Description: A discussion of the growing popularity of annuities with guaranteed minimum income benefits GMIB during times of bear markets and some related discussion of product features, minimum statutory reserves and capital requirements for the product

Description: A discussion of risk based capital for annuities RBC C-3 Phase II

Description: Adopted by the NAIC on October 14, 2005, the new RBC C3 Phase II requirements were effective for year-end 2005. The regulation requires either a factor approach - the “Alternative Method” - or a stochastic modeling approach subject to a minimum Standard Scenario requirement for determining the C3 component of risk-based capital for variable annuities. This article summarizes the results of a survey on insurers' approach to this for year-end and their results.

Description: Feature article from the newsletter Product Matters discussing variable annuities and principle-based approaches to reserve and capital requirements.

Description: The Life Risk Based Capital Working Group of the NAIC asked for a recommended capital standard from the American Academy of Actuaries for variable annuity contracts with guarantees. In response, the Life Capital Adequacy Subcommittee’s C-3 Work Group the Work Group, chaired by Bob Brown, formulated an approach, which has been dubbed RBC C-3 Phase II.

Description: This abstract describes a paper that analyzes the sample size effects on the estimation of the beta.

Description: An exploration of drivers, cohorts and dynamics for policyholder behavior for VA and FIA based on industry experience data, including changes in recent years and the emergence of long-term data in key areas. We will also discuss critical elements to developing a sustainable and coherent framework to translate this complex experience data into assumption models.

Description: Life and annuity markets around the world have seen increasingly complex investment-combined products, including universal life, fixed indexed annuities, variable annuities with a wide variety of guaranteed benefits and indexed variable annuities. Insurance companies are facing unprecedented exposure to financial risks in addition to traditional mortality and longevity risks. The risk assessment and modeling for such complex designs by conventional methods often focus heavily on their market competitiveness and profitability. However, there seems to be a lack of quantifiable and systematic approaches to assess investment risks associated with investment combined products. The objective of the proposed work is to develop a framework for quantifying and analyzing various forms of contractual designs and showcase different techniques to assess the trade-off between competitive contractual designs and their practical implications regarding the difficulty of risk management.

Description: When annuity products became prevalent in the U.S., they all looked more or less the same. It was where folks put their safe retirement money, yielding modest guaranteed returns with a menu of payout options to help secure their retirement. Over time, this commoditization lead to a pricing squeeze and an exhaustive set of product options and features, exposing carriers to market and policyholder behavior risk over the past decade or so.

Description: New Zealand is about to launch its first variable annuity with guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits. The product design is mindful of the lessons from the financial crisis in the United States, Europe and Japan.