Description: Letter from the Chair of the Product Development Council. Challenging times bring opportunities. Today's low interest environment is a rallying cry for our industry to transform our products and the way we do business

Description: The world around us keeps changing F.A.S.T. propelling life insurance companies to respond with F.R.E.S.H. product solutions.

Description: The Congressional Budget Office reports that out-of-pocket expenses accounted for 19 percent of the total long-term care LTC expenses in the United States in 2006, and private LTC insurance accounted for only 8 percent of these expenses, which shows that Americans are underinsured for LTC expenses. While it is true that public programs like Medicaid and Medicare cover much of the nation’s LTC expenses 68 percent of the total LTC expenses in the United States in 2006, eligibility for these programs comes at a great cost to the individual.

Description: Discussion of pricing and underwriting Long Term Care coverage that is combined with annuities or life insurance.

Description: In this article, the author discusses discuss the use of the Cox Proportional Hazards Model in developing a predictive underwriting model that produces a mortality multiplier for each individual.

Description: The 1990s saw the rise of many types of variable investment products within the life insurance industry. It was only natural that hedging strategies and products would emerge in response to the inherent risk of loss of value in variable life and annuity products. This article explains a 21st-century twist on the concept for annuities, the Enhanced Earnings Death Benefit EEDB Rider.

Description: This article summarizes key findings from an SOA research report conducted by Milliman on a wide range of living benefit riders with medically related triggers on life and annuity products. The SOA report includes a survey of direct writers, and interviews with many reinsurers. The article focuses on chronic illness accelerated benefit riders, long term care accelerated benefit riders, and the more comprehensive long term care linked benefit products that can pay out benefits that may be much higher than the underlying base plan values. Information on regulations governing these plans, mechanics of the products, sales, and pricing structures is included The intent is to enable the reader to appreciate the issues and opportunities related to these new, innovative designs that help address a range of consumer needs..

Description: discussion of a new product idea for retirement planning which integrates a variety of needs estate death benefit, annuity income, disability income, etc. into one product

Description: The last few years have seen a dramatic change in the way that insurance products are priced. If we traveled back in time 15 to 20 years, we would see a world where most insurance products were priced on the basis of a few static scenarios. In the last several years, pricing on a stochastic basis has become more mainstream—at least for contracts with embedded guarantees.

Description: This article discusses reaction to the requirement by the European Union for gender neutral pricing. One UK insuring is providing rates that are lower if you "Drive Like a Girl". The benefit to the consumer is lower rates as females tend to have better auto insurance experience as compared to males. Nothing is preventing males from applying for the coverage. However, it is clearly marketed to females as one can see from their branding materials. A black box attached behind the dashboard of the car monitors the driving (speed, acceleration, etc.) to confirm that they are indeed "Driving Like a Girl" as their insurance assumes.