Description: The speaker will discuss the training of neural networks to compute future Greeks of liabilities (or options) without the use of nested stochastics.

Description: The proposed revisions to the variable annuity statutory framework and the FASB targeted improvement for long duration contract, motivate life insurance companies to re-evaluate their hedging strategy. Recently proposed revisions of AG 43/VM-21 and C3 Phase II, reward companies that have a clearly defined hedging strategy, if the companies can demonstrate that the valuation model and capital model can estimate real hedge performance accurately. The speakers of this session will discuss the hedging implication of the proposed AG 43/VM-21 and C3 Phase II framework. Additionally, methodology computational requirements, back-testing results under different economic scenarios and the resulting hedge credits of different hedging strategies will be compared, including explicit dynamic hedge and implicit dynamic hedge. The speakers will also touch on the impact of rebalance frequency on the performance of dynamic hedge. Case studies will be presented to provide guidance on practical implementation.

Description: Techniques that have gained some traction in general (property/casualty) insurance will be highlighted with a particular focus on the linear mixed model. This model adds random effects to the more commonly seen fixed effects (for example, as used in GLMs).

Description: The article highlights the key components of the PBR resource manual and analyze its implications for companies' assumption management practice.

Description: This article lays conceptual foundations associated with projecting investment-related discretionary elements of various life insurance and annuity products. It outlines potential implementation approaches that may be appropriate when calculations are performed in a risk-neutral setting. The article concludes that crediting rates in risk-neutral models can be projected as in real-world models, except that the modeled provision for expected credit losses should be modified to equal real-world expected losses initially, but over the projection reflect management’s evolving expectation, moving ultimately to risk neutral expected losses.

Description: Critical Illness Insurance is one of the fastest growing insurance products available today. Carriers continue to introduce innovative approaches in second, third, and fourth generation products while refining their pricing, underwriting, and claims adjudication processes. This session will look back at historical trends using Gen Re's longstanding, comprehensive Critical Illness Market Survey, and look forward to potential market changes to occur in the next 18 months.

Description: The key tasks of credit risk capital project under CROSS II mainly focus onL(1 )Adjustment of measurement framework; (2) Calibration of risk factors, including both credit spread risk and credit default risk;3)Introduction of concentration risk measurement; (4) Higher requirement on look-through rule.

Description: Learn industry best practices including challenges faced by retirees, such as needing exposure to growth, most exposed to sequencing risk, and the need for smooth returns to avoid poor investor behavior caused by risk aversion. Other topics will include how to set investment objectives which consider the members’ real-world needs and how to build portfolios and implement risk management strategies to meet those objectives. The speaker will provide real-life examples/case studies.

Description: The Smaller Insurance Company Section, the Committee on Life Insurance Research and the Product Development Section announce the release of a new report on the impact mortality credibility has on principle-based reserves.

Description: The last three decades have witnessed an important rise in number of people with diabetes in Asia, especially Type 2 Diabetes. Like no other common condition, numerous innovations are currently entering the healthcare system that will soon have a significant impact on management of the condition. This presentation explores the role played by sensors/wearables, artificial intelligence, new drugs and diabetes apps. We assess the realistic potential of such advancements and give an outlook on medium-term pricing and product development.

Description: Maintaining solid financial performance is a KPI for senior management. With the advancement of technology, the management can leverage new techniques to improve their decision making and focus on higher value activities in a timely manner. This presentation sets out the use of 1. correlation analysis to draw relationship between financial metrics and 2. smart analytics techniques, including text mining and analytics, to identify trends and drivers that impact the valuation of a company. We will also assess how the results of a comprehensive financial analysis could influence risk management considerations, including business steering and risk strategy.

Description: Feature article discussing the usefulness of Lorenz and Lift curves.

Description: Read the April 2019 issue of Predictive Analytics & Futurism published by the Predictive Analytics & Futurism Section of the Society of Actuaries.

Description: Summary of recent surveys to life actuaries regarding assumptions surrounding policyholder behavior in the tail for universal life with secondary guarantees and minimum guarantees on variable annuities. This information is intended to examine and ultimately give guidance to actuaries on how to set policyholder assumptions in extreme scenarios.

Description: As sponsored by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA), Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS), and Society of Actuaries (SOA), the study looks at causes of insolvency and decisions made by management, regulators, and policyholders over the life cycle of the insolvency. Further, this study considers ways the profession can be equipped to prevent or mitigate future insolvencies. In addition to directly benefitting the profession, the work is also intended to assist other insurance industry practitioners in understanding the complexities of insurance company solvency and the benefit of keeping the actuarial profession in the forefront of company management, operations, and regulatory communication

Description: The academy generator is now a staple for actuarial practice. Initially confined to regulatory reserving, increasingly companies are using the AAA/SoA generator for a wider and wider range of applications which in some cases may be at the limits of what it was designed for. How is the AAA/SoA generator being applied in reserving, risk management and variable annuity lines of business? What are some of the challenges actuaries face in using this framework and what are the options for addressing them.

Description: "Visual storytelling is frequently used to effectively convey complex actuarial concepts to our clients and other audiences. When talking about data visualization, we often focus on the explanatory aspect. But data visualization is also a crucial tool in developing insights from large and complex data sets at every stage of data analytics spectrum: • descriptive (what happened?), • diagnostic (why it happened?), • predictive (what will happen?), • and prescriptive (how do I influence what will happen?). In exploratory and modeling stages of data analytics’ project, we let the data tell the story or explore our intuition and hypothesis through data pictures. We demonstrate the power of visual display in healthcare data analytics through vivid examples from the healthcare case studies. These illustrations of data visualization exploratory power range from assessing the quality of data or examining outliers, to exploring variables’ relationships and trends, to hypothesis testing, to guiding in feature selection and models’ comparison and evaluation, to model validation. Throughout these illustrations, we will discuss principles of graphical effectiveness, excellence and integrity."

Description: This literature review provides insights on emerging technologies that interact with the actuarial profession within the space of microinsurance for the purpose of establishing a frame of reference for actuaries to use in their work. Furthermore, it intends to spark readers’ interest in, and create a vision for, how microinsurance and its associated technologies may impact the actuarial industry in the future.

Description: Read the April 2019 issue of CompAct, published by the Technology Section of the Society of Actuaries.

Description: Through much of the Baby Boomer generation's working lifetime, retirement planning focused on asset accumulation. Strategies like Dollar-Cost Averaging and Asset Diversification became well understood by nearly everyone in the retirement industry. As those assets move into the payout phase (post retirement), the appropriateness of those strategies becomes less clear. Presenters will aim to exhibit and explain how and why adding a Single Premium Immediate Annuity (SPIA) or Deferred Income Annuity (DIA) to a retirement portfolio can help to minimize a retiree's chance of outliving his or her income, and why sellers of annuities should focus more heavily on these product offerings. At the conclusion of the session, attendees will be able to - Identify the reasons why effective asset accumulation strategies may be ineffective in the decumulation phase of retirement - Evaluate the benefit of using at least a portion of accumulated retirement assets to purchase a fixed income stream that the annuitant is guaranteed not to outlive - Explain the benefits of a SPIA/DIA focus to other industry practitioners

Description: The presenters will explore policyholder experience data for long-term products, risks of over-fitting data in developing behavioral models, and ways to mitigate these risks and develop a sustainable and coherent framework to translate complex policyholder behavior experience data to behavioral models using company- and industry-level data. At the conclusion of the session, attendees will be able to: - Identify key drivers of policyholder behavior for long-term product - Understand the risks of over-fitting data and a false sense of precision in developing behavioral mode - Understand techniques that can be used to mitigate these risk

Description: With advancement of computing technology and innovative product design, creating dependent and nested stochastic scenarios to accurately predict insurance business has become more feasible and affordable than it used to be. However, can technology and research be accessible, applicable and beneficial to all the stakeholders? Sharing research findings and its validation tools has been our interest and focus, and even a resource-saving strategy. The presenters will share a case study on a segregated fund with hedging strategy. We investigate the reserve calculation for its GMMB in an extensive but simplified stochastic model so that our method is adoptable, applicable and extendable to real-word segregated fund/separate account model. The segregated fund model theory and implementation will be presented and its cash flows will be simulated and analyzed for reserve calculation. Varying parameter assumptions will be tested and to be modified for real-world segregated fund with hedging risk for guaranteed benefits. At the conclusion of the session, attendees will gain basic understanding of and access to: - The option pricing model and its application to the segregated fund (variable annuity's separate account) guarantee - Stochastic scenario generators for the interest rates and equity returns - R-code to program from the scenarios simulations to cash flows of hedging errors - Reserve calculations and its sensitivity to various parameter values and - Comparison of methods to increasing efficiency level and the accuracy

Description: Predictive models can improve the traditional actuarial assumption-setting process. Data science techniques can provide deeper insights into experience through their ability to identify key drivers, rank importance and account for interactions. The presenters will cover ways in which companies can utilize predictive analytics to set assumptions, including the various methods available and practical approaches for implementation. They will also discuss the advantages and challenges of using predictive models for setting assumptions for life, annuity and disability products.

Description: The Canadian Institute of Actuaries and Society of Actuaries Committee on Life Insurance Research, the Product Development Section and the Financial Reporting Section, sponsored this study investigating how the Canadian life insurance industry is utilizing predictive modelling.

Description: This article discusses important implications of the upcoming Long-Duration Targeted Improvements (LDTI) accounting change for the modeling actuary. We discuss the modeling implications of new GAAP standards for Market Risk Benefit (MRB), including identification of MRBs, implementation of fair valuation in actuarial systems and retroactive determination of at-issue valuation inputs for transition. We also examine the modeling implications of the other aspects of the accounting change, including Liability for Future Policy Benefit (LFPB), Deferred Acquisition Cost (DAC), and other transition and disclosure requirements

Description: Summary of the modeling-related sessions from some of the major 2018 Society of Actuaries (SOA) meetings: Life & Annuity Symposium, Health Meeting and the Valuation Actuary Symposium.

Description: Read the December 2018 issue of The Financial Reporter, published by the Financial Reporting Section.

Description: The article focuses on implementation considerations for insurance companies that will be implementing both IFRS 17 and US GAAP Targeted Improvements. Many of the practical considerations are common to both implementations and will also be of interest to readers who are only implementing one of these changes.

Description: Managed strategies as underlying investments in VA/FIA products have seen spectacular growth since the financial crisis. The speakers of these sessions will share their views on the development of this market and what is expected to unfold over the next 12 months in regard to the next generation of products and fund-based strategies.

Description: Reinsurance has been available for VA Guarantees for over 20 years. During that time, the reinsurance market for VA Guarantees has undergone frequent and sometimes violent transformations. Where does the market stand today? What forms and structures of reinsurance are available? Which VA Guarantee designs and features are easier to reinsure? Is reinsurance offered on both newly issued policies as well as in force/legacy books, and which vintages are difficult to reinsure? In an age of sophisticated hedging programs, what role does a reinsurer play in helping a VA writer manage this highly volatile risk? In this session, we will hear from a reinsurer that is actively writing new VA Guarantee reinsurance treaties in the U.S. and around the world, and from a VA writer that has successfully partnered with a reinsurer to enhance its VA product offering.

Description: This session will explore several critical elements in developing a sustainable and coherent framework to translate complex annuity (VA and FIA) policyholder behavior experience data to assumption models using company- and industry-level data, as well as inforce management techniques to handle related risks.

Description: The Society of Actuaries are once again offering a seminar that investigates all aspects of life insurance, annuity and long term care product tax compliance. Developed by the Taxation Section, participants will be brought up-to-date on recent Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and learn about the newest tax issues related to product design and administration. Legal, IRS and product development experts will provide vital insights into the challenges of developing and administering products within the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), and allow ample opportunities for networking, questions and information exchange.

Description: The CIA, SOA and Joint Risk Management Section of the CAS, CIA, and the SOA sponsored a whitepaper on the application of ERM at a federal government level.

Description: This paper summarizes the results of a survey of waiver of premium/monthly deduction rider assumptions and experience.

Description: This article examines how the choice of the rebalancing frequency in a variable annuity hedging program impacts hedging.

Description: Provide high level summary of changes to Valuation Rates for Payout Annuities and similar contracts.

Description: The CMS Risk adjustment model allows actuaries to apply our analytical skills and business knowledge to solve risk and revenue challenges within Health Plans.

Description: This session will provide an overview of the evolution of equity-based guarantees (e.g. VA, FIA, etc.) over the last few years and discuss the current lay of the land as it relates to the regulatory, issues, capital markets (e.g. Department of Labor, Dodd-Frank) environment in which these products are offered.

Description: The presentation will outline the different possibilities insurance companies have to hedge their equity risk for the various products.

Description: This is the transcript for Session 5B : What is Different Today for Post-retirement Financial Planning? from the 2017 Living to 100 Symposium in Orlando.

Description: This is the informal discussion transcript from Session 3B: Comparing Mortality of Different Groups from the 2017 Living to 100 Symposium in Orlando.

Description: This research report is the result of a second phase examination of the impact of VM-20 on life insurance product development.

Description: Paper by Max Rudolph for the SOA on historical views on systemic risk and its applications.

Description: This research report is a summary of an online survey and follow-up discussions with survey respondents on the current state of actuarial modeling controls within U. S. and Canadian life insurance and annuity companies. The current state was then compared to the results from the 2012 survey on this topic to examine the evolution in actuarial model controls and governance. The report also provides an industry assessment and proposes considerations for enhancing the current state towards a well-controlled governance framework.

Description: This paper investigates techniques for the assessment of model error in the context of insurance risk analysis.

Description: The speaker of this session will provide a bottom up analysis and categorization of the $200 billion of volatility control funds related investments while recapping volatility control fund trading around volatility spikes (including Aug. 2015 and June 2016). The assessment of potential market impact of the volatility control funds’ rebalancing activity will also be discussed.

Description: The speaker of this session will discuss some common difficulties one encounters when dealing with exotic equity linked derivatives. In particular, a study of a Monthly Sum Cap (MSC) will be presented. Pricing issues, along with dynamic hedging, as well as projections of MSC into the future will also be discussed. Time permitting, some aspects of historical performance will also be addressed

Description: This SOA report provides an overview and analysis of the mortality models, theories and trends contained in the papers presented at the past four international Living to 100 symposia.

Description: Mr. Rallis will discuss trends in the market for risk transfer of defined benefit plans in the US. He will also address implications of increasing longevity.

Description: This article walks through the history of model efficiency in the U.S. life insurance industry, examines its current application, and looks ahead to what we might expect to see in the future.

Description: The February/March 2016 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: The October/November 2015 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: A primer on extreme event modeling and mitigation for practitioners, it covers the complete cycle of extreme event risk management, from identifying experience data sources, to extreme event detection, to modeling and dependence analysis, and finally to monitoring and mitigation.

Description: French language version of Risk Management, August 2014 newsletter.

Description: Complete issue of the August 2014 Risk Management newsletter.

Description: The August/September 2014 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: This article discusses the concept of All models are wrong but some are useful.

Description: The February/March 2014 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: The December 2013/January 2014 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: This is the English version of the research report, “Funding Public Health Insurance Plans Canada and Globally”. This report briefly looks at the actual health care funding models and metrics in seven countries (Canada, Sweden, France, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States) along with health care metrics for another 13 countries (20 OECD countries in total). This report also suggests a number of possible areas where actuaries could provide expertise to assist in the management of public health care plans.

Description: This paper provides a summary of the Dec. 2012 summit of the Natural Resource Sustainability Group and invited experts.

Description: This PBA Implementation Guide provides verbal summaries and visual flow chart overviews of various VM-20 and PBA components and requirements, six Case Study Road Maps, and action items to bridge the gaps and implement PBA. During the Guide’s development these templates and exercises were vetted with more than 15 participants selected from a diverse group of companies

Description: This article discusses the The Assumption Development and Governance Group (sponsored by the Financial Reporting and Product Development Sections).

Description: This article discusses sessions from the product development section post symposium seminar on product development - beginning to end. Sessions included product specific topics like term, universal life with secondary guarantees, and indexed products. Panel discussions included inforce management and advanced modeling issues.

Description: This PBA Implementation Guide provides verbal summaries and visual flow chart overviews of various VM-20 and PBA components and requirements, six Case Study Road Maps, and action items to bridge the gaps and implement PBA. During the Guide’s development these templates and exercises were vetted with more than 15 participants selected from a diverse group of companies.

Description: Update on new mortality tables in development - 2012 IAR, 2014 VBT, and SI/GI/Preneed

Description: This project shows how to use agent-based models to simulate the behaviors of agents in complex health systems.

Description: The April/May 2013 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: This SOA report identifies methodologies currently in use by life insurers as well as potential new strategies to manage balance sheet and income volatility risk associated with fair value and related accounting

Description: This SOA report provides an overview and analysis of the mortality models, theories and trends contained in the papers presented at the past four international Living to 100 symposia.

Description: To expand our understanding of the theory of behavioral economics and its application to life and health insurance policyholder and annuitant behavior, the Society of Actuaries' Committee on Knowledge Extension Research, Committee on Life Insurance Research and the Financial Reporting Section issued a call for papers, inviting actuaries, academics, economists, psychologists, sociologists, researchers and other professionals to explore this topic from a variety of perspectives.

Description: This dissertation by Tia Sawhney will help you understand this issue and start measuring it, or start promoting equitable public policy.

Description: The Q&A’s contain additional background information on the development, application and impact of Scale BB. Scale BB was introduced in March 2012 as an interim mortality improvement scale which may be used by pension actuaries until work on a formal successor to the widely used improvement scale, Scale AA, is complete.