Description: This article describes some of the drawbacks to the assessment of longevity risk adopted by most practitioners within the UK together with an initiative that provides a platform for an alternative approach that is both (a) more forward-looking in nature and (b) can complement current practices.

Description: Discussion of the latest report of the Individual Life Experience Committee ILEC Mortality for Standard Individually Underwritten Life Insurance Between 2005 and 2007 Policy Anniversaries.

Description: Identifies current trends and considerations when setting the mortality improvement assumption for individual life insurance in the US.

Description: Pricing longevity swap reinsurance transactions consists of a number of different actuarial tasks, each of which hides potential pitfalls. The article outlines the pricing process, which includes a detailed analysis of current mortality experience of the portfolio to be transferred, choice and calibration of an appropriate model for mortality improvement trends and the calculation of a risk margin which reflects the uncertainty associated with the pricing best-estimate, which includes mis-estimation risk, model risk, longevity basis risk and stochastic uncertainty.

Description: This article discusses the comparative results from the SOA Mortality Table Structure survey. From Reinsurance Section News, November 2007, Issue No. 61.

Description: Effective risk management of a portfolio demands accurate and succinct models which explain the main risk factors. We look at the various requirements we demand of a model, and find that they can all be met with an import from medical statistics: survival models.

Description: Discussion of how to measure actual to expected mortality experience in the life settlement market.

Description: In setting future mortality assumptions for pricing, the actuary needs to consider not only recent results and recent annualized mortality improvements, but also must look at the possible impact of possible shocks epidemics, wars, etc.

Description: A discussion of the need to search for alternative mortality tables other than the 1975- 80 and 1990-95 tables to use as the base table, which may be more appropriate for a particular company or specific products.

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