Description: A discussion of a possible replacement of FASB Statement No. 141 SFAS 141. The exposure draft was referred to in this article as “141R.” “141R” provides guidance for application of the acquisition method, which was previously called the purchase method in the case of business combinations. The draft requires that all business combinations including the merger of mutual insurance companies be accounted for by the acquisition method.

Description: Presents a practical solution to some of the distortion caused by a typical application of the retrospective assumption update (unlocking) method.

Description: The use of Other Comprehensive Income OCI is receiving its moment in the sun. It is being considered for housing some of the earnings volatility in the International Accounting Standards Board IASB current approach to measuring insurance contracts’ performance.

Description: Article from The Actuary, November 1971 – volume 5 - Issue 9 is a reprint of an address delivered at the 1971 Annual Conference of the LOMA. The article discusses realistic financial reports for life insurance companies.

Description: The impact of bond default risk on retirement benefit obligations describes how the probability default on a bond is similar to the probability of death for an annuitant. Bonds are used to cash flow match retirement obligations cash flows to funding from bond. Just as the probability of non-payment happens on the liability side, we can do the same with selected bonds. The end result may be an adjustment to the discount rates used.

Description: After a summary of FASB decisions in their GAAP Targeted Improvements project, this article describes several issues that will need to be resolved either by the board or in actuarial practice and argues for seeking solutions that provide meaningful results without overly complicating valuation processes.

Description: Financial Reporting Section March, 2012, newsletter.

Description: Continues the look from previous articles at unlocking of traditional contract valuation assumptions, this time examining the effects of lapses.

Description: View the complete issue for the August 2014 Reinsurance News newsletter.

Description: Article from The Actuary, April 1972 – volume 6 - Issue 4 revisits the topic of natural reserves and how they indicate the level of cash values that can be provided under such assumptions without gain or loss from surrender.