EV Disclosures

Embedded value is the total of the net worth of the company and the future profits from policies that have already been sold. It also takes into account lapse of policies, mortality charges and other expenses.With the disclosure of the embedded value, it becomes easier to calculate the valuation of life insurance companies. For arriving at the actual valuation, other factors such as goodwill and business potential will have to be taken into account. The EV disclosures will pave the way for insurance companies to list.

HDFC Standard Life was the first private insurance company in India to disclose the embedded value.

Embedded value

The Embedded Value (EV) of a life insurance company is the present value of future profits plus adjusted net asset value. It is a construct from the field of actuarial science which allows insurance companies to be valued.

Life insurance policies are long-term contracts, where the policyholder pays a premium to be covered against a possible future event (such as the death of the policyholder).Future income for the insurer consists of premiums paid by policyholders whilst future outgo comprises claims paid to policyholders as well as various expenses. The difference represents future profit.For companies, the net asset value is usually calculated at book value. This needs to be adjusted to market values for EV purposes.

EV measures the value of the insurer by adding today's value of the existing business (i.e. future profits) to the market value of net assets (i.e. accumulated past profits). It is a conservative measure of the insurer's value in the sense that it only considers future profits from existing policies and so ignores the possibility that the insurer may sell new policies in future. It also excludes goodwill. As a result the insurer is worth more than its EV.

Embedded Value is calculated as follows:

EV = PVFP + ANAV

where
EV = Embedded Value
PVFP = present value of future profits
ANAV = adjusted net asset value

Source: Wikipedia