Reserving 23 9. Summary and Conclusion 31 10. Bibliography 31 1 Marine Insurance and Reinsurance An IntroductionThe only major area of insurance in the UK without substantial actuarial involvement is that referred to as MAT: Marine, Aviation and Transport. Incidentally this state of affairs seems to apply to most overseas countries also. The Institute library is practically devoid of literature on the subject although the Chartered Institute of Insurance does have a fair amount of related information. This paper provides a basic introduction to Marine Insurance and Reinsurance, emphasising aspects of particular interest to Actuaries. Although Marine insurance is international, the paper concentrates upon business written in the UK and so many imilarities exist with London Market Non-Marine. Much detail that is common · to both has therefore been left out entirely or dealt with briefly. Aviation has been omitted to preserve some brevity. The paper does not describe all the business written by Marine underwriters as this includes Incidental Non-Marine. 1 · Introduction Marine business is one of the oldest areas of insurance. The current working environment has been created by historic case law with the 1906 Marine Act formulating much additional regulation and securing some standardisation of definitions.The market comprises insurance companies and Lloyds underwriters. There is some mutual pooling of risk by ship owners but this is mainly confined to PI clubs (Protection and Indemnity) covering liabilities of shipowners to cargo owners and third parties. The insurance is submitted to underwriters in a slip form, as for all London Market business, showing details such as :(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) names and brief details of vessels covered value of vessels periods of cover premium rate deductions for brokerage, etc class and type of cover general conditions See Appendix for an example of such a slip.The slip is taken round the market when the underwriters commit their lines, the percentages of the risk they are willing to bear. 2 2. Classes of business There are various classes of Marine business showing different characteristics :a) Cargo This is one of the earliest forms of Marine insurance. 1600s the policies were ship, goods or ship/goods. In the Cargo insurance normally indemnifies the policyholder against loss of goods or merchandise whilst being transported from one destination to another. Cargo has formed an intrinsic part of Marine insurance since the very earliest days of trading. Usually the insurance covers cargo whilst on land also. Indeed Marine Cargo may never come near any water. Cargo insurance normally provides indemnity against loss of or damage to merchandise caused by fire or explosion, collision, sinking, capsizing, jettison, washing overboard and general average sacrifice. General average sacrifice is the deliberate sacrifice of property in a marine voyage in order to prevent the total loss of both ship and cargo (see section 4e for further details). The sacrifice could be partial, in which case a proportion of the cargo is saved, or in severe cases the whole consignment could be lost.Examples of cargo sacrifice are: (i) (ii) (iii) Goods jettisoned to lighten a ship that is stranded, so that it can be refloated; Damage caused to sound cargo by water used to extinguish a fire; Goods jettisoned to keep afloat a vessel that is in danger of sinking. Cargo insurance usually attaches from the time goods leave the warehouse or place of storage, continues during the ordinary course of transit and terminates either on delivery to the final destination or the expiry of 60 days after discharge at the final port, whichever occurs first. Most Cargo policies contain the Unseaworthiness and Unfitness exclusion clause which precludes coverage of loss, damage or expense arising from the unseaworthiness of vessels and the unfitness of containers used for the transportation of goods. The War Exclusion Clause is another common exclusion which precludes cover arising through war or war related incidents (see section 2d on War Risks). In a similar fashion it is commonplace to have a Strikes Exclusion Clause which prevents insurance cover for loss, damage or expense caused by strikes, lock-outs and other related labour disturbances. b) Hull and MachineryHull insurance omits any reference to goods or merchandise and covers only the structure of the ship. It encompasses damages to the ship from collision, grounding, etc.. Machinery is normally covered, eg engine room, etc. . This insurance covers a variety of risks from small yachts to fishing fleets to roll-on and roll-off ferries to supertankers. Normally only 80% of the value of the hull is insured with some owners effecting additional insurance for the remaining 20%. This class of business has a very short tail for TLO (total loss only) but is longer when other damages occur as delay is entailed before examination in dry dock, ) Liability Marine liability must be considered in connection with the various ? ; I clubs (see section 4b below). The various forms include:i) ii) iii) iv) death or injury to passengers, crew, stevedores and others damage to docks etc , and removal of wrecks damage to cargo collision damage not covered by hull insurance (25% for most countries plus excess over insured value) v) towage liability vi) oil pollution vii) unrecovered general average expenses. viii) fines and other penalties ix) product liability mainly for construction of ships and elated parts. x) any other public liability. d) War Risks From the earliest times Marine policies have normally covered loss from damage by war risks. Nowadays, policies normally exclude war unless specifically requested, except for Cargo. The main perils under a Marine War risks policy are: (i) Capture. (ii) Seizure. (iii) Arrests, restraints etc. , of Kings, Princes and people. More recently this contains a frustration clause which avoids payments where goods are not damaged through restraint etc. (iv) The consequences of hostilities or war-like operations.This provides the widest war cover and includes revolution, civil war, insurrection, etc (v) Political risks failure to complete contract because of political intervention, including terrorism. (vi) Derelict mines, torpedoes, bombs, etc 4 The period of cover is considerably more restricted than a normal policy and covers from loading until discharge at final destination, or for 15 days after arrival, whichever is the first. Transshipment cover is for 15 days only. War risk insurance may be cancelled by either party giving 7 days notice for hull and 2 days for cargo. War risk rates are normally 0. 25% p. a. , payable (and indeed changeable) on a daily basis, although the current Iran/Iraq gulf conflict has seen rates as high as 0. 5% p. a. If War cover is taken then often additional cover for risk of loss by Strikes, Riots and Civil Commotion can be taken although this cover can be provided separately. e) Building Risks Building risks insurance covers the ship against all risks whilst under construction, launch, trials and until delivery to the owners. Cover is also provided for liabilities through negligence. After delivery this type of cover is normally provided by ? ; I Clubs.If the ship is being repaired she may revert to a building risk. f) Port Risks If the ship is laid up or being repaired then she is insured under a Port risks policy which, like building risks, covers all risks including third parties. g) Specie Valuable Cargo such as banknotes or diamonds is called Specie. It might otherwise be difficult to provide for such items in a general cargo treaty. A well-known specie loss is the 1983 Brinks Mat bullion robbery at Heathrow Airport (a notable Marine Loss). h) Rigs Exploration rigs and oil production platforms to extract oil and gas from under the sea involve a different type of risk.No movement is normally involved. Rigs are transported from their construction site to the operation site and then commence operation. Catastrophe accidents can occur (eg Piper Alpha in the North Sea, July 1988) and very large losses can emanate, $lbn+. — 5 Much of the business is placed through the London Master Drilling Rig Policy (renamed London Master Energy Line Slip in 1988) . Energy policies are packages that cover not only the rig but also pipelines and on-shore installations. i) Yachts Including small craft. Losses result in a working level anner except when a hurricane, tsunami, etc, occurs. Then accumulation results. j) Docks Dockside buildings and structures (eg cranes) are often insured as Marine risks. k) Incidental Non-Marine These Non-Marine risks written in the marine market are outside the scope of this paper. However some Non-Marine business can be written under the 1906 Marine Insurance Act where it is expressly covered or connected to a marine risk and is deemed Marine. Pure incidental non-marine is that part of a marine syndicates capacity used to write non-marine business and has no connection to normal marine business. ) Inland Marine Most of this business relates to U. S. A. where these marine risks may cover shipment of cargo across country, insurance of bridges, etc .. 3. Types of Insurance and Reinsurance The initial policy may be written on one of a number of direct type bases:(i) time the policy commences one day and ceases at another specified date. It is irrelevant where the insured ship goes during this period. (ii) voyage the policy commences when the ship is at one location and expires when another prescribed location is reached, irrespective of the time taken. iii) time and voyage the policy covers a voyage and also time spent in port before and/or after the voyage. (iv) floating this general cargo policy covers shipments carried in a period of time. The shipments are defined during the duration of the policy. (v) Construction or building this policy insures the building of a ship no matter how long it takes. 6 Marine insurance risks may be reinsured in a number of ways. These types will be the same as for reinsurance of property/casualty:(i) Facultative this includes all risks that are individually einsured whether by an underwriter directly or by the delegation of underwriting authority. The run off of claims, from the actuarial viewpoint, will be very similar to primary business. Examples are binders, lineslips. Another feature of Marine business is the use of reinsurance on a more restricted basis than the original, e. g. Hull TLO (Total Loss Only). (ii) Treaty Proportional including quota share and surplus reinsurance. The emphasis is on the reinsurer following the fortunes of the reinsured (albeit on premium net of ceding commission). iii) Treaty Non-Proportional excess of loss and stop loss reinsurance, taking a slice of a layered programme will give a reinsurer a very different underwriting result from the reinsured. Excess of loss may be effected on each account separately (e. g. Hull, Cargo) or combined in the form of a whole account cover. The skill of the reinsurance underwriter is of great importance in setting the correct rate. (iv) Retrocessional mainly London Market Excess of Loss (LMX) reinsuring London Market companies and Lloyds syndicates marine reinsurances. In addition, retrocessional business covers the reinsurance of foreign companies reinsurance, both proportional and non-proportional. Care is necessary here because of the spiralling effect of losses. The incestuous nature of the market can turn a $5m gross loss to a $30m gross to all LMX writers combined. 4. Organisations and Systems a) INSTITUTE OF LONDON UNDERWRITERS The Institute of London Underwriters (ILU) is the body to which most companies writing London Market Marine insurance belong and the ILU provides the same sort of services to its members that Lloyds provides to syndicates. 7 -It was founded in 1884 to act as a trade association and to provide a forum for underwriters to discuss current affairs and the problems of the moment; at first Lloyds underwriters were also members but in 1909 the Lloyds underwriters Association was set up as it had become apparent that separate bodies were needed to represent the Lloyds and company markets. Matters which concern the Marine mar ket in London as a whole are still dealt with by joint (Lloyds and ILU) committees which normally have equal membership from each side and an arrangement whereby a chairman from one side will be succeeded by one from the other side. Nowadays the ILUs functions extend beyond acting as a trade association. The London Market being a subscription market where insurers each accept small parts of large risks, the ILU provides a service to its members by issuing policies signed by one of its officials on behalf of those members subscribing to the particular insurance; though it should be noted that these are policies of co-insurance and each underwriter is responsible only for the share of the risk (the line) which he has accepted.It also provides a settlement service so that brokers will make one net payment, supported by all the necessary details, to the ILU monthly (or receive one), as will each of its members. Special cash settlements, in the case of large losses, are similarly handled. At present the ILU has approximately 110 members. Membership of the ILU has always been thought to add prestige to a member and applications for membership are examined thoroughly.The accounts of member companies are carefully vette d, with associate members (those who have been members for less than 5 years, or whose ownership has changed in the last 5 years) submitting quarterly returns and providing business plans in advance. A relatively high standard of solvency is required of ILU members and where a member is a subsidiary of another (often overseas) company, a substantial guarantee is required from the parent. In consequence the ILU is able to boast proudly that no ILU company has ever defaulted on its obligations. Two years ago the ILU building was opened.This is a centre for underwriting in which member companies can rent space and most have chosen to do so. As with Lloyds this certainly makes it easier for brokers placing marine risks and probably gives a competitive advantage to those companies in the building because of the extra convenience for brokers. It has been estimated that it now takes half a day to place a risk that used to take 2-3 days. The ILU companies premium income (excluding aviation) for 1987 was around ? 1. 5bn, of which a third was cargo, the remainder being liability, energy and hull. 8 b) PI CLUBSProtection and Indemnity Clubs were formed to provide mutual insurance of the various liabilities of shipowners. The first one was founded in 1855. The concept is that shipowners pay a standard rate per ton and this is adjusted to reflect the experience. However, divergence has resulted in individual rating by the clubs full time management. Payment is by initial deposit with later adjustment. The policy year traditionally runs from 12. 00 noon on 20th February (this date relates to the annual resumption of Baltic navigation). The reinsurance arrangements for 1988 are as follows:(i) club retention US$1. m per loss, (ii) pool of $12m xs $1. 2m per loss amongst members of clubs, (iii) outwards reinsurance of $lbn xs $12m. ? ; I club work has changed with shipping becoming big business. Expenses of running ? ; I clubs are normally met by fees. Claims are rising because of:(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) increasing social awareness, increasing legislation, increasing wages and costs (incl legal fees) more hostile and business-like Marine insurance environment. The annual premiums taken by ? ; I clubs is around $650m, while a breakdown of claims paid is roughly:Cargo Personal Injury Pollution Remainder 45% 20% 10% 25% ; I clubs differ from companies in the way they get directly involved in helping shipowners manage the risk, advising on contracts, providing legal assistance in claims and organising reports and conferences to increase their awareness. Their history has enabled ? ; I clubs to be strong, both technically and financially, as well as flexible to changing market conditions. C) LLOYDS UNDERWRITERS ASSOCIATION'(LUA) Lloyds is now estimated to insure about 25% of world shipping and marine forms about 30% of Lloyds total business. Few major marine risks in the world are placed without at least checking terms quoted in the London market.LUA represents the interests of Lloyds marine underwriters at Lloyds and provides half the members of committees such as the Joint Hull Committee and the Technical and Clauses Committee; the latter ha s during the early 1980s replaced the ancient Lloyds policy form with a new simpler version. 9 d) LLOYDS POLICY SIGNING OFFICE (LPSO) After a risk has been circulated around the Underwriting room at Lloyds, and each participating Underwriter has signed the slip indicating the share he wishes to accept, the details are checked and the policy document is prepared and signed at LPSO. As ocuments are passed backwards and forwards between the broker and LPSO for agreement and queries are resolved, there is generally 2 to 3 months delay between risk inception and policy signing, but it is the latter date which determines · the underwriting year of account to which premium and corresponding claims are allocated. LPSOs principal functions are:i) To check transactions and sign policies and endorsements ensuring that the terms on the slip are correctly followed through and that various Lloyds and statutory requirements are met. ii) To provide a central accounting scheme whereby monetary ransactions between the many syndicates and brokers are settled on a balance basis. Settlements were made at regular fixed intervals with specific terms of credit until the recent introduction of flexible settlement whereby the settlement date is agreed at the time of placing the risk. LPSO effectively acts as a clearing house collecting premiums and paying claims and refunds, including syndicate reinsurance transactions, once agreement has been reached between broker and lead underwriter. iii) To extract and record accounting and limited statistical information on a per policy basis for use by brokers and nderwriters. The records are made available both in a form suitable for data processing (on punched cards and magnetic tape) and also in a visual narrative form on the aforementioned cards. iv) e) To provide statistical files for use by various Corporation of Lloyds departments. LLOYDS UNDERWRITERS CLAIMS ; RECOVERIES OFFICE (LUCRO) LUCROs main function is to provide an integrated claims and recoveries service for Lloyds marine business and has absolute authority from the vast majority of Lloyds Marine Underwriters to administer and settle claims on their behalf. Claims are andled on the various risks written by Marine Underwriters including Non-Marine, Aviation etc. LUCRO also operates a computer system called OMCAS (Outstanding Marine Claims Advice Scheme) which enables the underwriters to be kept informed of any outstanding claims amounts advised. 10 Once the broker has been informed of a claim occurrence he advises LUCRO who will act to minimise the loss, pursue any queries arising and also give appropriate instructions so as to preserve any rights of recovery where an occurrence involves a third party. LUCRO enter details of Marine claims and recoveries into the central accounting system.LUCRO administers both direct and reinsurance claims through th ree claims sections (i. e. Hull, Cargo and Reinsurance) and has a fourth section dealing with cargo recoveries. The Hull section ensures that salvage recoveries arising on a hull claim are pursued by the assured but cargo recoveries are pursued by the Recoveries section of LUCRO. The latter section follows up on subrogation rights (i. e. the insureds rights against third parties acquired by the insurers on providing the insured with an indemnity) for both Lloyds Marine underwriters and Insurance companies.It charges fees only for successful recoveries, liaises with the cargo claims section and the Salvage Association and protects cargo interests involved in general average* and salvage. It also issues and settles Corporation of Lloyds General Average Guarantees. LPSOs claim role is limited to processing advices and settlements for brokers and underwriters via the central accounting system using details already entered into the system by LUCRO. * f) Average in marine insurance means partial loss; particular average is loss affecting one particular interest in the marine venture, i. e. articular to the hull or to the cargo interest. General average is a partial loss that is general in its effects, i. e. it is not borne by the owner of the damaged items alone but shared by all the interests involved. A general average guarantee promises that the cargo underwriters will eventually pay the required general average contribution when a loss has been finally adjusted; by law the ship owner has a lien on cargo until its general average contribution has been settled but in practice cargo is released either on payment of a deposit or on the underwriters provision of a guarantee. LLOYDS REGISTER OF SHIPPINGNearly half the worlds ships are classified by Lloyds Register; other marine craft such as oil rigs may also be included. When a new risk is proposed to a Hull underwriter he is likely to refer to this Register for important details of the ship. The Register is entirely separate from the Corporation of Lloyds and is controlled by a committee drawn from a wide range of shipping interests. Ships reaching a certain standard are classified and others may be included without classification; certain vessels are specially designated to show their plans were approved before work began and were surveyed at every stage of construction.For a ships classification to be maintained, annual surveys are required with a special survey every fourth year. 11 Some ship owners may not wish to meet the cost and vessels may appear in the Register with different symbols if surveyed by other bodies; some foreign standards do not match Lloyds and this is a matter to be considered in rating a risk. g) SALVAGE ASSOCIATION The Salvage Association is a non profit-making body which has over 100 surveyors around the world and its main role is to assess the nature and extent of damage to a ship or cargo and recommend appropriate repairs or salvage.Association surveyors are often involved where a warranty to a policy requires a surveyor to approve fitness of a vessel for proposed activity, in negotiation of ship repair contracts, in checking stranded cargo and in approving arrangements for the laying up of ships. h) ASSOCIATION OF AVERAGE ADJUSTERS This is a professional body which is very important in marine insurance and members follow the Associations Rules of Practice which have been built up over many years.Nearly all claims for damage to ships and general average claims are adjusted by them, whereas cargo and total loss claims tend to be more straightforward and can often be handled by brokers. i) PSAC Although the London Market, non-Lloyds, Policy Signing and Accounting Centre system has the capability to process Marine business, little is transacted this way. Most companies use the ILU systems instead. 5. Claims The handling and settlement of marine claims follow the same general principles as any other class of non-life business.There are, however, a number of basic differences of which an actuary should be aware even though they may not directly affect his work. (a) Legal Framework As mentioned earlier, unlike any other classes of business, marine insurance is governed by an Act of Parliament the 1906 Marine Insurance Act. This contains highly detailed clauses on warranties, the measurement of indemnity, the insurers rights of subrogation etc. For example, sections 45 and 46 deal with changes of voyage or deviation from voyage contemplated by the policy saying the insurer is discharged from liability rom the time when the determination to change it (the voyage) is manifested; and it is immaterial that the ship may not in fact have left the course of the voyage contemplated by the policy when the loss occurs. 12 In practice the Act has had a worldwide impact; some of its words and principles are embodied in international conventions such as the 1974 York-Antwerp rules on general average. There are two main results of this legal framework: standard policy wordings are almost universally used, and case law in claim settlement is more important than in other classes of business. (b) Sum Insured and Insured ValueThese terms have distinct meanings. For example a hull policy may have a Sum Insured of ? 8m on an Insured Value of ? 10m, which means that the insurer pays only 80% of each loss. The Marine Insurance says that, providing there is no fraud, the value fixed in the policy is conclusive of the insurable value. Market values of ships can fluctuate wildly, particularly those of oil tankers and rigs which are affected by wars and OPEC decisions. The Sum Insured that is paid out on a total loss may therefore exceed the market value of the ship at the date of loss. Marine claims are not, therefore, always settled on an indemnity basis. c) Total losses There are two different types of Total Loss defined in the 1906 Act. Actual Total Loss is where . .. the subject matter insured is destroyed, or so damaged as to cease to be a thing of the kind insured, or where the assured is irretrievably deprived thereof. Constructive Total Loss is where the subject matter insured . .. could not be preserved from actual total loss without an expenditure which would exceed its value when the expenditure had been incurred. Hull policies covering war risks usually have a clause allowing the insured to claim a CTL if he has been deprived of use of the ship for a period of 12 months.In each case the Sum Insured becomes payable plus, in some cases, various expenses incurred by the insured (sue and labour charges etc) . One major difference between ATL and CTL is that to claim a CTL the insured must give a formal Notice of Abandonment to the insurer. There is a problem when the Insured Value exceeds the market value of a ship; eg market value ? 8m, estimated cost of repair ? 9m, Insured Value ? 10m. Strictly this is not a CTL as, within the terms of the policy, the insured could claim the ? 9m cost of repairs.A Compromise Total Loss payment is made; it involves negotiation and can exceed the ? 8m market value. 13 (d) General Average General Average has already been referred to in sections 2(a) and 4(e). The Marine Insurance Act says There is a general average act where any extraordinary sacrifice or expenditure is voluntarily and reasonably made or incurred in time of peril for the purpose of preserving the property imperilled in the common adventure. General average is common in the settlement of marine claims, and the basic concept is simple. Application of it can become omplicated, and there is a large amount of case law, particularly concerning the meanings of extraordinary, voluntarily, reasonably and imperilled. For example, jettisoning cargo in the mistaken belief that there was a fire in a lower hold has been held not to be a General Average act; the property had not been imperilled since there was, in fact, no fire. (e) Reinstatement Premiums As in all classes of non-life business, a claim on an outward non-proportional cover will usually result in the payment of a reinstatement premium. A distinctive feature of marine business is that it is common to have very low retentions.As a result the net claim that an account has suffered from a major market loss can be highly misleading, with over 90% of the bottom line impact may arising from the reinstatements! Unfortunately, where an outstanding claim carries a case estimate, it is highly unlikely that any statistics show the corresponding liability in respect of reinstatement premiums. In any work on claims the actuary should consider whether he should assess the reinstatements, but here are difficulties: reinstatements may not be identified as such in the computer, they may be dentified but not reported separately, they may not be capable of being linked to the claims that gave rise to them etc. However if the insureds business is reinsurance then reinstatement premiums may also be received. Thus some degree of cancelling out may occur. 6. Rating (a) 1. HULL RATING Hull and Machinery Factors include: i) ii) iii) iv) Type of vessel Size of vessel Type of machinery and automation Date of last survey, classification symbol Classification societies vary in the standards to which vessels are surveyed and the underwriter will take account not only of the classification symbol given but the status f the society; Lloyds Register of Shipping has the highest standing (see 4f) 14 ?) vi) Age of vessel Repair costs As the shipowners insured value will reflect the earnings potential of the vessel the underwriter must consider repair costs separately. Older vessels tend to be more expensive to repair but are more likely to give constructive total loss (which arises when damage is such that repair costs exceed the vessels insured value) if low insured value; conversely highly valued modern vessels are less likely to give CTL and thus repair costs will assume more importance. vii) Country of registration, flag of convenience iii) Si ze of fleet 2. Insurance Factors include i) ii) Past claims experience Conditions of Insurance i. e. whether Full Risks, Total Loss Only etc. , and size of deductibles. iii) Insured value Unduly high values on old vessels in shipping recession would be avoided as would values which appear too low in relation to similar vessels. An alternative course in the latter situation is to insert a higher valuation for the purposes of constructive total loss. 3. Other Factors include i) Trade routes and limits ii) Cargo carried iii)Management quality and ownership 4. (i) Conditions of Insurance FULL RISKSPremium to cover: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Total Loss Particular Average (Accidental Partial Loss) General Average Contributions Collision Liability (Running Down Clause) Salvage Charges, Sue and Labour Charges Profit Common practice is to produce a premium rate (excluding total loss) per deadweight ton (deadweight tonnage is usually proportional to dimensions of the vessel) which is re-expressed per unit of insured value for that vessel and added to a rate per unit of insured value for the total loss aspect. Specialised vessels may require a different approach to the size of risk and small risks require a minimum premium.Also the dominant elements of pricing structure vary with type of vessel, since e. g. a large tanker may produce very high salvage charges whereas a ferry account may produce a high exposure to particular average owing to frequent dockings as well as greater collision exposure. Where frequent machinery claims occur a machinery deductible additional to the normal deductible may be applied. 15 The three-quarters Collision Liability or Running Down Clause generally used on hull policies covers liability incurred for damages to the owners of any other vessel and its cargo arising from collision due to the insured vessels negligence.Cover is limited to 75% of such liability and also to 75% of the insured value of the vessel in respect of any one collison. Liabilities covered relate only to other vessels or property on other vessels; loss of life, personal injury or illness are not covered and are met by ? I clubs, as is the residual 25% collision liability. Sue and Labour charges are incurred by the assured in complying with his duty to avert and minimise any loss r ecoverable under the policy, and are recoverable from the insurer. ii) TOTAL LOSS ONLYSome underwriters specialise in writing TLO conditions giving cover for Total and/or Constructive Total Loss and additionally Salvage etc. charges. A vessel may be insured directly for TLO or, if insured on wider conditions, the direct writer may reinsure the TLO part of his risk. iii) LIMITED CONDITIONS This is intermediate between full risks and TLO and may cover all aspects except partial loss. Obviously, the underwriter must seek to maintain consistency when quoting rates for various conditions of insurance on the same risk or when asked to extend the perils covered. Disbursements and increased value covers allow for expenses f fitting out the vessel, stores etc not included in the hull valuation and an amount up to 25% of the hull value may be insured against total loss. Similarly freight (the vessels earnings) may be insured with a limit of 25% of hull value for the sum of Freight and Disbursements etc. Since a shipowner may insure on full risks for an amount much lower than the true value and the balance under total loss only at a much reduced premium the net result is to obtain almost complete cover at low cost; this is the reason for the 25% limit and no such limit exists for additional insurances which do not include total loss cover. 16 Shipowners other insurable interests are: Insurance premiums these can be insured on TLO conditions for the full amount reducing pro rata over the policy period. Loss of Hire where a vessel is on charter, the hire money for a fixed period often 90 days is covered for all risks excluding total loss. (b) CARGO RATING Major factors:i) ii) iii) iv) v) Vessel (age, classification, flag) Voyage (distance, climatic conditions, port facilities) Nature of Cargo, packaging and stowage Shippers management quality and past claims experience Conditions of InsuranceRegarding the structural condition and fitness of the vessel the underwriter will rely on t he latest assessment given in the register of an approved classification society; under open covers, as the vessels identity is not known in advance, a classification clause is included requiring all vessels used to meet the highest class standards given by any one of the specified societies. Age is often restricted to 15 years maximum in the clause and 25 years for liners (vessels operating to a regular advertised itinerary). Failure to meet these standards requires additional premiums and/or altered conditions of insurance.As with hull rating the ships flag governs standards of construction and crewing and a flag of convenience may indicate lower operational standards. Inferior ship management especially in stowage can be the cause of many damage problems. Voyage includes port of loading and unloading and port facilities; reputation for cargo handling, average delay in customs, degree of security against theft etc. are considered. Additional handling risks are involved where transshipment is necessary; distances from ports, methods of transport and storage are involved in the extended risk of delivery to final destination or 60 days after discharge at port.Significance of climate conditions varies with size of vessel since larger ships will be less affected by heavy weather. Type of commodity affects susceptibility to major hazards such as fire, explosion, water damage and the possibilities of controlling damage once it occurs. Effective packaging and storage can minimise the impact of damage, especially to fragile goods, and help resist water damage. 17 Insurance conditions normally fall into one of the three categories:i) Major hazards only covering fire, explosion, stranding, sinking, collison etc.General average and salvage charges are covered. ii) Major hazards plus partial loss involves extension of above cover to heavy weather damage (i. e. washing overboard, entry of sea, lake or river water into vessel), earthquake and lightning, total loss of any package overboard or dropped whilst loading and unloading. iii) All risks extends cover to include breaking, scratching, denting; theft, pilferage and non-delivery? contamination and all types of water damage including rain water. War and strikes etc are of course excluded and are charged for separately (see 2d). (c) Market AgreementsAs with most large general business insurances, competition the number of potential insurers seeking to write the business is probably the single most important factor in deciding the level of rates. The Marine market is international and, with modern communications, a broker will be able place some or all of a risk in a number of different parts of the world so that fresh capacity will lead to a fall in rates and a reduction in capacity will have the opposite effect; in turn changes in capacity will be prompted by profitability or otherwise but with unpredictable time lags.For their part, insurers will hope to have a continuous relationship with the insureds so that they give cover over an extended period, rather than looking at individual years of insurance; in a soft market the decision is sometimes whether to continue on a certain risk at the current rates rather than to decide on a rate to be charged. In the London Market there are certain agreements on r ating principles, primarily in respect of Hull business. These agreements seem to be a response to the way in which the London Market differs from others.Instead of a Marine Market consisting of, say, six large insurance companies, there are well over one hundred independent underwriters in London and it is only the existence of market agreements that avoids the necessity of mergers or combinations into underwriting pools given the size of the international Marine Insurance Market there would still be plenty of competition even if this happened to the London Market. 18 The agreements on Hull insurances are. administered by the Joint Hull Committee which consists of sixteen members, eight from each of the ILU and Lloyds.The key agreements are the Respect the Lead agreement and the Joint Hull Understandings. Formally, both agreements are confidential but in practice they are available to anyone in the Market. All members of the ILU subscribe to all market agreements, as do nearly all Lloyds syndicates. In practice, the agreements do not prevent the completion of slips led by non-signatories, at least in a soft market, although it would appear that this is only possible because some of the following market is not complying with the terms of agreements to which it has subscribed.The Respect the Lead agreement is shown at the end of this section. While it could manifestly be anti-competitive in different circumstances, it does not appear to be so in its present context. The principal effect is that for each risk there are four leaders who can become knowledgeable about it with the passage of time, and the following market feels confidence in the underwriting, and is prepared to follow on that basis.The Joint Hull Understandings comprise a lengthy document and relate to rating principles and to the rating process, and to the dissemination of information on rating levels. Since there are so many Marine underwriters in the London Market, most of whom will be taking small lines on a number of risks (and this is quite different from other markets), the market is fragmented; it should also be realised that all business is handled through brokers. All this means that there is a need for information to be circulated.There is also a need to delegate to leading underwriters many of the decisions which need to be taken; it is usual for all changes to an insurance during a policy year to be decided by the four leaders two from Lloyds and two companies and to be binding on all following underwriters, and the following market may be more likely to accept these conditions if it is known that the leaders are required to follow a certain procedure designed to protect underwriters interests. 19 -It is also possible that followers will be persuaded to subscribe to risks because they know that the leaders will follow the Joint Hull Understanding thus giving some assurance that the business is properly rated. The procedural points are of importance in establishing confidence in the leaders underwriting. The submission of statistics in a standard format (of which a copy is attached) is designed to see that insureds, or their brokers, cannot select the statistics to be submitted to the underwriter.Similarly provisions requiring the leaders to meet to consult if there is a disagreement may sound somewhat trivial but it has a real purpose; if the leaders do not meet in person they will be left to resolve disagreements through the intermediary of the broker, who is, of course, the agent of the insured whose interests he is required to further! The Joint Hull Understandings do not, in fact, set any rates as such. When a risk first comes to the Market any rate may be harged. At renewal, the broker is required to submit statistics in the standard form. At this point there is a formula (see attached for a graphical representation) for the percentage change to be applied to the previous years rate, depending on the results to date of the insurance. These percentages are different for five di fferent classes of fleet singletons, value less than $50m, value between $50m and $150m, value between $150m and $400m, and value over $400m.If the terms agreed by the leaders are not in accord with the formula, they are required to inform the Joint Hull Committee in the case of the last two classes, and to apply to the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of the Joint Hull Committee for permission in the case of the other three classes. There are also market agreements in other classes of business but not to the extent of those in respect of Hull business.The War Risks Rating Committee advises on Cargo war rates but the Hull War Rating Committee was disbanded some time ago; the comparatively recently formed Joint Excess Loss Committee has been active in producing recommended wordings but does not deal with rating. RESPECT THE LEAD UNDERSTANDING (HULL) 1. To agree to respect the existing Lloyds and I. L. U. Company lead and only to subscribe to slips on terms agreed by such existing leaders. Further, to agree not to subscribe to any slip unless all four Leaders (two Companies and two Lloyds) are ignatories of this Agreement except where a non-signatory was a Leader prior to the signing of this Agreement. 20 2. In the event of disagreement between the Leaders over the renewal terms the majority view shall prevail but where the Leaders are evenly divided the case shall be submitted to the Joint Hull Committee for adjudication. 3. A change of conditions is not to be cause for a change of lead unless existing Leaders are not prepared to quote on revised terms. 4. Where a risk has been out of the Market (Lloyds and I. L. U. ) for less than 3 years and returns to the Market the previous Leaders must be considered as Leaders on its return. 5. Where there are two or more separate placings on some or similar terms, Leaders of both or all slips to consult on renewal terms. 7. DATA PROBLEMS Marine insurance, whether of direct nature or by way of reinsurance, has always formed a core part of the London market. As such it is subject to all the usual methods, requirements and constraints of that market.However, the Marine market is much more traditional than other sections of the market, more steeped in old practices and subject to both legislation and numerous legal precedents that are unique to it. Arising from that background there are two special factors that are involved and which have a bearing on data capture. (i) While the whole London market had been slow and in may ways deficient in the full recording of outstanding claims, even on inwards business but even more on outwards reinsurance of the excess loss protection type, the Marine market has been lower than most other sections. It is only now that the Marine market is trying to come to terms with the proper recording of outstanding claims. Previously only large losses were tracked and it is still the exception rather than the rule for the outstanding notification on Marine treaties to be recorded in the books of accounts. Hence i n any work carried out in regard to Marine Syndicates, whether for purposes of reserving or any other purposes, it must be realised that either there are no outstanding claims recorded at all, or those claims which have been recorded are only part of the otal picture. Even more so is it the case with Syndicates or Companies underwriting LMX type business. They will have received advices of the large claims but not necessarily of small claims and the small claims may be building up on an aggregate basis. This obviously necessitates an IBNR reserve for known but not reported claims. 21 (ii) The recording of fleets has specific difficulties and these difficulties affect Underwriters and Brokers in different ways:Brokers It is normal for individual ships to be mortgaged separately from the Fleets as a whole.Hence the Brokers must retain the ability to issue policies covering individual ships to form part of the mortgage documents even though the actual coverage may exist as part of a Fleet coverage or of several Fleets. Underwriters It is useful to be able to record the ships under a Fleet insurance for a number of separate reasons:(1) Rates are charged per vessel and since vessels can be sold or transferred with new ones continually being added to the Fleet during the year the premium requires to be worked out on a rate basis. (2)There are always some bad eggs about with high claims records. Very often such ships change hands from one owner to another, even from one flag to another, without it always being evident to the insurer precisely which ships are involved. The difficulty is compounded by the fact that not only does the name of the owner change but also the name of the ship. Lloyds confidential register (which gives details of individual ships, such as owner, flag, tonnage and position) does not track the identity of ships from one name to another. That can be achieved through Lloyds confidential nformation by means of a unique number which is held on the database and which remains unchanged. For one reason or another those unique numbers are not shown in the printed books but can be picked up only by means of tapes or electronic data exchange. (3) If a loss occurs, particularly if a vessel is lost, the Underwriter may be involved in claims through a number of risks and from various sources. He may carry part of the hull insurance. He may carry some liability insurance on a totally different risk. He may well have cargo insurance coming through on a proportional treaty or on a cargo lineslip.All those need to be put together, both for general information as to his loss and for purposes of claiming under reinsurance outwards. Hence there is an advantage in recording the names and identity of all the ships on every Fleet covered. However, it is a substantial task. Even if data is received by electronic means from Lloyds Shipping Information, the exchange at present can be arranged only on a quarterly basis and in practice many are updated only from time to time. 22 One policy may cover one Fleet or two or three Fleets or parts of Fleets or individual vessels. There is no easy method f handling the data and it is only the largest Syndicates and Companies that wish to adopt a fully professional stance as far as capturing the full data of every ship on the risk. 8) RESERVING a) There are various aspects of the handling of marine business in the London Market which cause some difficulty when using normal reserving methods. These include:- i) recent tendency to change the extent of use of noted claims reserves. As already indicated, the marine market has traditionally recorded relatively few claims, relying on IBNR to provide for the liability for all but the major osses. With the introduction of the Lloyds LUCRO (OMCAS) computer systems, there is a tendency for a much greater body of noted outstanding claims reserves to be advised, as a result of which there may be a major discontinuity in the incurred claims development pattern. This is a more serious version of the problems of inconsistency in reserving for known claims which have affected marine business in the past. These factors may preclude the use of incurred claims based methods of reserving, leading to heavy reliance being placed on paid loss information which should remain unaffected. i) some evidence of inconsistency in the use of Lloyds audit codes. In particular it does not appear to be uncommon for claims paid under one audit code to be recovered from reinsurers under a different audit code, usually ? (Time). In addition, there have, over the years, been additions to the list of audit codes, the most recent of which is the use of CF (Contract Frustration) as a separate code rather than including such business in the War account. Such changes result in changes of use of some of the older codes in addition to the introduction of the new ones. This may esult from insurance of new types of risk (e. g. Oil Rigs). A general consequence is that severe doubt may be thrown on the validity of applying methods based on old data by audit code to the on-going portfolio. This will relate specifically to the accuracy of results based on Lloyds audit percentages, used, as indicated above, by both Lloyds syndicates and, to some extent, marine insurance companies. The effect on the use of the Benjamin method of reserving is also potentially significant; cases have been found where the effect of the problem can cause the total net claims aid for audit code ? to become negative, although this is the extreme case. 23 iii) The purchase, particularly around 1980, of so-called tonner reinsurance policies under which the recoveries do not directly relate to specific claims on the reinsureds portfolio, but to the total tonnage of ships or aircraft lost in the year. These were purchased originally as a means of protecting a portfolio with a substantial marine excess of loss treaty account under which there was little knowledge available of the precise vessels covered. They were, however, subsequently used, or bused, as a vehicle for adjusting the underwriting results. Irrespective of the reasons it is usual for the premium to be processed as a reinsurance premium and the recoveries to be processed as reinsurance recoveries, which can lead to a situation in which either net premiums or net claims, or both, are negative for the audit code or codes concerned. Even where this extreme situation is not reached, the figures can be sufficiently distorted as to make the use of audit code based methods extremely dangerous. If possible, removal of the ffects of these reinsurances appears to be the best approach. b) Reserving Techniques Generally, non-marine reserving techniques may be applied to marine business. However, one of the principal features of the marine market is the relatively limited emphasis placed on outstanding losses. Although the brokers handling the business may set up files for particular claims, there is a tendency for the underwriters involved to record and set up reserves only for the larger items on which they receive notification. This causes problems, especially for Marine Liability.This practice differs from non-marine where reserves are usually set up for most, if not all, claims on which notifications is received. It is not obvious why this difference exists but, given the lack of any clear distinction between whether the risk is marine or non-marine, it can lead to the situation in which marine and non-marine underwriters are involved in the same claim, but only the non-marine side carries a reserve for it. Consequently there is a somewhat greater need for IBNR reserve on the marine side, all other things being equal.On the other hand claims for which reserves are held are generally reserved at a fairly cautious level. 24 i) Lloyds audit percentages These percentages are derived by actuarial review of the total Lloyds Marine business. The marine account is analysed into a considerable number of classes for the purposes of Lloyds minimum audit calculations. These are Time, Time T. L. O. (Total Loss Only), Voyage, Marine Liability, Yachts, War, and Contract Frustration in addition to the non-marine and aviation audit categories which often also appear. Most of the marine categories are relatively hort-tail (although losses can take 20 years to settle), even marine liability generally having nothing like the extreme length of tail experienced in its non-marine counterpart. In fact, the Lloyds minimum audit percentages (based on net premium income) suggest that marine liability claims are 50% settled by the end of year 5, and that for most other categories, the claims are at least 90% settled by the same stage of development. It may be wondered why it should be that there are so many audit codes for marine business with relatively small differences between the audit percentages, whilst there was ntil recently only one non-marine category for a vast variety of business which could not be strictly identified as short-tail. This probably reflects the fact that Lloyds started in the marine market and in some respects remains geared up more towards the marine side of the business. Although Lloyds audit percentages are little used for Non-Marine business outside Lloyds, in Marine business the level of reserves implied by Lloyds audit percentages is often used as a yardstick or measure (e. g Reserves might be described as: One and a quarter times Lloyds audit).In practice, the reserves implied by the Lloyds audit percentages may turn out to be more than sufficient or to be grossly inadequate and there is no substitute for a thorough analysis of the business for which reserves are being estimated. 25 It is only to be expected that, if the business is very different from that written by the average Lloyds syndicate, different levels of reserving will be appropriate. Furthermore, if reserves are being established after what is effectively a different development period it should be no surprise if different levels of reserve are required.This would occur if, for example, a portfolio of business was predominantly reinsurance so that transactions were becoming known to the reinsurer somewhat later than to the reinsured. It should also be realised that it is normal at Lloyds to assign a risk to the underwriting year in which the risk is first closed; this means that a port folio of Lloyds business will have had an average of three months more development than will a similar portfolio whose risks are assigned to the underwriting year in which the risk commences.If reserves are being established for a portfolio of Marine excess of loss business it is particularly important to discover what the original policies covered. Business accepted in the seventies and early eighties may well be found to include all kinds of long-tail non-marine casualty risks (e. g. asbestosis; accountants professional indemnity; pharmaceutical products liability etc. ) In such cases, of course, it is virtually irrelevant that the business has been classed as Marine. ii) Benjamin/Eagles methodThe Benjamin/Eagles or Benjamin method essentially involves projection of an ultimate loss ratio for each underwriting year using the regression line of ultimate loss ratio (ULR) against paid loss ratio (PLR) at the appropriate development year. The observed values for the regression are taken from earlier underwriting years which are fully developed or where the ultimate position is capable of estimation with reasonable accuracy, using either the insurers own data or overall market experience.The Benjamin method has some advantage over the use of Lloyds minimum audit percentages, in that it takes into account the claims paid to date in the projection of the outstanding liabilities; thus it effectively uses a combination of the net premium income and the net paid claims as a basis of projection. The method was originally developed for application to the Lloyds audit classifications, and in this context, it would suffer from similar problems to the minimum audit percentages. There is, however, no reason why the method should not be applied to any block of reasonably homogeneous marine business. 26 One particular advantage of the Benjamin method is its ability to give some indication of variability in the account being reserved. The method, based on Lloyds market formulae (which are shown on the following pages), works as below. Suppose at 31 December 1987, the 1983 marine liability account has net premium income of ? 100,000 and net paid claims of 50%, then the ULR% = 1. 843 ? PLR% + 6. 04 = 98. 19% with a variation of between -26. 24% and +26. 24%. Based on current net premium this requires a reserve of ? 48,190 + or ? 26,240.With Lloyds it is frequent for premium adjustments after development year 3 to be netted off against paid claims, and if this is performed consistently the method automatically allows for these future premium adjustments. Otherwise an estimated ultimate premium income figure should be used in estimating the reserve and the path. 27 Benjamin Formulae, based on Lloyds Market Data Min Audit % at 31. 12. 87 MARINE TIME YEAR SLOPE 1 2 3 PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 * X X X X X X X X X X CONSTANT (%) 1. 565 1. 125 1. 254 1. 127 1. 054 1. 099 1. 052 1. 030 1. 018 . 010 + + + + + + + + + PATH (%) 59. 46 38. 76 10. 79 8. 13 7. 75 0. 38 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 16. 36 22. 97 5. 39 4. 10 5. 96 2. 74 2. 00 2. 00 2. 00 2. 00 or noted outstanding claims if greater. 28 75% 45% 28% 16. 5% 11. 5% 7. 5% 6% 3% 3%* mm MARINE LIABILITY Min Audit % at 31. 12. 87 YEAR SLOPE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X CONSTANT(%) 1. 000 1. 000 1. 000 2. 739 1. 843 1. 695 1. 486 1. 343 1. 244 1. 174 1. 124 1. 089 1. 063 1. 044 1. 031 1. 021 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +PATH 94. 40 85. 80 72. 10 7. 42 6. 04 1. 09 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 34. 90 36. 60 36. 40 20. 16 26. 24 15. 03 12. 00 10. 00 8. 00 6. 00 4. 00 3. 00 2. 00 2. 00 2. 00 2. 00 29 (%) 95% 85% 75% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 15% 10% 7% 4%* VOYAGE Min Audit % at 31. 12. 87 YEAR 1 2 3 4 5 6 SLOPE PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR PLR x X X X X X CONSTANT (%) 1. 661 1. 040 0. 981 0. 975 0. 973 0. 977 + + + + + + PATH ( ) % 21. 19 17. 13 9. 70 5. 77 3. 98 2. 92 22. 59 8. 12 5. 48 4. 62 2. 85 3. 32 55% 25% 10% 5% 3%* WAR Min Audit % at 31. 12. 87 YEAR 1 2 3 4 5 SLOPE PLR PLR PLR

Learning of Children in Early Ages Essay Example

Learning of Children in Early Ages Essay Learning of kids in early ages ConteNational Trusts Introduction We will write a custom essay sample on Learning of Children in Early Ages specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Learning of Children in Early Ages specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Learning of Children in Early Ages specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Emergent literacy Issues in the acquisition of literacy How immature kids learn different composing systems Writing different books and the design of symbols Embodied cognition Decision Plants Cited Question: See the ways in which kids learn to read and compose. Illustrate, utilizing Kenner, Al-Khatri, Kwok, Kim and Tsai’s survey ( 2004 ) how immature kids pay attending to directivity, form, size, spacial orientation in bring forthing different composing books. Introduction It is necessary to promote the kids towards larning since childhood. Motivation towards larning and thought is of import when kid is immature because at that clip, kid grabs the thing easy. If child gets developing about the importance of acquisition and patterns composing in the early childhood, so it will be good for his remainder of life. It is a fact that a kid alterations in a batch of ways during the old ages of primary school. These old ages are so much of import to develop a wont of acquisition and thought in the kid. Cognitive development is necessary to be developed in immature kids. Cognitive development includes larning accomplishments such as linguistic communications, strong memory, planning and paying attending to the work. In these initial old ages, parents have to play their function. ( Australia, 2012 ) By the aid of different activities, parents can actuate the kids towards larning new things. But it is besides a fact that developing immature kids is non an easy undertaking. It is neither easy for the parents and nor for the instructors. By the aid of assorted Sessionss, activities and games, we can promote kids towards larning. Child sometimes faces trouble in larning different materials at a clip but with the transition of clip, he becomes accustomed. In the book,Becoming BiliterateKenner C. ( 2004 ) explains about child’s acquisition of different linguistic communications. He besides discusses about different ways by which we can actuate immature kids to read and compose. Furthermore, in the paper, we will look on different ways of learning kids in immature ages and besides discuss relevant techniques. Emergent literacy Term Emergent literacy defines the interaction of immature kids with books. This term explains that when a kids is in the province of larning something and when he is non in a place of authorship or reading some material. Marie Clay used this term for the first clip. Emergent literacy is process that starts from the birth of a kid and continues until and unless child trains in authorship or reading in a conventional sense. This term is used in the field of psychological science, linguistics, sociology and instruction. ( Anon. , 2011 ) Procedure of reading and composing starts in the immature ages of an person. A child attempts to reach with different types of communicating from the beginning. It is observed that most of the kids starts acknowledging different marks and symbols in the age of two or three old ages. It is because of the fact that every clip, their head is in the province of acquisition and interacting with different things. Equally far as this affair is concerned that e ither the kid starts composing foremost or reading, it varies from kid to child. But researches show that most of the kids face trouble in reading during their early ages and get down composing rapidly. Issues in the acquisition of literacy Acquisition of literacy for the immature kids is non easy. Although, kid starts detecting all the things by utilizing his five senses but still some counsel is necessary. By the aid of counsel and preparation, kid learns the things easy. There are different issues that a kid faces in the acquisition of literacy particularly in footings of larning 2nd linguistic communication. Learning of different linguistic communications becomes a large job for immature kids. In the article, Literacy and Second Language Acquisition: Issues and Positions,Weinstein ( 1984 ) explains that there is a strong relationship between the acquisition of 2nd linguistic communication and literacy. Writer explains that understanding different linguistic communications and larning 2nd linguistic communication is hard. ( WEINSTEIN, 1984 ) In another article by Philip and Mikko ( 2003 ) , it was explained that most of the kids in European states complete their acquisition of linguistic communication before get down ing their early school instruction. English is at the top in the acquisition of linguistic communications. Children learn English easy every bit compared to other linguistic communications. ( Philip H. K. Seymour, Mikko Aro, Jane M. Erskine, 2003 ) Another issue that is faced by the kids in acquisition is their mental province. It is non ever necessary that mental province of every kid is same. Therefore, we can non use same schemes for all kids. Some kids do non catch these thing rapidly and to develop the sense of larning in them, it is necessary to use alternate techniques. How immature kids learn different composing systems There are different composing systems working in the universe. It is non necessary that everyone knows all composing systems. Most of the people knows one or two composing systems normally. Talking in footings of larning different composing systems for the kids, it is good to develop them in their early ages. For illustration, if a kid is born in Europe and parents want him to go familiar with English composing system, so they have to steer him about English composing alphabets in the early ages. There are fundamentally two types of composing systems. First type is known as alphabets and 2nd type is called as Syllabaries. Both types are divided on assorted sub divisions. List of major categorization is as following. Consonant alphabets Abugidas Alphabets Syllabaries Semanto-Phonetic composing systems Undeciphered composing systems ( Anon. , 2007 ) Now, the inquiry is how immature kids learn different composing systems? There are different ways by which we can steer immature kids in larning assorted composing systems. First manner to better literacy is by learning Morphemes. Morphemes is a aggregation of words that consists of different units of significance. By the aid of morphemes, kids can easy articulate the words and spell them. Teaching morphemes is a best manner to learn vocabulary to the immature kids. ( Nunes, T. , and Bryant, P, 2006, pp. 14 ) Another manner to learn different composing systems to the kids is by utilizing composition board books. Parents can utilize different pieces of apparels, and cardboard books to learn different alphabets to the kids. Colorful images can play an of import function in pulling the immature kids towards acquisition. Writing different books and the design of symbols For composing a peculiar linguistic communication, specific composing system is used. Writing system is normally known as Script. On the other manus, symbols are besides used to steer kids about linguistic communications. Types of books are as following. Script support Alphabets Right to left alphabets Syllabary Syllabic alphabet Ideographic book Depending upon your linguistic communication manner and book, you can learn your kid about the linguistic communication. If we take the illustration of English composing system, so it is seen that it starts from the left manus side whereas in instance of Arabic, book starts from right manus side. So, it is necessary for the parents that they teach child about these rudimentss. Suppose, you are from the Arabic background and do familiar your kid with the Arabic authorship system, so it is necessary for you to concentrate on the Arabic authorship system. You should choose those books and composition boards on which Arabic words are written so that your kid starts acknowledging these words. Following is an image that tells you about the basic Arabic authorship system. Another manner of steering your kid is through symbols. You can learn your kid by utilizing different symbols and images of something. In the early childhood, child easy understand words by the aid of its illustration. Kerner ( 2004 ) focused on the illustration of symbols and images. ( Kenner, C. Al-Khatib, H. , Kwok, G. , Kam, R. and Tsai, K, 2004, pp. 35 ) , In this image, we can see that with all the English alphabets, different images are used so that child cane place the word easy. By the aid of symbols and images, designation of words become easy. Embodied cognition In order to learn the kids to read and composing, actions besides play a great function. Education in which organic structure involves actions and knows how to move on something is called as Embodied Knowledge. The best illustration of this type of cognition is siting a bike. Almost, everyone knows how to sit a bike and we do non necessitate to memorise the process of siting bike. This is a type of cognition that is automatically imprinted in the head of an person. It can be said that corporal cognition is present in our unconsciousness. Children learn this cognition by detecting the environment. Embodied cognition is slightly similar to the Cognitive scientific discipline. Decision To reason the full treatment, it can be said that parents can play an of import function in learning their kid in early old ages. Young kids are rather sensitive and in the early ages, their attention is the responsibility of parents. Parents should learn their kid by utilizing techniques and activities. Before directing the kid to school, a kid should hold a basic sense of acknowledging and understanding different words and things. So, that he may non confront any trouble in future. Plants Cited Anon. , 2007.Types of authorship system.[ Online ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.omniglot.com/writing/types.htm [ Accessed March 2014 ] . Anon. , 2011.what is emergent literacy? .[ Online ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.lincoln.dubuque.k12.ia.us/School-Wide/Literacy/EmergentLiteracy.htm [ Accessed March 2014 ] . Australia, c. o. , 2012.About thought and acquisition.[ Online ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.kidsmatter.edu.au/sites/default/files/public/KMP_C3_CDTL_AboutThinkingAndLearning.pdf [ Accessed 2014 ] . Kenner, C. Al-Khatib, H. , Kwok, G. , Kam, R. and Tsai, K. ( 2004 ) ,Becoming Biliterate: Young Children Learning Different Writing Systems,Stoke-on-Trent, Trentham Books. Nunes, T. , and Bryant, P. ( 2006 ) ,Bettering Literacy by Teaching morphemes,London, Routledge. Philip H. K. Seymour, Mikko Aro, Jane M. Erskine, 2003. Foundation literacy acquisition in European writing systems.British Journal of Psychology,94 ( 2 ) , p. 143–174. Seymour, P. , Aro, M. , and Erskine, J. ( 2003 ) , Foundation Literacy Acquisition, inBritish Journal of Psychology, 94: 143-174. WEINSTEIN, G. , 1984. Literacy and Second Language Acquisition: Issues and Positions.TESOL Quarterly,18 ( 3 ) , p. 471–484.

Why Babies Are Born With Blue Eyes

Why Babies Are Born With Blue Eyes You may have heard that all babies are born with blue eyes.  You inherit your eye color from your parents, but no matter what the color is now, it may have been blue when you were born. Why? When you were an infant, melanin- the brown pigment molecule that colors your skin, hair, and eyes- hadnt been fully deposited in the irises of your eyes or darkened by exposure to ultraviolet light. The iris is the colored part of the eye that controls the amount of light that is allowed to enter. Like hair and skin, it contains the pigment, possibly to help protect the eye from the sun. How Melanin Affects Eye Color Melanin is a protein. Like other proteins, the amount and type your body produces are coded into your genes. Irises containing a large amount of melanin appear black or brown. Less melanin produces green, gray, or light brown eyes. If your eyes contain very small amounts of melanin, they will appear blue or light gray. People with albinism have no melanin in their irises at all. Their eyes may appear pink because the blood vessels in the back of their eyes reflect light. Melanin production generally increases during the first year of a babys life, leading to a deepening of eye color. The color is often stable by about six months of age, but it may take as long as two years to fully develop. However, several factors can affect eye color, including the use of certain medications and environmental factors. Some people experience changes in eye color over the course of their lives. In some cases, people can even have eyes of two different colors. Even the genetics of eye color inheritance isnt as cut-and-dried as was once thought, as blue-eyed parents have been known (rarely) to have a brown-eyed child. Furthermore, not all babies are born with blue eyes. A baby may start out with gray eyes, even if they ultimately become blue.  Babies of African, Asian, and Hispanic descent are more likely to be born with brown eyes. This is because darker-skinned individuals tend to have more melanin in their eyes than Caucasians. Even so, a babys eye color may deepen over time. Also, blue eyes are still possible for babies of dark-skinned parents. This is more common in preterm babies because melanin deposition takes time. Humans arent the only animals that experience eye color changes. For example,  kittens are often born with blue eyes, too. In cats, the initial eye color change is fairly dramatic because they develop so much more quickly than humans. Feline eye color changes over time even in adult cats, generally stabilizing after a couple of years. Even more interesting, eye color sometimes changes with the seasons. For example, scientists have learned that reindeer eye color changes in the winter. This is so that reindeer can see better in the dark. Its not only their eye color that changes, either. The collagen fibers in the eye change their spacing in the winter to keep the pupil more dilated, allowing the eye to capture as much light as possible.

How To Use Social Media Analytics To Create The Best Content

How To Use Social Media Analytics To Create The Best Content Data is the currency of social media marketing. It’s the lifeblood of your campaigns. Without it, there’s no way to properly analyze your audience or measure your results. Data is what justifies the time we spend writing posts, crafting campaigns, and connecting with our audiences. Understanding social media analytics is essential for making data useful. Modern analytics tools provide power that marketers could have only dreamed of just a decade ago. However, tools are only as effective as our ability to use them. In addition, data is only valuable as the insights we can extract from it. Download Your Free Social Media Analytics Kit In order to  apply the advice in this post, download the kit below. It includes: A Social Media Marketing Performance Report  Excel template  to help you track your performance metrics. A Social Media Content Creation + Measurement spreadsheet to help you write social posts, organize post images, and store post-level performance data. A Social Media Content Performance Presentation PowerPoint template to help you nail your next reporting presentation. A Social Media Content Strategy template to help you apply your data insights to create better content. The challenge thus facing social media marketers is threefold. Successful practitioners must understand each of the following: How to know which  data needs to be measured. How to find and analyze that data. How to use data  insights  to create better content. In this post, you’ll learn exactly how to slice and dice data like a social analytics ninja. How To Use Social Media Analytics To Create The Best ContentIntroducing  Social Analytics: The Easiest Way To Understand Your Social Media Engagement Bring your social media data together, all in one place, with . With our new Social Analytics capabilities, you can: Measure the success of every social message so you can re-share your most engaging content (and improve future messages). Use real data to prove the ROI of the work you do. Identify trends and understand what your audience wants. Know what's working (and what's not). Save time and see how all your networks are performing within a single dashboard. See Social Analytics  in action:Social Analytics in helps you easily PROVE  your ROI!So, What Does Social Media Analytics Mean, Anyway? This term can mean different things to different people. Are we talking about overall performance on social media? Or, perhaps we could be referencing social media content analysis?  Could we even mean social media audience analysis? This topic gets complex fast, and any of the above answers could be correct. To make things simple, this post will focus on how to understand three  things: How your social media profiles are growing. How your social media content is performing. How to turn data  into action to create better content. Build Your Social Media Analytics Toolbox Every good craftsperson has a quality set of tools. Here are the options we recommend for doing social media analytics work: Google Analytics:  It’s free and powerful. In-App Analytics:  Most major social media networks provide fairly robust internal analytics. Cyfe:  This freemium web app is essential for building custom data dashboards. Simply Measured: These folks offer some excellent free tools to help perform a variety of social media tasks. There are certainly more tools available. However, these are the options we’ll use for the purposes of this post. How To Set Social Media  Goals You need a purpose for gathering and analyzing your data. This means you need to set goals. After all, how are you supposed to hit your target when you’re unsure what you’re aiming for? Let’s outline five basic social media marketing goals you could potentially establish: Traffic: Social media is a vital traffic driver to blogs and websites for many publishers. Follower Growth: The more people following your accounts, the more people you can reach, more easily. Engagement: This is the â€Å"social† part of social media. Likes, shares, mentions, and comments are equal opportunities to build connections with your audience and prospects. This can include industry influencers, current or potential customers, or the audience for your content. Reach / Impressions: Social media content exists to be seen. Getting in front of more viewers means more awareness for your brand and content. These may seem like soft metrics, but there is value in gaining exposure  (as long as you’re not being discussed in a negative light). Conversions: Marketing is ultimately about driving sales. Converting organic social media traffic can be tough. Paid advertising, while inherently more conversion-centric, presents challenges of its own too. However, it is possible to  drive conversions from your organic content. It’s also important to tie social media goals to overall business objectives. Follow this visual guide to map your metrics to your bottom line: Recommended Reading: What Really Is Your Social Media ROI? Align social media goals with business objectives.How To Use Google Analytics For Social Media Analysis Google Analytics provides so much data, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Before we dive into each specific network, let’s look at how to use this tool to find two key metrics (which apply to all networks): Referral Traffic Blog / Website Conversions Here’s how to find each of these pieces in Google Analytics. 1. Visit your Google Analytics account. Then, click through Overview All Traffic Channels Social. 2. Here, you’ll find data from your referral traffic from every social network. 3.   Next, let’s help you figure out how to find conversions from your social media referral traffic. This requires setting up a Goal in Google Analytics. Once this step is completed, you’ll see Conversions here: If you haven’t set up Conversion goals  for your site or blog, this official video from the Google Analytics team will show you how to do this: How To Understand Social Media Analytics On Every Platform Every social media network has unique purposes and strengths. Before we dig into understanding analytics on each one, let’s ensure you’re using the right platforms to achieve the right goals first. Did you know Google Analytics can help measure social media performance?Facebook Analytics: Which Metrics  Should You Monitor? Facebook’s declining organic reach has made the network tougher than ever for marketers. Here’s how to find the data you need to ensure  your posts are  laser-focused on the right audience: Post-Level Metrics Likes: People may not take time to comment. However, a Like is a quick indication that your post resonated. Pay attention to other emotions expressed too (such as humor, anger, or sadness). Comments: Positive comments mean your post hit the mark (unless your post was intended to elicit a negative reaction). Pay close attention to negative comments as well, however. They might teach you about things you can improve. Shares: You’ve probably heard your boss talk about â€Å"going viral.† Share counts are, in a sense, a measure of virality. More shares generally reflects greater interest in your content. Referral Traffic: Moving users from Facebook to your website helps get your content read. This helps establish your brand as an authoritative voice while increasing the odds your blog and website content will convert readers into customers. Reach: It's getting tougher to reach folks on Facebook. However, it's still an important metric for knowing how many people see your posts. Page-Level Metrics Page Views: More people looking at your page equals exposure for your brand. Engagement Rate: Facebook calculates engagement rate  by weighing the number of people who like, comment on, or share your posts against the total number of people who see your content. The higher this number, the more interesting users find your content. This is helpful for determining what your audience does and doesn’t like. It also provides a barometer for how your efforts are performing overall. Video Metrics: If you’re posting videos natively on Facebook, it’s important to know how long they’re being viewed. Page Fan Growth: More fans means more people see your posts. That equals more people seeing your content, which in turn helps build your authority and even drive conversions. However, do keep in mind that quality beats quantity here. Conversions: If you’re creating Facebook posts that direct to blog posts or web pages with conversion steps, use Google Analytics to monitor those conversions. This will tell you whether the messaging in your posts matches the messaging on your destination pages. It can also validate the persuasiveness of your copy. How To Find This Data Here’s how to use each tool in your box to gather this data. The Facebook Insights tab on your company’s brand page is an easy place to start. It provides an incredible amount of data completely for free. 1.   Find your Facebook Insights tab. 2. Next, you’ll see your Overview page. Here, you can get a quick glance at: Actions On Page Page Views Page Likes Reach Post Engagements Videos You’ll also see an option to Export Data to an Excel or .csv file. This makes viewing detailed Page Data, Post Data, and Video Data a bit easier. 3. Beneath the Overview tab, you’ll find access to more detailed data: Here, you can find everything you need to know when it comes to your page engagement data. How many of these Facebook marketing metrics are you monitoring?Twitter Analytics: Which Metrics Should You Monitor? Twitter analytics are only slightly simpler than on Facebook. Here are the  metrics you should monitor for Twitter: Post-Level Metrics Retweets: Again, odds are someone in your organization has asked you about â€Å"going viral.† The more retweets, the more your content spreads. Replies: A lot of people see a lot of tweets each day. That makes earning  responses difficult. However, if you’re able to generate discussion and replies, you know you’re striking a chord with your audience. Referral Traffic: This is a big one. With Facebook organic reach in decline, Twitter may have more relevance than ever for driving traffic back to blogs and websites. Tweets Linking To You: Feel your ears burning? That’s just all the folks talking about your content and sharing your links on Twitter. Tweet Likes: Validation feels good. More importantly, Likes mean your content is appreciated. The more Likes, the better. Tweet Impressions: Tweets don’t always have to earn engagement to have value. Getting your brand and content seen can yield benefits by itself. Think of it like placing billboards on the information superhighway (we’re going to bet no one under the age of 25 got this joke). Page-Level Metrics Profile Visits: This indicates interest in your brand and what you’re about. Follower Growth: The more followers, the better (as long as you’re attracting the right kinds of people). Ideally, that means people who find your content valuable (and might one day want to buy your products or services). How To Find This Data Twitter offers fairly robust analytics within its web app. 1. Log into your account and visit Twitter Analytics. 2. The first page you’ll see if your Analytics Home page. Here, you can find (as you’d expect) a high-level overview of your performance for the last 28 days. This includes: Tweet Impressions: This is how many people saw your tweets in their feeds. Profile Visits: Self-explanatory. This is the number of times users visited your profile. Mentions: Tracks the number of times your profile was tagged in a tweet. Follower Growth: This is worth keeping an eye on, particularly if growing your following is a priority (as it should be). Tweets Linking To You: This is the number of tweets including links to your website or blog. These are valuable for sending traffic to your blog. You can also quickly see your top performing tweets. All in all, this is a fair amount of data (for free). Pro Tip: Your Top Tweets and Top Mentions are great  places to see which content resonates most with your audience. 3. Next, click the Tweets tab. At the top, you’ll find your daily tweet impressions for the past 28 days. Below that, you’ll find impression and engagement rate data for all your individual tweets. These can be sorted to include All Tweets, Top Tweets, and Tweets And Replies together. The right-hand panel also provides: Overall engagement rate Link clicks Retweets Likes Replies 4. Now, bounce over the Audience tab. The level of data Twitter provides here is almost astounding. You can quickly find out what your audience is most interested in, their household income, what kinds of products they buy, and more. Pinterest Analytics: Which Metrics Should You Monitor? Pinterest is interesting (or shall we say, â€Å"pinteresting† †¦ sorry, we’ll leave jokes to professionals from here on). These are the metrics that you should be monitoring: Post-Level Metrics Saves: These show interest in your content, suggesting it’s something they don’t want to forget. Clicks: Clicks equal traffic. More traffic equals greater chance for conversions. Likes: Likes indicate interest in your content. Make note of what gets clicked and what doesn’t. Page-Level Metrics Average Daily Impressions: Getting in front of more eyes raises brand and product awareness. Average Daily Viewers: Same as above here. Average Monthly Engaged: Impressions are great. Engagement is even better. It means your content was compelling enough to click. Impressions: Similar to other networks, impressions are useful to gauge content exposure. Even if a user doesn’t click, you’ve still created a mental connection. How To Find This Data Simply log into your company’s Pinterest account. Next, check out your Overview page. Here, you can find daily and monthly viewer and impression data: Clicking the More button drills deeper into each top-level section. Your Pinterest Profile: This view displays more data from your top performing pins and boards. It’s worth noting that adjusting the dates allows you to view progression going as far back as you’d like. People You Reach: This view under the Demographics tab provides a simple breakdown of your audience based on location, language and gender. Clicking the Interests tab yields interesting information about what your audience likes. This can be immensely helpful for guiding which content you should pin: Activity: The Activity tab is useful for getting specific data on which pins from your website are driving the most engagement. This is extremely useful for gauging blog content performance on Pinterest. Are you overlooking key insights in your Pinterest Analytics?LinkedIn Analytics: Which Metrics Should You Monitor? This video provides a good oversight of how Insights work for company pages on LinkedIn. Post-Level Metrics Impressions: Each impression is an opportunity to get your message to a viewer. Clicks: Even better than impressions, more clicks means more traffic (and maybe even more conversions). Interactions: Even if it doesn’t result in driving attention to your blog or website, interactions still imply interest in your post. Page-Level Metrics Engagement Rate: This is a clear indicator of how valuable your content is to your audience. Reach: Ideally, you’ll want your content to drive shares so it gets seen by more than just your followers. This measures how many people see your content in their feed. Engagement (Total): While it’s useful to check engagement at a per-post level, this gives you a high-level overview of your overall performance. Visitor Demographics: LinkedIn is a professional network. Therefore, it’s safe to assume most followers will be folks working in your industry. However, this is useful to look at periodically to see what experience levels your followers have. If you’re looking to attract entry-level recruits, but only senior-level managers follow your page, you might consider switching up your content strategy. This is just one example of how this data can be helpful. Page Views: This tells you the number of times someone visits your page. The more interest and exposure you earn for your brand, the better. Unique Visitors: This tells you exactly how many individuals are viewing your page. Again, the more, the better. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Guide On How To Use Pinterest For Marketing Where To Find This Data There are two ways to gather this data: Manually monitoring each individual post. Under the Analytics tab. Let’s check out the Analytics tab. Start by visiting your company’s profile and clicking here: Scroll down and you’ll find your Reach and Engagement data: The Reach tab is particularly useful for understanding exactly how many people see your posts. Take some time to click  each tab under Engagement as well.  This can give you a detailed view of how your content is performing across the following metrics: Clicks Likes Comments Shares Followers Acquired Engagement Which metrics are most important for marketers to monitor on LinkedIn?Google+ Analytics: Which Metrics Should You Monitor? Google+  makes it possible to analyze performance both within Google Analytics and your Google My Business dashboard (both for Local Pages and Brand Pages). Between these two resources, you can get a decent look at how well you're performing (even if the process of analyzing Google+ performance is slightly more complex, and just a touch less in-depth, than other networks). Fortunately, the folks at Online-Behavior.com have built an excellent guide on the technical intricacies of analyzing Google+ performance using Google Analytics. Plus, our friends at Steady Demand have written what might be the most authoritative post on analyzing Google+ marketing that we've seen.  We'll defer to them for this section. Instagram Analytics: Which Metrics Should You Monitor? Instagram doesn’t provide much data to analyze (yet). However, it’s worth monitoring some basic metrics to ensure you’re getting the most brand awareness for your time spent on this visually-driven network. Here are some of the metrics you should be monitoring: Likes: Given the limited number of data points made available on this network, Likes provide a clear and immediate indicator that your content is compelling. Comments: More comments equal greater interest in your content (provided they’re positive). Engagement Rate: This will let you know if your content is interesting to your audience. Clicks: Links can be placed in bio boxes. This represents one way in which Instagram can drive engagement that goes beyond branding and awareness. Total Followers: More followers means more opportunity to be seen. Where To Find This Data: As of this writing, Instagram is promising to roll out several new analytics features. Head over to the Instagram for Business Blog  to learn more. For now, the team at Simply Measured offers a free Instagram Analytics Reporting tool. You’ll need to provide an email address, but it’s a quick and easy way to get some useful data. These reports can be exported as Excel files or PDFs. How do measure marketing success on Instagram?Blogging Analytics: Which Metrics Should You  Be Monitoring? Lastly, let’s discuss blogging analytics. This may seem like an odd fit in a post about social media analytics. It's also a much deeper topic than we can cover completely here. However, if you run an active blog, it’s important to monitor how your blog content is performing  on social media. These are some of the things you'll want to be monitoring: Traffic: You want readers, right? The more, the better. Visitor Demographics: This tells you if the people visiting your blog actually fit the audience you’re trying to target. Page Views Per Session: If people visit multiple pages per visit to your blog, then you know you’ve hooked their interest. Bounce Rate: If people don’t find your content compelling, they’ll leave. A high bounce rate could mean your content doesn’t match reader expectations, or is otherwise poor quality. Conversion Rate: If your blog posts use lead generation forms to gather email sign ups, this metric tells you how well your calls-to-action are performing. It also tells you  whether the value proposition for signing up seems worthwhile to readers. Social Shares: This is the key to â€Å"going viral† (something you’ve probably heard your boss harping about). Where To Find This Data: If you’re using WordPress (or another blogging platform), it’s likely your blog CMS includes an analytics section somewhere. Google Analytics is also essential here. If you’re looking for a Google Analytics alternative, Piwik  is another similar option to look at. How do you measure the success of your blog posts on  social media?Pulling It All Together: Consider Using Cyfe Cyfe  is a data aggregating web app that brings together data from tons of other sources and services. It accomplishes this by enabling users to create custom data dashboards using widgets. This is extremely useful for doing social media analytics work, allowing you to create dashboards for most major social networks and view your data in one place. A free account allows for five widgets, which may provide enough basic functionality to be useful. Stepping up to a paid account at $19 a month unlocks unlimited dashboards and user accounts. Follow Cyfe’s guide to building a custom social media dashboard  to get started. Another Alternative: View Sharing Stats In If you’re a customer, you have one more option for finding social sharing data. Every blog post within the calendar interface features integrated social sharing stats: You’ll notice Twitter sharing stats are missing due to restrictions with that platform’s API. However, this is otherwise one more useful option to quickly get a bit more insight into your social media performance. How To Turn Social Media Analytical Data Into Actionable Insights You now know where to find data from your social media channels. That means it’s time to figure out how to make use of that data. We’ll do that by building a social media analytics report. NOTE: To complete this process, download the social media analytics template bundle included in this post. For our purposes, we’ll focus on our five main social media goals. These are: Traffic Follower Growth Engagement Reach / Impressions Conversions These aren’t the only goals you could conceivably aim toward. However, they’re the ones we feel the majority of content marketers and social media managers may value most. We also know you’re likely hard-pressed for time. That’s why we’ve built the included Social Media Marketing Performance report  template to be simple to use for quick analysis.  It looks something like this: This template is designed to allow you to track your data all year. Bringing all your metrics into one place makes it easier to view progress over time. The Excel sheet includes some fields pre-filled, but is intended to be easily editable to suit your own selected metrics and purposes. I'm using these free templates to rock my social media analytics:Select Specific Metrics For Each Channel For each channel, select metrics that best support your business goals. Then, set a baseline for performance for each metric on each channel. Your baselines are expected standards for performance. If you fall below your baselines consistently, you know you’re underperforming. Likewise, if you consistently beat your expectations, you’re on the right track (and may need to readjust). Set baselines for every metric following these two steps: 1. Find your average performance for a given metric for the past 90 days. If you're not a mathematician, use the calculation here. 2. Set goals within a reasonable range upward from there. Done. Find The Why Behind Your Data With Social Media Content Analysis The next step is understand the why behind your social media content performance. This requires some subjective analysis of your posts. 1. Look for spikes and valleys in your data. 2. Identify which content was published on or around the days and months where activity rises and falls. 3. Perform a quick content analysis. Look at the content you posted on days where performance spiked (or dipped). Then, find your top three performing posts overall (on a single network) and analyze the following points: Post Copy: [   ] How long is this post? [   ] Does this post pose an open-ended question? [   ] Does this post pose a close-ended question? [   ] What day and time was this post published? [   ] What kind of emotion does this post aim to elicit? Post Image: [   ] Is this a design image or a photograph? [   ] Is this a single image or an image gallery? [   ] Is this image consistent with the company brand and style standards? [   ] Is this image an optimal size for its given social network? [   ] Does this image feature text? Post Link: [   ] Is the content linked to high-quality? [   ] Are the copy and image relevant to this link? [   ] Do links use URL shorteners for data tracking? [   ] Are link descriptions (if applicable) accurate? [   ] Does the on-page content on the linked page clearly connect to this post? Recommended Reading: How To Increase Visibility With Social Media Optimization Use these insights to guide future content creation. If something works well, do it more often. If something negatively impacts performance, stop doing it. It's as simple as that. Over time, you'll get better at understanding which factors influence which behaviors in your specific situation. If you’d like to keep your social media content and analytics in one place for easy analysis, use the Social Media Content Analysis template included in this post download. It looks like this: This template makes it simple to create and store your content assets (copy, images, URLs, etc.) in one document. Then, store your post performance data in the Measurement section. It’s designed to be edited easily, so feel free to add or delete rows, columns, or sections to suit your needs. Are you analyzing your social media content the best way?Use Your Data To Create Better Content Data is most useful when it helps you create better content your audience loves. However, how do you actually execute better content marketing? Start by applying the data you’ve gathered to refine the topics and tactics that perform best. These posts on our blog will help you sharpen your skills too: The 6 Types Of Social Media Content That Will Give You The Greatest Value How to Get Insanely Loyal Followers On Social Media How To Develop A Winning Social Media Content Strategy How To Build A Social Media Editorial Calendar The Easy Way This Is The Social Media Posting Schedule That Will Boost Your Traffic By 192% Don't Forget About Social Media Analytics In Each individual social network offers useful analytics functionality. However, will soon let you bring more of that data together, all in one place. With our new Social Analytics capabilities, you'll be able to see what is (and isn't) working, prove ROI, and understand the impact of your efforts across all your networks. Recommended Reading: An Insider's Look At What's New (And What's Next) For Do You Feel Like A Social Media Analytics Maestro? There you have it! You now have a basic social media analytics framework to help you find the data you need fast. In addition, you’re able to store, analyze, and present useful insights from that data to impress your boss and create better social media content. Hopefully, this will help you do more efficient and effective analysis and reporting. We wish you the best of luck in your efforts.