Description: This article from The Actuary, November 1996, Volume 30, No. 9 discusses the value of the actuary. What is our value to our publics? Is it in sheepishly agreeing with statutory impositions -pension plans are a social good that should have favored status as long as they pay their fair share - or is it in sticking to, then clarifying and explaining, our principles regardless of the penalties? Our corporate agreement with the notion that there are “individually realistic actuarial assumptions.”

Description: This article is written in response to the article that appeared in the February/March issue of The Actuary entitled Better Standards for Setting Standards written by Dave Kass. It discusses the process itself, the time it takes to develop or change standards and how quickly new ideas should be incorporated in the standards.

Description: A high level review of recent developments in the area of professional standards of practice on Modeling, with exploration of a few of the contentious issues.

Description: A discussion of the Morris Review in the UK: a government-requested review of the actuarial profession in the U.K.

Description: Review of 2018 changes to retirement-related actuarial standards of practice in the US and Canada.

Description: This article is a summary of the Morris Review, a public inquiry, of the actuarial profession in the United Kingdom. The report was published in 2004.

Description: In the absence of good research and analysis, decisions are made on the basis of intuition, unexamined assumption, and fixed ideas. This is the 'I believe…' approach to decision-making. The less information that individuals have, the more likely they are to rely on belief rather than evidence. This keynote address from the 43rd Actuarial Research Conference held in 2008 in Regina, Saskatchewan discusses the importance of research in health care reform, talks about the difference between pure and applied research, and explains what separates good applied research from poor research. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 2009, Vol. 1.

Description: This article explains the Society of Actuaries' views on mandatory continuing education.

Description: This article discusses challenges that short-term predictions have on actuaries' reputations, both as individuals and as a profession, and discusses strategies to improve our professionalism and better manage this risk.