Description: This panel discussion session focused on the practical applications of risk theory.

Description: From a session at the 2000 Valuation Actuary Symposium held in Washington DC, September 14-15, 2000 Panelists use recent transactions and examples to demonstrate various operational, financial reporting and strategic aspects of insurance company mergers.

Description: Baseline and what-if/stressed projections of cash flows, financial statements and capital requirements are critical inputs to a range of business purposes, including forecasts, risk management, liquidity management, strategic decision making, etc. Forward looking projections have historically been inefficient and performed in silos making it difficult to scale the process as CFOs and CROs ask for more. In this session we discuss challenges of the forecast process and opportunities to meet desired future capabilities. We will also discuss “what-if” analysis and ways to support production of forward looking projections for “what-if” analysis in an efficient way.

Description: The academy generator is widely applied in actuarial practice. Initially confined to regulatory reserving, companies are increasingly using the AAA/SOA generator over an ever widening range of applications testing the limits of the academy generator's intended function. The session will give a brief overview of the academy generator and the asset classes it can be used to model. It will also analyze the statistical properties of the academy scenarios and discuss the scenarios relative to standard validation criterion. Some of the challenges that actuaries face in using this framework will be reviewed and options for addressing these challenges will be offered.

Description: Regulatory change and increased focus on internal risk management are driving a renewed interest in model efficiency. In this session, we will review several new and existing tools, that show significant promise for advanced modeling of equity linked products. These include: • Clustering • Use of unique--and potentially a different number of--scenarios for each policy • Semi Monte Carlo (SMC) – this is a proprietary technique that is similar to a combination of Monte Carlo and numeric integration • Using a neural network approach to optimize some of the more complex and manual aspects of clustering and improve the fit of the clustered model • Combining SMC with the use of unique scenarios per policy

Description: Insurance is a technically demanding, risk-based, capital intensive business. It is therefore not surprising that the industry is fertile ground for the development of technical models used to measure and price risk and manage capital. This session presents the forces which have significantly influenced the evolution of risk and capital management techniques and organization in the insurance industry, including regulatory changes, financial market instability, enlightened self-interest and ultimately a focus on shareholder value creation. Combining over 20 years in the industry in risk and finance roles with a rigorous academic approach, the presenter will provide insights into the most important business questions which insurers face today and the technical tools and frameworks used to answer them.

Description: This discussion examines the relationship of Operations Research to the actuarial profession, the extent traditional actuarial work can be regarded as Operations Research, types of life insurance company problems lending themselves to Operations Research study, and the relationship of electronic data processing field to Operations Research.

Description: This discussion looks at the problems considered in drafting war-aviation clauses, plans for mitigating catastrophe hazard with respect to policyholders in the event of a major war, and steps which may be taken to minimize war disruptions of life insurance home office operations.

Description: One important lesson learnt from the recent financial crisis was that overreliance on financial models could lead to unforeseen and harmful consequences. Model risk management (MRM) is becoming a core and mandatory component in enterprise risk management for many financial institutions, especially Fed/OCC CCAR-compliant firms. In recent years, insurance companies are also being required to have model risk management programs by Solvency II, ORSA and other supervisory guidance. MRM is not just model validation. It consists of governance and policies regarding a model's life cycle including data, model development, model test and implementation, model validation, model monitoring and documentation. It also provides guidelines and standards for risk assessment and model inventory management. The presenters will discuss current and best practice MRM, approach for model validation and auditing, as well as topics for technical issues such as types of model risks. It will also discuss the differences between Fed/OCC standards and Solvency II standards. At the conclusion of the session, attendees will be able to: Describe best practice in model risk management; Explain requirements and standards; and Develop model validation procedure.

Description: The presenters describe the process payers and employers can use to evaluate emerging medical device technologies, recent or pending FDA submissions for prescription drugs and experimental treatments that impact patient care, resource utilization and health care expenditures. Learn the process of identifying and selecting impactful treatments (Horizon Scanning) and quantifying the financial cost of new technologies before they arrive in the market. These workflows can be leveraged by actuaries, healthcare economists, clinicians and pharmacists from a payer (Commercial and Medicare) and employer perspective for self-funded plans. Walk through sample models that illustrate how costs for emerging technologies and treatments can be modeled.