Description: This article takes a look at how defined benefit (DB) pension plan financials ended the third quarter of 2023 on a solid footing, improving the capacity to take meaningful de-risking actions; as DB plans look to de-risk at reasonable costs, they may find it beneficial to consider a broad range of investment options; and completing a core bond allocation with private credit and income-oriented alternative strategies can help achieve important savings over other frequently pursued de-risking approaches, without materially increasing the funded status volatility or downside risk

Description: This article provides a retrospective on investment risk management while highlighting actuarial tools used by portfolio risk managers.

Description: A look at the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, and how it differs from both prior financial crises and pandemics. The COVID-19 pandemic gives actuaries an opportunity to assess different ways risk may interact, and thereby adjust the profession’s work for the future.

Description: Explains the method used to calculate Liquidity Cost Score and Price Impact Score. Describes the rationale for and applications of these methods.

Description: This article is an overview of the Financial Risk Managment of Insurance Enterprises course. The course incorporates financial risk management, asset pricing models and all risks facing an insurance company. The basics are then applied to asset-liability management and valuation.

Description: This article discusses how FHLB advances, i.e. low cost loans, can supply valuable risk management benefits. By carefully structuring an advance to mature coincident with the anticipated premium inflows generated by insurance products, a company can largely eliminate future net cash flows and consequently the need to invest them in uncertain capital markets.

Description: The article discusses C1 risks in five areas: 1 the economics of risk, 2 portfolio optimization, 3 policy, 4 risk interaction and 5 institutional aspects of C1 risk.

Description: Feature article describing how due to the recent financial crisis, fund trustees, plan sponsors, and administrators are reconsidering traditional asset-allocation strategies.

Description: The investment risk taken by a pension fund comprises strategic risk and active risk. This paper discusses the relative merits of these two types of risk to the pension fund, possible rationales for the levels of strategic and active risk typically adopted mechanisms for capturing manager skill without taking on equity risk, and issues in setting liability-based benchmarks for investment managers

Description: Feature article provides a glimpse into recent changes to various standards of care owed to customers that will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the products and services offered by many financial institutions.