Description: The August/September 2015 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: In PLR 202109001, the IRS ruled that a proposed assumption reinsurance transaction between related foreign parties changing the counter party obligated to a domestic corporation (“Taxpayer”) under an existing agreement did not give rise to Taxpayer being treated as making a base erosion payment (“BEP”), as Taxpayer did not receive a deduction under §832(b)(4)(A) from the amount of gross premiums written on insurance contracts during the taxable year for premiums paid for reinsurance.

Description: The August/September 2014 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: Read the Quo Vadis Reinsurance.

Description: This article highlights 13 attributes shared by various groups of companies that landed in trouble. The companies are identified, and the attributes are described.

Description: Book review of the latest edition (4th) of Life, Health, and Annuity Reinsurance by John Tiller, Jr and Denise Fagerberg Tiller

Description: Big data, predictive analytics, machine learning and AI will likely transform the insurance market and the actuarial profession. The actuarial profession is seeing changes many markets, including health and property and casualty. This article describes these trends and provides an introduction into what companies and the Society of Actuaries (SOA) are doing to adapt and capitalize on these trends.

Description: This article compares various Social Security reform proposals and offers a framework for viewing proposals that provides an analysis of the options on the basis of specific sets of principles and assumptions. From: The Actuary, September 1999 – volume 33 - Issue 7.

Description: Many retirement actuaries have experience developing, implementing, and monitoring Liability Driven Investing (LDI) strategies for plan sponsors. These strategies typically involve modifying a plan’s investment strategy to remove a significant portion of the investment and interest rate risk now or at some point in the future when specific triggers are met. The tactics often involve the use of fixed income assets to cash flow and/or duration match the liabilities. In the spirit of helping actuaries expand their roles in an evolving defined contribution world, this article explores the application of LDI and derisking strategies within defined contribution and individual retirement accounts. The economic theory behind this approach is called the lifecycle hypothesis, or lifecycle finance. The benefits of the lifecycle finance method are that it provides a safe approach to save for retirement and a secure source of floor income during retirement. Similar to pension plans, each individual has his or her own idiosyncratic needs, wants, and risks that should be considered. Actuaries are uniquely situated to help defined contribution plan sponsors, individuals, and even themselves implement the lifecycle finance approach by developing and distributing tools and methods that focus on income (rather than wealth), LDI strategies, and personalization.