Description: With seemingly unending demands on life & annuity companies for more intense and complex calculations, as well as greater sophistication around analytics, and all of this done at speed, never before has it been so important to seek out maximum efficiency in constructing models. In this session the panelists examine how the combination of various model efficiency approaches, pulling in many different facets of modeling and making it flexible enough to dial up or down various modeling components, can bring about incredible results. Not only does it become possible to produce and expand upon financial risk metrics via a building block approach, but also enables life insurers to produce analytics and dashboards to support strategic decisions that were simply not possible or cost effectively viable before.

Description: This session aims to address and provide mitigation strategies for the barriers to entry into the actuarial profession that traditionally underrepresented Black and Latine candidates face. The International Association of Black Actuaries (IABA) and the Organization of Latino Actuaries (OLA) will share both data and anecdotal findings from programs they have operated for students and career changers. These findings will inform strategies for the future as they share what has and hasn’t worked. Through identification of these obstacles and analysis of experiences in this effort, they share how fellow actuaries, both within these communities and allies, can help in promoting DEI efforts within our industry to reduce the gap in representation within the actuarial profession. By attending the session, you will:•Be able to identify the barriers to entry into the actuarial profession that Black and Latine candidates face,•Practice new strategies in your daily work, team development, and hiring practices to reduce the impact of these barriers,•Educate your peers on how to implement those strategies in your daily work, team development, and hiring practices.

Description: Almost half of recent FDA approvals have been for orphan drugs. This trend is expected to continue in 2023. Orphan drugs are priced more than 30 times higher than non-orphan drugs, therefore their cost burden in aggregate has the potential to overwhelm the budgets of payers, especially that of smaller health plans. Hear how the cost impact analysis for smaller health plans require different considerations than for a larger health plan when modeling the impact of rare diseases.

Description: Almost every actuary will, at some point in their career, be called upon to perform work described as business as usual (BAU). BAU work takes on many forms, ranging from daily pricing or hedging exercises to annual valuation or audit support and nearly everything in between, however, a common thread among most BAU activities is that unusual issues have a tendency to arise, resulting in inefficiencies, long hours, and sometimes missed deadlines. Learn from a panel of actuaries that will relate tales of unusual issues that derailed BAU routines. Examine how these issues arose, the impact they had on the actuary's work and life, and steps that could prevent similar issues from occurring in the future, with a focus on governance, controls, and analytics. By attending the session, you will: Understand some of the common pitfalls that can interfere with smooth BAU operations, as well as some strategies that can be employed to mitigate or prevent issues in their own BAU work.

Description: The working life of actuaries has become faster paced, more complex, and potentially more volatile than in any previous period in the history of the profession. Furthermore, actuaries are increasingly being asked to expand their roles into areas that lie beyond the traditional space associated with the actuarial profession. As a result, actuaries are increasingly finding themselves faced with professional and ethical dilemmas for which there is little precedent to rely for guidance. Take part in a guided discussion about three real-world case studies where actuaries were required to make difficult decisions. We will see how by remaining calm and leaning on the ASOPs, actuaries were able to navigate professional and ethical pitfalls despite pressure from key stakeholders. Each case study will highlight actuaries working in different areas within the industry. Some examples may include: - Case study 1: An actuary working for a direct insurer finds a last-minute error during a busy production cycle. - Case study 2: An actuary working for a reinsurer finds themselves under pressure to apply an unrealistic assumption. - Case study 3: An actuarial consultant is under pressure from a non-actuarial client to perform work in a way that would not comply with actuarial standards. By attending the session, you will: - Understand how to lean on the ASOPs to keep cool during stressful situations. - Manage deadlines and expectations. - Balance risk and reward, and remain true professionals, no matter how hot the fire.

Description: Join us in this webinar where we explore the intricate relationship between Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) and insurance, diving into the art of risk management within this industry. Gain a comprehensive understanding of the diverse insurance products offered by PEOs, the positioning of PEOs in the actuarial landscape, and the strategic navigation of regulatory challenges.

Description: Life insurance has no shortage of issues and innovations impacting the day-to-day life of products, a product actuary and the life insurance process. Listen to a group of experts discuss the key topics faced when issuing and managing life products, including innovations, regulations, growth, opportunity and cautions pertaining to Term, whole life, and UL products. By attending the session, you will: Be able to identify trends in life products and processes, avoid pitfalls of product development through increased awareness of innovations and issues, and identify key developments that could impact life products.

Description: Learn about prevalence-induced concept change and other cognitive biases. And find out how such biases can be linked to common actuarial practices (e.g., the application of the bias to stringency of enterprise risk management frameworks, in the case of prevalence-induced concept change). You should leave the session with the ability to understand how these biases could affect your work.

Description: This session will discuss: • What is social insurance and advantages of financing LTSS that way • Design decision points for an LTSS program • Existing examples of programs in the US and Abroad • Challenges and differences in pricing state-based LTSS financial reform.

Description: The webcast addresses the four stages of effective leadership, and the three main drivers of effective leadership. It provides several metrics for assessment. Use of these ideas allows any leader in a leader-subordinate situation to raise the level of the subordinate to mastery level. The material in the discussion is based on an article in Stepping Stones (Sep 2023), "Are you an Empowering Leader", by Russell Jay Hendel.