Description: This session is about structuring an HMO, rating, financing & solvency and underwriting. From Record of Society of Actuaries 1979 Vol. 5, No. 4.

Description: This presentation introduces the Threshold Life Table as a solution to the problem of modeling mortality for extreme ages. This method is based on extreme value theory, and it avoids the need to extrapolate beyond an arbitrary age. This method produces an omega, the highest attainable age, without it being chosen arbitrarily.

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: This article proposes a framework for estimating mortality improvement models and analyzing the parameter uncertainty in such models.

Description: The article summarizes PLRs 201515001 and 201519001, in which the IRS addressed the treatment of a non-qualified deferred annuity contract under the investor control doctrine and other applicable rules. The contract provides a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit and investment options that correspond to “public” mutual funds. The IRS concluded that the investor control doctrine will apply to treat the contract purchaser as the owner of the mutual fund shares for federal income tax purposes. The IRS also addressed certain other tax aspects of the arrangement. The effect of the rulings is that the contract will be taxed similarly to a contingent deferred annuity (where the policyholder holds the mutual fund shares in his or her own brokerage account), while being structured like a traditional deferred variable annuity (where the insurance company holds the shares in its separate account).

Description: A 2015 Society of Actuaries Report (co-sponsored by the Reinsurance Section, Product Development Section, and Committee on Life Insurance Research) entitled “Life and Annuity Living Benefit Riders: Considerations for Insurers and Reinsurers,” is available on the Society of Actuaries website (www.soa.org). It covers a wide range of living benefit riders with medically-related triggers on life or annuity products. This article is largely derived from that report, covering several of those riders. In order to add to the marketing implications of these plans, Claude Thau, in his capacity as President of Thau, Inc. has provided additional commentary from the perspective of a marketer who is active in this field.

Description: In this paper, we derive three important longevity Greeks on the basis of an extended version of the Lee-Carter model that incorporates stochastic volatility.

Description: Chairperson's Corner is the introduction to the JRMS newletter.

Description: Chairperson's note to readers.