Description: As technology continues to advance and consumers' preferences constantly change, the need for insurance to be sold at more competitive prices has become apparent, forcing the Broker channel to adjust its business model and also creating a new opportunity for the Direct-to-Consumer channel. The presenter will examine how various channels have co-existed in the past, and evaluate how they will evolve and co-exist in the future. The discussion will also include an analysis of a channel strategy to optimize results for the growth of a company. Presenters will include representative from the following distribution channels

Description: The days of reinsurance treaties bound by a handshake are long gone. Treaties have evolved into complex legal documents. The session will use a recently released study on recapture provisions as a starting point and will expand the discussion to other key treaty provisions. The focus will be on understanding the intentions, concerns and relative positions of both the direct company and the reinsurer so that a mutually beneficial compromise can be explored.

Description: Numerous behavioral finance theories have emerged in recent years, many of which apply to insurance. The presenters look at key theories and their use in explaining, predicting and inducing behavior from the perspective of the health insurance customer journey.

Description: Attendees will learn about the risks and rewards of using reinsurance as part of their business strategy. Reinsurance can be used in multiple ways including optimizing value of inforce, supporting planned sales growth, improving ROE, satisfying regulatory requirements, transferring risk, etc. The structures and solutions can take many shapes in order meet companies’ strategic and financial goals. In this session, the presenters will explore the historical and current uses of reinsurance as risk management and value creation tool and discuss developments that may impact the future use of reinsurance.

Description: Baseline and "what if"/stressed projections of cash flows, financial statements and capital requirements are critical inputs for a range of business purposes: forecasts, risk management, liquidity management, strategic decision making, etc. Forward-looking projections have historically been inefficient and were performed in silos, making it difficult to scale the process as CFOs and CROs ask for more. The presenters discuss challenges of the forecast process and opportunities to meet desired future capabilities. They will also discuss "what if" analysis and ways to support production of forward-looking projections for "what if" analysis in an efficient way.

Description: Retirement benefits, including health benefits, are increasingly being delivered through a DC structure. The presenters will explore how benefits are delivered and utilized, including consideration of tax implications and ordering. DC plan benefits in both the U.S. and Canada will be discussed.

Description: Whether focused on mortality, longevity, health or disability risks, biometric uncertainty is the foundation of our work. With a long history of processes and methods for analyzing biometric considerations, we run the risk of becoming stagnant in our thinking about the subject. The presenters will explore how companies can stay ahead of the curve in an environment of ever-changing medical and biometric influencers. They'll dig into cause of death trends, the obesity epidemic, genetic testing, wearables, other wellness tools and more. The presenters will also address the impact of changing risk assessment methods through predictive underwriting. This session is for anyone interested in staying at the forefront of biometric risk.

Description: Apart from their operating environment and the core risks they help others mitigate, organizations are largely impacted by behaviors--particularly those of their policyholders. This session builds on the first session in this series by considering how medical advances might influence policyholders, while also considering how agents/brokers, product design, and the economy can also be influencers. Weigh whether and to what extent behavioral uncertainties have been adequately integrated into the firms' assessments of business performance, both past and future. The presenters will also highlight activities being undertaken by firms to influence behaviors, in part building on the second session in this series by considering these activities through a regulatory lens. This session is for anyone interested in enhancing their understanding of uncertainty due to behavioral factors.