Description: August Zilmer 1831-1893, a Prussian actuary best known for the development of preliminary term valuation, also made some observations on life insurance accounting that seem quite contemporary. Zillmer also wrote the first comprehensive German actuarial mathematics text in almost a century.

Description: This article discusses the calculation of mean reserves in certain cases where terminal reserves are negative and proposes a minimum reserve formula which produces adequate mean reserves in all cases.

Description: This article announces the availability of The Valuation Actuary Handbook. The purpose of this handbook is to provide assistance to all actuaries who need to use cash-flow testing to validate the appropriateness of reserves. It is a “how to” manual that contains the most up-to-date considerations and techniques for the valuation process.

Description: The author explores reasons why blocks of business may become legacy blocks and discusses ways to decrease the likelihood of legacy blocks in the future.

Description: Reports on the Florida winter meeting of the NAIC’s Life and Health Actuarial Task Force, LHATF, regarding an agreement that was reached on an approach to be taken to reconstitute the Standard Valuation Law, SVL, applicable to life insurers.

Description: This is the first of two articles discussing the model laws governing minimum reserves and non-forfeiture values that the NAIC adopted in December 1980. The author, Chairman of the NAIC Technical Task Force on Valuation and Nonforfeiture Value Regulation, in this first article describes the objectives of the revision, which include updating assumptions, increasing flexibility, and improving the ability to deal with new types of products, the cooperative effort entailed, the actuary’s role and responsibilities in doing business under the new law, and the financial impact.

Description: Discussion of solvency problems and the actuary's role in addressing them in the life insurance industry.

Description: This article describes the effect of different valuation interest rates and levels of surplus on income tax paid by life insurance companies via Phase 1 of the Federal Income Tax Act of 1959.

Description: This article provides a formulaic method of comparing unit reserves on different valuation bases. This enables a duration-by-duration comparison of the components of the calculation on two different valuation bases. This can be done ignoring taxes or assuming taxes are recognized in calculating the expected return on capital in pricing.

Description: This article discusses the charge for the new SOA/COVARA AIDS Task Force. This new task force will examine and report on the principles and techniques for the financial recognition of AIDS for insurance companies, recognizing both statutory and GAAP accounting.