Description: The goal of this paper is to dispel the prevailing belief that American-style options cannot be valued efficiently in a simulation model by presenting a general algorithm for such valuation, and thus remove what has been considered a major impediment to the use of simulation models for valuing financial instruments. Discussions of this paper are included.

Description: Through a review of legislative and policy provisions, this paper highlights national differences in retirement policy and identifies alternative retirement policy strategies. The countries studied are France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. In addition to the traditional tools of retirement policy, normal, deferred and early retirement, other areas of policy with a potential impact on retirement are studied. Data on retirement experience also are presented and discussed. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1993, Vol. 45.

Description: The so-called pension max life insurance marketing concept is generating a great deal of excitement among life insurance marketers. It's also received some skeptical reviews in the popular news media, the most recent being a Newsweek article by Jane Bryant Quinn in the April 4, 1994 issue. The marketing concept calls for electing an unreduced pension, that is, maximizing the pension, in lieu of electing a reduced contingent annuity [CA] or joint and survivor [J&S] option. Further, the marketing concept calls for the purchase of life insurance on the employee to substitute for the economic exposure created by not electing the CA or J&S option. Although the marketing concept is clear and simple, its economics continue to generate a great deal of discussion. This paper attempts to add some clarity to this issue. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1995, Vol. 47.

Description: Complete issue of the October/November 2014 The Actuary magazine

Description: This meeting session, which occurred at the June 1980 SOA meeting in San Deigo, covered economic assumptions for pension plans. Topics included: 1. How should an Inflation Assumption be chosen? 2. Who should and can be involved in the process? 3. What Economic Assumptions are used for Social Security Canadian and U. S. projections? 4. What is the future of productivity and general wage increases? 5. How are Turnover and Retirement Age Assumptions related to Economic assumptions? 6. Are actuaries using variable or indexed Economic Assumptions? How are they doing it? 7. Should Economic Assumptions vary by plan size? By Benefit design? By valuation method? By investment strategy?, and 8. How should the assumptions be communicated to the plan sponsor? From Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 6, No. 3.

Description: This is a panel discussion session on the developments in the group insurance market in the 1980s including designing benefit plans with the employee as the focus, the cost to the corporate employer, and the group insurance underwriter's outlook.

Description: This is a panel discussion on new and proposed valuation and non-forfeiture standards for individual life insurance including dynamic interest rates, new mortality tables and actuarial opinions.

Description: This is a panel discussion session focusing on the pension plan sponsor's funding policy including examining alternate uses of cash selection of actuarial cost method selection of actuarial assumptions use of projections and effect of investment strategy on funding policy. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1981, Vol. 7, No. 1.

Description: This 1981 session focused on Reinsurance Trends. Questions included: i. Why the recent movement from YRT to Coinsurance? 2. Should a company use a bulk or self-administered system? 3. When is it advantageous to use Coinsurance or modified coinsurance on existing business? 4. Experimental Underwriting - what are the results? 5. Pricing assumptions - where have all the margins gone? 6. When can reinsurance pools be used effectively what are the pitfalls? 7. What's in the future? a. Use of telecommunications and computers to transfer the risk? b. Lower rates and less service? 8. How have changes in reinsurance pricing affected ceding company pricing?

Description: This session from the 1981 SOA Spring Meeting focused on return on investment in a rate-regulated environment. Topics included current rate-regulated environments, current use of ROI, ROI in price setting and future rate regulation controls. From Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 7, No. 2.