Description: This article is a brief overview of what the Health Actuarial Research Initiative, HARI, is and what the participants in HARI will be doing. HARI is a project formed by the Society of Actuaries that will develop actuarial research studying changes in health care systems.

Description: A discussion of the recently revised Society of Actuaries Global Initiatives Policy, which covers a variety of issues including relationships with other actuarial associations, professional development issues, and education issues.

Description: Report on the first study conducted jointly by LIMRA International and the SOA Long Term Care Experience Committee. The study examines voluntary lapse and total termination activity in LTCI for calendar years 2000 and 2001. Overall, the results indicate that LTCI persistency has continued to improve however, the current improvement seems to be coming from the individual lines of business rather than the group lines.

Description: A discussion of the experiences of an actuarial volunteer consulting and training in Samara, Russia

Description: A report on the SOA Board's Executive Committee's discussions and and resolutions in response to the Manhart case.

Description: Description of the consulting segment of the actuarial profession as it now exists in Canada and the United States, the environment in which it has developed, and some of the unresolved problems and possible future developments. Followed by discussion papers submitted by 2 authors

Description: Developing a formal strategy to guide the SOA’s activities with respect to public policy-related topics is underway. Recent experience shows that non-partisan contributions through the SOA’s research are already adding value to important public policy discussions.

Description: A comment letter to policymakers produced jointly by the SOA and AAA presents findings from their actuarial analysis of the proposed CLASS Act. The analysis indicates that the proposed structure and funding approaches will be unsustainable, and will cover only a very small proportion of the intended population. The opt-out and guaranteed issue provisions of the plan pose a risk that soon the program will either need increased premiums and/or significant reductions.

Description: The editorial suggests taking to a new level the SOA’s commitment to finding ways that will benefit society.

Description: This article briefly describes my journey within the actuarial profession as a volunteer. IACA's initiatives in Africa are also discussed.