The theme of this book is the management of life insurers using techniques drawn from the field of finance. The importance of financial management has increased greatly in recent years, parallelling the growth in competition within the financial services industry. This competitive environment reflects an increasing financial sophistication among insurance consumers, as well as the blurring of the lines that traditionally separated different types of financial institutions. To succeed in today’s business environment, insurers must use financial techniques such as asset-liability management, financial hedging, futures, and options. They must also be increasingly precise in measuring the trade-offs between risk and return in both their asset and product portfolios.