Description: Feature article discussing the variable annuity industry rebuilding and reinventing itself.

Description: This paper first derives the fair participation rate based on a fair value of the equity-indexed annuity EIA. Then using risk measures, a new participation rate is obtained, based on the tail loading of the hedging error distribution. Risk management strategies reducing risk related to the hedging error are also presented. A detailed numerical analysis is performed for a point-to-point EIA.

Description: The article is a summary of Society of Actuaries report entitled “Annuity Market Pricing Approaches” sponsored by the Retirement Section Research Committee. The report examines the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) methodology of developing solvency valuation assumptions, compares it to methods used in the U.S., and considers if it could be used in other markets, such as U.S. group annuities or individual annuities

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: The title is the theme of the SOA spring meeting on April 14 - 15, 1980. The meeting will focus the effects of changing outside forces on product development, pricing and distribution systems. Possible sessions are discussed.

Description: A high level review of IRR methodology, common issues in calculation, and IRR applications in insurance.

Description: The objective of this article is to help indexed annuity writers understand the pricing practices and ALM strategies used by their peers in the industry, especially in light of the prevailing low interest rate environment and a possible rise in interest rates.

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.

Description: This Eugene Strum article is about what changes happened in the contributions to employer-sponsored benefit plans after The Arizona Government Committee vs. Norris.

Description: In this article, the author compares evolution of the annuity market in the United Kingdom to one’s progression through the actuarial examination system.