Description: This paper, originally published in 1992 in the Transactions of Society of Actuaries Vol. 44, deals with a topic that is becoming increasingly important to actuaries in most fields of practice. “Without relying on formulas, this paper presents the important concepts underlying the theory of arbitrage-free pricing of interest-rate-contingent cash flows.” This paper, by James A. Tilley, won the 1992-93 Annual Prize, and the Halmstad Prize for 1992. The paper includes written discussion and the author’s review of the discussions.

Description: In this session, we will explore investment solutions that aim to maintain the long-term viability of a pension plan, with considerations on hedging interest rates, credit, inflation, longevity and other risks, while accounting for the many particularities associated with underlying liabilities and their corresponding ramifications.

Description: There have been continual advances in the modeling of financial series but most are aimed at the pricing of derivatives. Different criteria are needed for development of scenarios for risk management. Some recent methods will be reviewed with an eye on risk-management applications, including using the simulated method of moments to parameterize multifactor models, fractional differencing and other methods to model series with persistent autocorrelation, and models to flatten out the volatility smile, such as jump-diffusion models. These methods will be illustrated with applications to inflation, interest rates, equity prices and exchange rates.

Description: Discussion rebutting the Dec. 2004 issue of The Financial Reporter article titled, “On the Fair Value of Insurance Liabilities,” authored by Don Solow. That article expressed disagreement with the position of the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board to reflect the value of “own credit risk” in the fair valuation of insurance liabilities.

Description: This paper will consider aspects of inflation as it affects the operations of the life insurance industry and the policyholder, and will review some of the approaches used, primarily by European companies, to meet the situation. Discussions of this paper are included.

Description: Diverse Risks 2016 Call for Essays

Description: Models are useful in illustrating various facets of complex phenomena, but they are inherently limited.

Description: Editorial that explores how underlying issues of the economic bubble were actuarial in nature.

Description: Within this paper, we take an applied approach to examine the economics of ERM. We provide readers with a series of economically based warning signs that might signify significant changes in asset prices. These warning signs are based on the economic concepts of elasticity of demand, elasticity of supply and herd behavior. Our recommendations provide practical guidance to directors, executives and practitioners regarding ways in which they can mitigate risks in today’s volatile environment. Presented at 2010 Enterprise Risk Management Symposium, Society of Actuaries, April 12-15, 2010.

Description: discussion of an insurance product which ensures the payment of an anticipated tax refund, in order to allow the taxpayer to borrow against that refund to meet liquidity needs.