Description: The Life Meeting, is the result of combining the Life & Annuity Symposium (LAS) and the Valuation Actuarial Symposium (ValAct). The Life Meeting will offer sessions specific to pricing and valuation as well as sessions on emerging issues relevant to both groups. These common themes include InsurTech, diversity, accounting change and the current economic environment.

Description: Many countries have suffered the ups and downs of the COVID-19pandemic, and Mexico is no exception. Even worse, in contrast withEuropean countries that saw numbers dip during the summer of2020, Mexico did not. A first peak was reached at the end of July2020, then a slight decrease in the following two months. SinceOctober, Mexico has experienced the worst increasing trend of thewhole epidemic. In this article, Arturo Erdely, a professor of actuarialscience, explains this increase.

Description: Essay stating accessibility, affordability and efficiency are the key to success in the future of healthcare.

Description: The SOA Research Institute along with the Corporate Finance & Enterprise Risk Management Curriculum Committee, Financial Reporting Section, and Individual Life & Annuity Curriculum Committee are pleased to make available a research report that aids students and practitioners with their understanding of the rating agencies as they affect the insurance industry.

Description: While the major market crash subsequent to the widespread contagion of the COVID-19 virus was readily predictable, the rapid recovery and ongoing growth subsequent to it was not. Market dynamics around the recovery resist characterization by most traditional analytical approaches. In examining the circumstances around the emergence of a large retail class of investors, one sees that ingrained human tendencies, particularly optimism bias, have fueled much investor behavior responsible for the recovery. Understanding this makes it possible to predict potential future crashes and develop behavioral interventions for subsequent market recoveries.

Description: This report is a brief summary of a symposium held in Sweden in March 1972, initiated and sponsored by the Swedish insurance companies which discusses the side effects of the development of modern chemical industry and the exposure of living organisms to a variety of chemicals in the environment. The danger of the long term effects on health are addressed.

Description: Many retirement actuaries have experience developing, implementing, and monitoring Liability Driven Investing (LDI) strategies for plan sponsors. These strategies typically involve modifying a plan’s investment strategy to remove a significant portion of the investment and interest rate risk now or at some point in the future when specific triggers are met. The tactics often involve the use of fixed income assets to cash flow and/or duration match the liabilities. In the spirit of helping actuaries expand their roles in an evolving defined contribution world, this article explores the application of LDI and derisking strategies within defined contribution and individual retirement accounts. The economic theory behind this approach is called the lifecycle hypothesis, or lifecycle finance. The benefits of the lifecycle finance method are that it provides a safe approach to save for retirement and a secure source of floor income during retirement. Similar to pension plans, each individual has his or her own idiosyncratic needs, wants, and risks that should be considered. Actuaries are uniquely situated to help defined contribution plan sponsors, individuals, and even themselves implement the lifecycle finance approach by developing and distributing tools and methods that focus on income (rather than wealth), LDI strategies, and personalization.

Description: Re/insurance rates have been increasing since 2018, although pricing momentum has decelerated recently. Insurers and reinsurers are working to enhance profitability and improve the value proposition for clients in an environment of uncertainty about natural catastrophes, COVID-19-related losses, and social inflation, among other factors. This article describes drivers of the current underwriting cycle, compares it with past cycles, and provides considerations for the future.

Description: This session from the 1995 SOA Boston Meeting presents a political version of risk assessment and risk analysis. The presenter looks at the politics and the political economy in place, some of the trends, parallels and potential problems. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 21, No. 4a.

Description: Appendix F is round 1 future developments from the Delphi report. Please see the SOA website Research section for the full Delphi Study of Economic Variables Report along with all of the appendices.