Description: Actuarial science is at a cross roads. Many are urging that our highly successful examination process be partially abandoned in favour of accepting university courses in a number of basic subjects. This drive is based in part on the difficulties in supporting the present system, the experience elsewhere and a misplaced confidence in the quality of the university system. This paper explores where the university system is and where it needs to go in order to adequately serve the interests of the actuarial community.

Description: In today's atmosphere, the high returns available on bonds have attracted much investor interest, and it is only natural that fixed income investors look for ways to assure the maintenance of high returns on their bond portfolios. This paper explains how bond immunization offers that potential.

Description: This paper investigates salary functions as they are used in the valuation of pension plans. Pension actuaries may find many of the ideas in this article useful. Moreover, the paper may be interesting to researchers in actuarial science. The main conclusion of this paper is that salary functions, as derived from the parametric models, yield gains and losses that can be quite small and, in some cases, less variable than non-parametric methods. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1998, Vol. 1.

Description: This paper is a report on research for undergraduate experience grants held for 8 weeks under the direction of Cecil Nesbitt. The topic of the research was Social Security Financing and Related Matters. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1993, VOL. 1.

Description: The paper presents arguments to show that a fully funded social security scheme is no more secure economically than a pay as you go scheme....that is, for real retirement income security the funding mechanism is irrelevant. From Actuarial Research Clearing House, January 1996, VOL. 1.

Description: Continuing change pervades the actuarial world. Actuarial tools and techniques are constantly evolving, new financial products and services appear regularly, legislation and regulation rarely remain unchanged for long, consumers are becoming better informed and more sophisticated, the financial environment is becoming increasingly global, distinctions between types of financial institution are becoming more blurred, and the areas in which actuaries find applications for their skills become more varied. In this context, the most important attribute for actuaries is the capacity to adapt. This paper considers some implications for university actuarial programs of the need to develop adaptive actuaries. It discusses the results of a survey of the preferred learning styles of Macquarie University actuarial students, examines the newly introduced Australian actuarial subject called 'The Actuarial Control Cycle,' and looks at the use of portfolios of student work. It concludes that in order to develop adaptive actuaries for the 21st century, actuarial programs must broaden the range and type of teaching/learning activities and assessment methods provided for students.

Description: This is a presentation of the restructuring of the SoA Research Department. From the Actuarial Research Clearing House 1995 VOL. 1.

Description: On July 1 1997, a new privatized but compulsory retirement system came into effect in Mexico. The new system has a complex web of contributions by employers, employees and by the government. The retirement funds also have a complex web of charges applied to the funds. This paper carefully analyzes these complex cases to find out which funds perform the best. It shows through simulations that the optimal strategy for individual retirement account holder is not to stay with one fund throughout the working life. Instead, the best option is to switch at some point. The switching point depends on a number of factors: 1. the wage rate of the workers [and also on the growth rate of wages], 2. the real interest rate, and 3. the inflation rate. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1999, Vol. 1.

Description: This paper examines the Federal Housing Administration's [FHA] historical termination data on individual single family mortgages. These FHA data can be used to help understand recent past experience as well as to forecast future experience.

Description: This is the abstract of a paper that summarizes of the curriculum and other features of the university actuarial science programs in North America. The report, includes most schools listed by the SOA as offering actuarial science courses including substantially all of the Course 150 material. This summary was prepared by the author for the SOA Career Encouragement Committee and is being presented at this Actuarial Research Conference to share the information with faculty involved with actuarial education in North America. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1996, Vol. 1.