Description: Using data from 12,571 publicly traded U.S. industrial firms spanning 1980 to 2004 for which quarterly firm specific financial variables and macroeconomic variables are available, this is the abstract of a paper that estimates the probability of bankruptcy/merger for each company and hence a prediction of bankruptcy/merger in the next quarter.

Description: Mexico substituted its defined benefit system [IMSS] of the formal sector by a defined contribution system in 1997. The initial plan called for buying single premium annuities for the widows and disabled workers under the new system. In the first three years, this market came to occupy a significant part of the insurance sector. Then, the number of workers getting benefits started to fall dramatically. This is the abstract of a paper that shows that such a fall has been a direct result of how the IMSS authorizes the issuance of single premium annuities. The paper analyses the rationale behind such a dramatic change in policy, analyzes various possible scenarios of IMSS strategies, and examines the problem to see if it brings in any long-term benefits to IMSS.

Description: This abstract describes a paper that considers heterogeneous life data models and introduces a new visual inspection technique capable of detecting the credibility of the model assumptions.

Description: This paper is an analysis of the mortality rates of beneficiaries of charitable gift annuities.

Description: This paper develops the binomial version of the Lee-Carter model and provides a comparative study of simulation strategies for assessing risk in mortality rate predictions and associated estimates of life expectancy and annuity values in both period and cohort frameworks.

Description: This abstract describes a paper that proposes a change to the variable annuity fee structure that would lower fee rates without reducing the insurer's profit.

Description: This abstract describes a study that presents a hypothetical example of a UK term annuity firm and studies its solvency over the period 1985-2010 under various economic capital calculation approaches.

Description: This is the abstract of the paper 'A Stochastic Definition of Future Shares'. The traditional definition of actuarial future values and stochastic definition of Ramsay are discussed. A modification of Ramsay's definition is proposed and an application to life insurance reserves is presented.

Description: This abstract describes a presentation that describes a simpler way of finding the variance of a deferred annuity.

Description: Recently, the SCAN Foundation, AARP, LeadingAge, and HHS funded economic modeling conducted by Milliman and the Urban Institute around LTC reform elements. The LTC industry has over the years also generated ideas to address the on-coming expansion of LTC needs in the U.S. For this article, we have brought together three individuals who have long involvement with LTC financing to discuss some of the recent ideas and provide some perspectives on their pluses and minuses.