Description: In this article the authors review the book, The Elements of Business Writing by Gary Blake and Robert W. Bly, and highlight the basics of improving business writing skills.

Description: This article discusses how dynamic financial analysis, also known as dynamic solvency testing, as new field of practice that can use actuarial expertise.

Description: This is the Table of Contents from the Vancouver Meeting of the Society of Actuaries, June 26-28, 1995. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 21, Number 3b.

Description: This presentation helps you prepare for the 1996 filing seasons and anticipate any additional information needs by reviewing the 1996 Schedule B. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 23, No. 1.

Description: Panelists discuss the pros and cons of using a care manager in order to receive either benefits or enhanced benefits in long term care plans. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 24, No. 2.

Description: Panel discusses the effects of reduced payment levels to many Medicare managed care organizations. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 24, No. 2.

Description: This session is about the U. S. Social Security System undergoing a period of critical reappraisal with the costs and future of the system in question, and about how the actuarial profession should be involved in the process.

Description: Contained in Appendix 4 of the 1987 Valuation Actuary Handbook, this set of articles sets forth the positions of various industry groups with regard to the valuation actuary concept as of January 1987. It consists of four sections: 4.1 – Excerpts from the Report of the Task Force on the Valuation Actuary to the ACLI Board of Directors, August 1986 4.2 – Final Report of the Joint Committee on the Role of the Valuation Actuary in the United States 4.3 – Preliminary Report to NAIC Life & Health Actuarial Task Force from Surplus & Solvency Subcommittee of NAIC Standing Technical Advisory Committee, October 9-10, 1986 and 4.4 – Draft Recommendation 7 – American Academy of Actuaries paper. Views of the American Council of Life Insurance, ‘ACLI,’ the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, ‘NAIC,’ the American Academy of Actuaries, and the Society of Actuaries are all represented. Note that the final report in 4.2 above was adopted in 1984 by the boards of both the Academy and Society, the two organizations represented on the Joint Committee.

Description: In this paper, chapter V of the 1987 Valuation Actuary Handbook, the authors start with a discussion of how the recent economic environment with volatile interest rates has changed the valuation and surplus management process to one more dependent on actuarial judgment. In a discussion of surplus policy, the authors identify four “layers” of surplus which have been identified by scenario testing. These surplus layers, along with policy reserves, are based on specific invested assets. The paper discusses implications for the future and notes the actuary’s ability to advise management on surplus adequacy is a basic tool of risk management.

Description: This material, Appendix I of the 1987 Valuation Actuary Handbook, is an appendix to Chapter II of the Handbook, ‘Methods of Analyzing cash Flows to Test for Reserve Adequacy.’ The author provides additional support in his appendix which discusses the theory behind MacAulay duration and provides illustrative examples.