Description: This session from the 1995 SOA Boston Meeting presents an interview with financial industry experts on the ways in which consumers allocate investment and insurance dollars, looking at the annuity market, mutual funds and banks. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 21, No. 4b.

Description: Digests of following discussions: 1. Mutual life insurance companies - their objectives and operating philosophy 2. State, provincial, and municipal employee pension plans - financing and other problems 3. Mortality and underwriting of individual policies for large amounts 4. Investing during the 1970's 5. Long-range viability and regulation of corporate pension plans 6. Forecasting the environment for business 7. Liabilities and surplus in the 1970's 8. Changing modes of family life - work and income over the life cycle 9. The role of the actuary in collective bargaining 10. Health insurance in the United States 11. Adjusted earnings

Description: The author briefly describes a hypothetical example of several unconscious biases in the workplace, drawing upon the behavioral economics work of Kahneman and Tversky. He presents data to refute the snap judgments that are all too common in human interaction.

Description: Argues public plans should only hold bonds, on the basis of tax and finance arguments.

Description: Learn more about improving the modelling of individual decisions.

Description: As the retirement system has shifted to a greater focus on defined contribution plans and personal responsibility, post-reitrement risk management has grown in importance. This report covers the study of the process of retirement.

Description: An editorial on the insurance crisis with regards to liability insurance, and the breakdown of the liability system.

Description: This presentation is a panel discussion, session 94PD, from the 2000 Annual Meeting of the Society of Actuaries, held October 15-18 in Chicago. The panelists discuss behavioral finance, which incorporates psychological phenomena into models of financial markets. Noting that behavioral finance was originally deemed controversial, the panelists look at progress made to integrate behavioral finance into models of efficient markets. The presentation includes a case study on a product in Canada commonly known as guaranteed investment fund [GIF], a segregated fund product, with risks similar to GMDB variable annuities. Behavioral finance is also discussed from the perspective of complex adaptive systems, including nonactuarial applications of these systems, some existing actuarial applications, and some potential actuarial applications. Discussion from participants is included. From the Record of Society of Actuaries, Volume 26, No. 3.

Description: Discussion of a New York Times article dealing with the arbitraging of policy loan proceeds by investing them in money market instruments whose yields were well above the policy loan interest rate.

Description: This article discusses the value of policy update programs for life insurance to reflect more current assumptions. One Update program was featured and the article shows the lapse experience of those that accepted the update and those that rejected the update confirm the value of UPDATE programs.