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: A research report that first defines ERM and provides the results of an applicable literature search with hyperlinks and then describes the current state of Enterprise Risk Management practices for health organizations. Areas covered: 1. Operational Risks. 2. Balance sheet risks. 3. Pricing discipline. 4. Asset risks. 5. Learnings. 6. Emerging risks.

Description: 2011 SOA Enterprise Risk Management Symposium, Chicago. This paper reviews a risk management theory that deals with correlated, non-normally distributed factors, and then applies risk management techniques to the U.S. steel industry using futures contract hedging.

Description: This paper evaluates the current practice of operational risk management in the insurance sector. Operational risk is nothing new in insurance, but, because of regulatory requirements, companies have initiated computation of risk capital for their operational losses. The current effort to manage operational risk is not a naturally evolving phenomenon, and operational risk, in the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s Basel II definition, is unlikely to be a significant cause of insurers’ failure. In addition, the current Basel II definition of operational risk is not suitable for the insurance sector. Consequently, the invention of models and tools based on the definition is incomplete and illusionary. My findings are based on the analysis of dozens of interviews with insurance industry professionals. I demonstrate the way operational risk is quantified in practice, show that the result obtained from this computation is of littl e use in managerial decision making and propose a set of policy recommendations illustrating the characteristics of operational risk in insurance. This study can be used as a platform for launching dialogues to initiate fresh thinking about operational risk in insurance beyond the current artificial and narrow boundaries.

Description: This is the full research report for the thirteenth Emerging Risk Survey which summarizes the results of the survey.

Description: This article discusses the state of risk management practice in the banking industry in the Middle East. Risk management in the Middle East is complicated by data quality problems and corporate governance issues.

Description: The Society of Actuaries announces the release of a new report that will provide a resource for the insurance industry to learn about image recognition technology. Authored by Kailan Shang, the report explores the current status of image recognition technology, models for image recognition, and various possible applications of image recognition to insurance.

Description: 2011 SOA Enterprise Risk Management Symposium, Chicago. The stated purpose of this paper is to consider whether a more comprehensive and timely measurement framework for risk exposure is now needed and to examine one possible approach. This paper proposes a new approach to risk measurement that, along with capital measurement and more rigorous oversight, will allow banks an ability to manage risk.

Description: Regulatory change and increased focus on internal risk management are driving a renewed interest in model efficiency. In this session, we will review several new and existing tools, that show significant promise for advanced modeling of equity linked products. These include: • Clustering • Use of unique--and potentially a different number of--scenarios for each policy • Semi Monte Carlo (SMC) – this is a proprietary technique that is similar to a combination of Monte Carlo and numeric integration • Using a neural network approach to optimize some of the more complex and manual aspects of clustering and improve the fit of the clustered model • Combining SMC with the use of unique scenarios per policy

Description: Reinsurance has been available for VA Guarantees for over 20 years. During that time, the reinsurance market for VA Guarantees has undergone frequent and sometimes violent transformations. Where does the market stand today? What forms and structures of reinsurance are available? Which VA Guarantee designs and features are easier to reinsure? Is reinsurance offered on both newly issued policies as well as in force/legacy books, and which vintages are difficult to reinsure? In an age of sophisticated hedging programs, what role does a reinsurer play in helping a VA writer manage this highly volatile risk? In this session, we will hear from a reinsurer that is actively writing new VA Guarantee reinsurance treaties in the U.S. and around the world, and from a VA writer that has successfully partnered with a reinsurer to enhance its VA product offering