Description: The different broad purposes served by the material change concept under federal tax law are outlined. More specific material change and similar issues that are pertinent to particular Code provisions and guidance from the IRS that has addressed those issues are also addressed. In the final part of this article, authors comment on whether any overarching principles can be gleaned that can assist insurers and policy owners in making decisions about whether particular changes can safely be made, and thoughts are offered with respect to future potential IRS guidance that would be helpful as taxpayers navigate these often uncertain waters.

Description: Highlights of the 2012 initiatives and accomplishments of the Society of Actuaries.

Description: Compares techniques used by the allies to win WWII e.g., transparency, collaboration, and breaking down silos to how to avert financial crises. Also compares a high-involvement ERM & business intelligence 'BI' technique to a control ERM & BI.

Description: When companies engage in risk management activities, they can be seen as modifying their distributions of future outcomes. Often, this takes the form of trading off a sure cost for a decrease in some potential risk of loss. Companies may carry out these activities with several goals in mind, such as reduction in earnings volatility or preservation of capital. This paper will demonstrate a method for evaluating possible strategies by dividing the effects on costs and risks into three tranches: earnings, impact and estate. The tranches can be associated with different interests of the various stakeholders. This trifurcation analysis can help to explain the risk-reward trade-offs of different risk treatment alternatives and can aid in risk-related decisionmaking.

Description: Statistics were invented to describe heterogeneity and are now applied to tackle alea. It may not be appropriate. Let's clarify their field of relevance.

Description: This article describes services of a reinsurance intermediary and the use of reinsurance to meet financial objectives.

Description: Ten Years of the Brazilian Insurance Market - —Lessons and Perspectives. Legal and historical comments about the opening of the Brazilian reinsurance market.

Description: This article is a companion to “They Go Bump in the Night: Life Insurance Policies and the Law of Material Change,” an article written by John T. Adney and Craig R. Springfield (May 2012 Taxing Times Supplement) that describes the various material change rules found in the Code, highlighting the complexities insurers face in navigating through these rules when a life insurance contract is materially changed. The Adney and Springfield article also addresses the difficulties in interpreting the tax law requirements under the various effective date rules contained in the Code sections affecting life insurance contracts.

Description: Essays advocating for incentive compensation linked to the level of risk in an organization.