Description: The heart of a reinsurance arrangement is that a loss by the direct writer will be covered. The risk that coverage may be lost can be managed—practical steps can be taken to ensure that the ceding company and reinsurer remain in agreement about what business is and is not covered under the terms and conditions of the reinsurance agreement.

Description: Summary of annual Milliman UL/IUL Issues Report, covering issues and challenges of these products.

Description: SOA Product Development Section Contest Winning Article. Contest was to provide a creative article on future technology for the life insurance industry.

Description: Encourages readers to visit specified URL to read selected essays from “Life Insurance 2020 Foresight—A Call For Essays.

Description: Discussion of topics addressed at pricing methodologies seminar,including a review of the results of the Tillinghast Pricing Methodology Survey. This survey covers the most popular profit measures for various companies within various product lines. The concept of market consistent embedded value was also discussed, as well as a review of pricing indexed products. Finally, there were case studies presented on pricing Universal Life with Secondary Guarantees, Return of Premium Term and Variable Annuities with Living Benefits

Description: Europe is in a state of financial flux. The ongoing effort to develop an integrated European economic community has led to sweeping changes in accounting regulations and pension systems. These changes will have profound implications for the competitive structure of the European life insurance market.

Description: Discusses the influence of market-consistent pricing proponents.

Description: Since the last installment of the biennial WTW North America Life Insurance Pricing Methodology Survey in 2018, the market has been coming to terms with the prospect of “lower for even longer” interest rates and been confronted with the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article examines what effects these and market-specific factors have had on profit targets and pricing and reserving strategy. The survey looked at the profit objectives and assumptions used in pricing 2020 new issues of individual life and annuity products, with a focus on past practices, not future plans.

Description: Discussion of private letter tax rulings on the definition of Cash Surrender Value for purposes of interpreting the definition of life insurance for the policyholder's taxation of the contracts.

Description: This article contains a summary of some of the presentations given at the October 2012 SOA Annual Meeting. This article does not cover all sessions that are related to product development, but shares observations that have been made by various members of the SOA Product Development Section Council.