Description: This presentation was made at the 1975 SOA Los Angeles Spring Meeting. It addressed regulations relating to disclosure and cost comparison, equal opportunities and human rights legislation and impact on ways of doing business.

Description: Tired of Strategic Planning? by Eric D. Beinhocker and Sarah Kaplan

Description: This open forum session dealt with investment careers for actuaries.

Description: This presentation is a panel discussion, session number 42PD, from the 2002 Valuation Actuary Symposium, held September 19-20 in Lake Buena Vista, FL. The panelist starts by noting that the session is now ‘Risk Management in a GAAP Context,’ rather than ‘Asset/Liability Management in a GAAP Context,’ meaning management actions designed to address GAAP earnings volatility and GAAP income. To do this, you need to identify the sources of GAAP income volatility and near-term, not long-term, erosion of GAAP income. The speaker believes that stronger and stable GAAP earnings gives management the ability to implement their business strategies: ‘risk management in a GAAP context is all about creating competence in management,’ and if management can implement its business strategies, then it can create long-term value.

Description: At the November meeting of the IASB’s SAC, I raised strong support for the concept of a priority project to accelerate the development of a new conceptual framework for the IASB with emphasis on the role of reliability, the definition of liability, the meaning of probable, the effects of contingencies i.e. contingent probabilities, the unit of account and accounting for contractual rights and obligations. Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a longer address to the International Accounting Standards Board on guiding principles.

Description: This session from the 1995 SOA New York City Meeting discusses the re-engineering process as it is being undertaken in many companies, how it is applied to the actuarial function, and how technology can be used to facilitate the change. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 21, No. 2.

Description: Since spring, with the marked improvement in the payments deficit of the United States, the climate for discussion of reform of the world currency systems has become much more favorable. Perhaps our subject today should more fittingly be entitled Monetary Reform for the World Economy. Discussion focuses on the steps that can be taken to insure that enough liquidity will be provided to finance expanding world trade while maintaining stable price levels, and on how reform measures can be drawn to avoid the danger that additional liquidity will encourage countries to run chronic deficits.

Description: This presentation, session number 53PD, took place at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the Society of Actuaries, held October 15-18 in Chicago. The panelists note that “for several years only a few foreign insurers were permitted to provide life and health insurance in China. In recent years, regulators have been more receptive to the new entry of foreign insurers…” Topics include history of the development of the market, market demographics, including regionalization, types of products, distribution systems, and regulatory requirements for entry and continued operation. Discussion from participants is included. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 26, No. 3.

Description: Actuaries are trained to measure and manage risks, for example, mortality, morbidity, interest rate, and asset default risks. However, the range of risks to which companies are exposed is wider than is sometimes considered. This complex array of risks needs to be managed holistically in concert and not in isolation. The actuary is increasingly called upon to assist in this process and needs a broader perspective and more powerful toolkit. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 26, No. 3: Chicago Annual Meeting, October 15-18, 2000, Session 54PD.