Description: This presentation is a concurrent session from the 1991 Meeting of the Society of Actuaries, held April 18-19 in New Orleans. The panelists discuss determining an optimal investment strategy in the current economic environment, taking into account prospects for the future, and how investment decisions are affected by product features. From the Record of Society of Actuaries, Volume 17, No. 1.

Description: This presentation is a concurrent session from the 1991 Meeting of the Society of Actuaries, held May 16-17 in New York. The panelists discuss determining an optimal investment strategy in the current economic environment, taking into account prospects for the future, and how investment decisions are affected by product features. Discussion from participants is included. From the Record of Society of Actuaries, Volume 17, No. 2.

Description: From a session at the annual meeting of the Society of Actuaries held in Chicago, Illinois, October 15-18, 2000 Discussion of purposes and approaches for creating interest-rate scenarios.

Description: The Investment Symposium is a day-and-a-half long seminar that will focus on the issues and questions faced by investors and risk managers, especially related to insurance companies and retirement plans. Presenters will discuss the big picture issues and explore practical solutions to today’s challenges. Experts will share new approaches to portfolio management and cutting edge research in asset-liability management. Technology, regulation and the economic environment will

Description: Insurance companies utilize derivatives in a variety of ways to manage and mitigate risks that are inherent in their investment or liability portfolios. They can be characterized by three main features: medium long-term duration; large volumes; and significant market risk exposure. Given the persistent low interest rate environment across the curve since the 2008 financial crisis, large companies need to hedge their liabilities, as illustrated by the significant recent increase from $786 billion as of fiscal year 2010 to $1,885 billion as of FY 2014 by insurance companies.As the Variable Annuities (VA) guarantees embedded within those liabilities hold a strong convex risk profile with respect to the underlying stock, VA carriers need to buy some convex hedge assets such as options to match the liability risk profile to improve hedge effectiveness, implying the growing cost of hedging. Such market impact of the quantity on the cost of hedging is further magnified in the recent period with the short-lived, but sharp transitions from low volatility to high volatility, when market volatility suddenly increases, even when there were no well-known fundamental catalysts. This partially stems from the growing managed volatility funds embedded within VA ($bn 400).VA carriers willing to trade a large quantity of options will see such market impact as an important dilemma, as the cost of placing one large order to close position will be far greater than the sum of infinitely small orders differed in time. In that context, managing market impact requires introducing an explicit market impact function, the influence of which the agent will try to minimize. The effect on hedge asset prices significantly depends on whether there is or not significant delta hedging activity. In case of no significant delta hedging activity, the risk appetite has a significant influence on the optimal execution strategy. If there is significant delta hedging activity, the optimal trading involve

Description: From a session at the annual meeting of the Society of Actuaries held in Chicago, Illinois, October 15-18, 2000 Discussion of indexed guaranteed separate accounts, typically issued to defined-benefit pension plans. Contract terms, risks, marketing, financial reporting, reserves, and investment strategies are discussed. Risk-based capital and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Model Regulation for Separate Accounts with Guarantees are also discussed. A hypothetical indexed separate account is analyzed for return on capital and economic risk.

Description: This panel discussion looked at investment philosophy and strategy for insurance companies. Discussion focused on criteria for choosing investments, the effect of an inflationary environment, and investment needs of various product lines.

Description: Presented at August 2011 Actuarial Research Conference. Summarizes the Heston model, discusses hedging equity indexed annuities, and provides numerical results of the Black-Scholes and Heston hedging strategies.

Description: Panelists who have been a part of integrated actuarial and investment functions at their companies discuss initial concerns from each side, the need for initial and ongoing coordination, the effect of company philosophies on the resulting combination, and realized and potential results and pitfalls. This session was held only days after the October 1987 stock-market crash. From the 1987 Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 13, No. 4B.

Description: Presented at May 1986 Spring Meeting. This session discussion is about techniques companies are using to maintain compatibility between investment practices and pricing assumptions for interest-sensitive products: Segregated assets, Use of options/futures, Asset/liability matching, Market value adjustments.