Description: Traditionally, life insurance companies have depended on individual whole life insurance policies for their growth in assets. This has changed in recent years. Now, annuities, particularly individual annuities, have become the largest part of new individual premiums. Companies have responded by issuing a plethora of imaginative products. These are often founded on a variety of recently developed financial instruments, such as derivatives. This article is about the Actuarial Foundation's study of the risks of these new annuity products and the new financial instruments underlying them. The study will culminate in a scientific conference in New York in December 1998.

Description: The paper is an individual risk theoretical examination of annuities for the aged. Through retirement systems, social security and insurance plans, annuities for the aged are a very significant matter and are worthy of inquiry. From the Actuarial Research Clearing House 1992 Vol. 2.

Description: Often an investor is offered an annuity for a fixed purchase price. The computation of the yield rate implied by this transaction must presently be computed by an iteration scheme, usually on a computer. With reasonable parameters, the problem of determining the yield rate can be readily solved with a desk calculator. From the Actuarial Research Clearing House 1982, Vol.1.

Description: This article explores the development of the annuity market in the UK over the past 20 years. It examines the explosive growth achieved by the enhanced annuity market and delves into the kinds of customers attracted by these products and the kinds of enhancements typically presented. It also explores the impact of government policy changes which have lead to annuity volumes declining and 'drawdown' product becoming more popular.

Description: Credit Card Approach to Pricing by Ralph H. Gorter from Product Development News, August 2000, Issue No. 50. Examines the pricing of annuities including any bonus features.

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 delves into a new line of statistical thinking of the author, that may be useful for product development actuaries. The key concept is how product design can produce products that diversify quickly, meaning that the company can be confident of a profitable product line, based on fewer sales than might be true for other designs.

Description: Article from The Actuary, March 1986 – Volume No. 20, Issue No. 3 that is a brief description of one of the fastest growing segments of the life insurance industry - the so-called Settlement Annuity.

Description: Recent guidance in the form of Rev. Proc. 2006- 13 provides a general safe harbor for the fair market value of a deferred-annuity contract when determining the amount includible in income on conversion of a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

Description: Introduction to longevity insurance, including product design and a market overview