Description: The Actuary Vol. 22 , No. 7. This articles explores the dangers posed by many guaranteed-return life insurance and annuity products.

Description: in the insurance industry, machine learning models are increasingly used to make decisions that affect people's lives. In order to ensure that models are fair, they should be audited for bias. There are no hard and fast rules for bias audit; metrics that can be used to evaluate fairness vary depending on the context in which the model is deployed. The presenters in this session present a flexible framework that highlights key considerations in bias evaluation that can be adjusted to suit your process.

Description: This article describes a couple of things can be done to speed up universal life calculations in a BASIC program. It describes how the calculation of year end fund value can be done in one pass instead of 12.

Description: This paper applies the research in Prospect Theory of Kahneman and Tversky to explain why sales of annuities lag sales of life insurance products. The author theorizes that life insurance is easier to sell because customers perceive themselves to be in the domain of losses, while potential annuity customers perceive themselves to be in the domain of gains. Kahneman and Tversky showed us that people are mostly risk averse in the domain of gains and risk seeking in the domain of losses. Purchase of an annuity or life product is a risky investment. Customers will find it easier to take the risk in the life insurance domain of losses than the annuity domain of gains. The author then proposes a hybrid life annuity product that might address both mortality and longevity risk in one product that would allow both products to be more competitive than stand-alone products.

Description: Summary of recent changes to IRS Section 7702 Interest Rates, and how it will impact the design of life insurance products in the future.

Description: This article reviews the topics discussed at the December 2004 meeting of the Life and Health Actuarial task force. The covered topics include Actuarial Guideline 38 and Reserves for Variable Annuities C-3 Phase 2 reserves.

Description: Reworking The ABC’s of XYZ by Tom Kalmbach from Small Talk Newsletter, November 2002, Issue No. 19.

Description: This paper explores the use of linear programming as a tool to guide policyholders in getting the most value out of their combined insurance and investment programs. Concentrating on flexible premium universal life within the tax environment of the United States, several linear programming models are developed that can be used at the point of sale, to select the most cost effective policy from those available in the marketplace, and after issue to maximize the present value of future cash flows on the policy of an insured who is in ill-health. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1991, VOL. 3.

Description: The Universal Life Work Group ULWG of the American Academy of Actuaries’ AAA Life Valuation Subcommittee was formed in July 2004. Its charge is to develop a new “principle-based” approach definition follows for statutory reserves and capital requirements for life products with certain types of benefits and guarantees, where the value of the contract obligations vary significantly due to such things as future interest rates or equity returns.

Description: The author discusses an interpretation of the surrender charge limitations specified in New York’s Regulation 77 which increases the maximum allowable surrender charges for renewal years. This interpretation was presented to and accepted by the New York State Insurance Department.