Description: In the summer of 2012 the SIC decided the time was right to find out what current practices were with respect to Asset Adequacy Testing. This article summarizes the survey process and results obtained. The purpose of the survey was twofold: first, to educate actuaries prior to year-end work about current AOMR practice reflecting changes since the American Academy of Actuaries’ (AAA’s) 2004 Practice Note had been issued; secondly, to provide enough information such that an update of that practice note could be done should the AAA decide a revision to the note was desired.

Description: Many top-performing businesses aren’t just risk aware, but rather risk intelligent. Such a posture helps prepare companies for a major event and can demonstrate to a regulator or auditor that an appropriately strong control framework is in place. Better still, companies gain real strategic value from a “risk adjusted” understanding not only of their threats and vulnerabilities, but also the upside opportunities associated with various risks. It starts with having both qualitative and quantitative information to identify, assess and manage risks. Strategic risk management, at its core, is about creating value by increasing transparency and accountability, and quality of information. More than a mere compliance exercise, effective risk management enables more informed strategic decision making, increased accountability and transparency, a greater likelihood of organizational success, and – ultimately – competitive advantage, as borne out by many studies that correlate risk management and financial results.

Description: Summarizing the session "How to Keep Your Spreadsheets Out of the Headlines", on preventing spreadsheet error, from the 2015 SOA Annual Meeting. Presenters were Alex Cires, Sandra To, and Mary Pat Campbell.

Description: Software vendors participating in the A Comparative Analysis of Claims–Based Tools for Health Risk Assessment study were invited to submit comments on the study. In this document, Ingenix explains their contribution to the study's source data, and raises some questions about methodolgy.

Description: Panel discussion of alternative approaches to the design of reserve standards, to include those topics discussed in several recent papers and committee reports.

Description: The author points out ways to to identify potential weaknesses in an actuarial process and provides ideas to improve the process.

Description: On October 30, 2015, the SOA Assumption Development and Governance Group, an informal discussion group consisting of nearly 200 interested actuaries with topics pertaining to actuarial assumption development and governance, organized an industry discussion call on end-to-end assumption documentation practices. The purpose of this call was to generate a large list of ideas for best-practice assumption documentation. More than thirty companies were represented in the call, including direct insurers, reinsurers and consulting firms. This article is the work product of the discussion written by Laurie Li and Alex Zaidlin.

Description: The author has gathered a variety of resources, general theories, and specific practices concerning spreadsheet errors and their avoidance.

Description: A summary of the risk that the use of spreadsheets pose, along with key controls to reduce the risk.