Description: The letter from the president details recent developments and plans to increase the Society of Actuaries’ role in the arena of public policy research.

Description: Chairperson’s column addressing recent and planned activities of the Marketing and Distribution Section of the Society of Actuaries.

Description: Debriefing of activities at the Third African Actuarial Congress held on April 2013 in Lomé, Togo, and brief description of the status of the actuarial profession in a few Western African countries..

Description: Discussion of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union: Opportunities and problems for the actuarial profession and the industries it serves. The panel explored for each country: • The background and current economic situation of each country • Trends in governmental programs • Expansion of insurance markets • Development of employee benefit programs • Building the actuarial profession: education and research

Description: Professional advice is provision of an unbiased opinion by a person with training and experience that ensures that the advice is in line with current knowledge.

Description: Professional development opportunities from the Society of Actuaries.

Description: Highlights of the SOA international strategy statement, International Committee topics, and other SOA international activities.

Description: Discussion of the status of the Preliminary Education Working Group and the Actuarial Education Working Group, which were created by the Society of Actuaries to further the work of the Task Force on Education and Qualification with respect to preliminary education for actuaries.

Description: A report on an international actuarial workshop Held in China

Description: The December 2013/January 2014 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.