Description: The article summarizes three papers presented at the 2014 Living to 100 Symposium V, which was hosted by the SOA in Orlando in January 2014. The papers take three different views of retirement saving: the individual's, the insurance provider's and a wholesale risk management view. David Blanchett of Morningstar proposes a new model to assess the true cost of retirement, Moshe Milevsky proposes a new product concept based on the nearly forgotten tontine and Johnny Li proposes a new set of mortality indices based on the Cairns-Blake-Dowd projection model for the purpose of actively managing mortality and longevity risk.

Description: This dialogue discusses the history and purpose of section 811(a) and its historic role in the computation of life insurance company taxable income and, in particular, reserves.

Description: Many executives are talking about predictive analytics uses in health insurance.

Description: There is often a disconnect between the way products are priced IRR and embedded value methods and the way business performance is measured once it is already on the books GAAP and GAAP ROE. This article discusses the theoretical reasons for this disconnect and how an accounting system could be developed to eliminate the disconnect and thereby align investor and management expectations with the financial reporting system.

Description: Review of modeling of impact of proposed GAAP changes and commentary on preparedness based on company survey.

Description: This article is a review and discussion of the article, “Sex and the Single Table: Equal Monthly Retirement Income for the Sexes? By Barbara J. Lautzenheiser, FSA, appearing in the Fall 1976 issue of Employee Benefits Journal. The author of this article found it to be an informed discussion in the defense of actuarial risk classification practices, and of the legal and social issues used to argue against risk classification based on gender, such as promoting unisex tables for determining pension payments.

Description: This article is a discussion of a study released in June 1976 by the New York Insurance Department, entitled “Disability Income Insurance – Cost Differentials between Men and Women.” The author of this article notes that “due to charges by various groups of discrimination in the underwriting and establishing of premium rates for individual disability income insurance, the results of this study have been eagerly awaited by many segments of the insurance industry. Fears of substantiating uni-sex rates were unfounded as the results of the study generally conformed to those of the Society of Actuaries which the industry has relied on to a great extent in the past.”

Description: New Zealand is about to launch its first variable annuity with guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits. The product design is mindful of the lessons from the financial crisis in the United States, Europe and Japan.

Description: Actuaries are accustomed to considering how much conservatism is appropriate in their estimates, whether made for pricing or for mea- surement of liabilities. In the proposals for a new standard on accounting for insurance contracts, this conservatism is referred to by the International Accounting Standards Board IASB and the Financial Accounting Standard Board FASB of the United States as the risk adjustment.