Description: This article is dedicated to the non-statutory accounting treatment of common credit risk exposures of life insurers but does not cover all aspects of non-statutory accounting standards. It introduces the concept of and the valuation of credit risks, concerning life insurers.

Description: The introduction and effective application of US GAAP LDTI have increased the scrutiny of those reviewing the updated financial results. That is because LDTI has resulted in significant changes in actuarial reserving and deferred acquisition cost (DAC) models for long-duration contracts, including significant changes to data, assumptions and required disclosures. In light of the changes, greater reliance has been put on companies’ model risk management (MRM) teams and model validations to assess the conceptual soundness and accuracy of their companies’ actuarial models and to assess that the underlying data and process utilized are suitable and appropriate. This article covers a brief background on model validation, walk through a sample LDTI-focused model validation framework/test plan, then provide insights on common LDTI-related validation observations based on the authors' prior validation experience.

Description: Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2018-12, commonly referred to as long duration targeted improvements (LDTI), is the most significant GAAP accounting change impacting the life insurance industry in the past 40 years. This article discusses the impact of LDTI on variable annuities (VA) and fixed indexed annuities (FIA) from a product development and in-force management angle. Detailed discussion topics include hedging and ALM, product strategy and development, and pricing. LDTI will cause many VA and FIA writers to re-evaluate their hedging and asset liability management (ALM) strategy following the move to fair value accounting under the new MRB requirement. Stakeholder appetite for accounting volatility and resulting changes to hedging and ALM may trigger changes in product mix and designs. In addition to updating pricing infrastructure to handle the new requirements, pricing actuaries will need to produce analyses to educate stakeholders on the risks and pricing implications of any changes to designs, hedging and ALM.

Description: This article discusses the impact on the financial statements of changing from Statutory Accounting to GAAP Accounting and the under-reporting of long-term earning power by insurance companies because of the AICPA technique of handling the transition.

Description: This article is aimed to cover the following: 1) Provides an assessment of income volatility under Long Duration Targeted Improvements (LDTI) for several key types of long duration contracts along with select illustrations, and compares against those under current GAAP, 2) Discuss areas where accounting policies or methodologies can influence income volatility, and 3) Show how a company's management reporting can be adapted to help explain income variances under LDTI.

Description: This article reviews why financial reporting controls are relevant to actuaries. It also discusses the impact of LDTI on controls and the strategic decisions that insurers need to make.

Description: This article discusses the discount rate that should be used under GASB 45. Public employers now find themselves in a similar situation to private sector employers in the early 1990's in that GASB 45 requires them to measure liabilities including post-retirement medical liabilities using accrual accounting.

Description: This paper highlights the impact on shareholder equity and AOCI due to the introduction of LDTI during a period of falling interest rates. The paper is intended to provide an example of an analysis that will help actuaries explain the interaction of LDTI and falling interest rates.

Description: A discussion of some criticisms of the feasibility of companies converting to GAAP, in addition to pros and cons of the GAAP system.

Description: Importance of non-GAAP operating earnings