Description: After 12 issues over three years, this is my last issue as editor of The Financial Reporter. It has been a very interesting job, with so many issues to address! I have met many bright, good people. I have made some friends. I have seen some articles in print because I saw a need and found a way to meet it. But I have also seen good articles in print when I had no idea that there was even a need! I have experienced the joy of helping bridge the gap between an author’s thoughts and the readers’ minds. I have enjoyed working with the authors, and I have enjoyed the sense that I was partnering with them to improve our financial reporting community. As we see in numerous instances, our fates are intertwined.

Description: Feature article discussing uncertainty in insurance accounting.

Description: discussion of the capital management alternatives for funding the additional reserves required due to Actuarial Guideline XXX

Description: A discussion of alternative meanings to “Best” in best estimate. When one is trying to estimate a result that is normally distributed, the mean, median and mode will all equal one another. However if the results are not normally distributed, different variance metrics will result in different “best” estimates. When different parts of a financial statement use different criteria for measuring best estimates and different processes for handling variances, the results can be volatile, unpredictable and perhaps unreasonable.

Description: This article discusses fair value reporting for insurance companies and how to get fair value in the real world.

Description: Update on IASB developments from January - March 2010.

Description: Summarizes the efforts to complete the Valuation Manual by March 2010, for the NAIC's March meeting.

Description: Discusses a joint project between the FASB and IASB to update the accounting standards for financial instruments.

Description: As my penultimate column, this is my opportunity to strike the existential pose and wax poetic about the fact that human nature has no history. Each generation born harbors the same hopes, dreams, and desires as the generation that preceded it. Following, in no particular order, are some observations related to this insight.

Description: Articles appearing recently in other publications that may be of interest to financial reporting actuaries.