Description: A recent SOA regional meeting featured discussion on an age-old actuarial debate: Within the same company, should the return on equity ROE target vary by profit center PC depending upon the risk of the PC?

Description: Accelerated underwriting programs continue to evolve at a rapid pace. Triage systems have become a key element in many of the newer accelerated underwriting programs in the market. Depending on the criteria used at the triage point, these programs can have residual effects on class prevalence and mortality which in turn affect the profitability of these programs. In this article we will explore some potential impacts on mortality and prevalence within these programs.

Description: Risk based pricing addresses some of the shortcomings of traditional pricing methods by providing a framework for understanding the tradeoffs between shareholder risks and rewards using a robust, transparent and objective economic methodology that is consistent across products.

Description: The Effects of Triple-X on Product Design by Mary Bahna-Nolan from Product Development News, August 2000, Issue No. 50.

Description: This feature discusses the article by syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman in the March 3rd Los Angeles times titled Insuring an End to the Actuarial Rip-Off of Women It was about risk classification arguing in favor of unisex pricing for individual contracts, which the author of this article did not agree.

Description: Summary of recent changes to IRS Section 7702 Interest Rates, and how it will impact the design of life insurance products in the future.

Description: This article reviews some of the highlights of th 2010 SOA Annual meeting including the impact on pricing resulting from Solvency II, Market Consistent Valuation of New Business - MCVNB, the latest on mortality, Standards of Practice in product development, managing risk in product design and a regulation update.

Description: The article discusses the continued popularity of indexed UL insurance and possible reasons why a company's actual indexed UL earnings may be below their original pricing expectations for the product. The article discusses several key items that may be the source of that underperformance (e.g., hedge ineffectiveness, policyholder behavior) and the need to monitor earnings and perform analyses to better understand those potential sources.

Description: The limited availability of life and protection cover for people living with certain serious health conditions is starting to become a critical issue for insurers. The public perception is that insurers simply don’t offer cover, or that it is difficult to source affordable, tailored cover. This article discusses the considerations when trying to improve access to insurance.

Description: This is an article that has excerpts from each of the four winning papers of a contest sponsored by the Society of Actuaries on the subject of visions of the life insurance industry in 2020.