Description: Discusses MG-ALFA development team's transition to an Agile software-development process.

Description: This article discusses the shortfalls present in most retirement planning software. Some of these come from the design of the software and some from unsophisticated use of it. In any case, the resources needed for retirement are often understated.

Description: End-User Computing (EUC) applications (such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, and others) provide a great benefit by allowing users to directly manage, control, and manipulate data. Unlike SAP, Oracle, and other Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications that facilitate the automated and integrated flow of transactions and data, EUCs are neither ponderous nor difficult to modify. In fact, EUCs allow businesses and users to quickly deploy solutions in response to shifting market and economic conditions, industry changes, or evolving regulations. They can also help plug functionality gaps for ERP systems. Alas, those same elements that make EUCs so appealing (and vital in providing timely information) can also make them challenging to manage and control effectively.

Description: This column discusses the use and management of data withn the computer language R.

Description: Machine learning models have many practical applications in the world of insurance. These applications are well documented and most actuaries, at least at a high level, are familiar with these concepts. The presenters will take this one step further and provide an introduction to the theoretical formulas and real-world considerations that make machine learning models possible.

Description: This article reviews the database program, MS Access, as a solution to actuaries in small companies to access information themselves rather than relying on information system personnel. The article describes how to set up the process and also uses of the information.

Description: Discusses creating a user-friendly [and bullet-proof] spreadsheet.

Description: Actuarial systems access and change controls are hot topics these days as modeling continues to increase in complexity and as new modeling regulations may begin to crest over the horizon. Many companies are currently in the process of either formalizing their actuarial system access and change control protocols, or are reevaluating and strengthening their existing control processes in response to identified deficiencies or in conjunction with new actuarial system implementations. With these undertakings in mind, this article discusses a number of valuable components commonly incorporated in formal systems access and change control protocols. Also discussed are leading practices identified in the SOA publication “Actuarial Modeling Controls: A Survey of Actuarial Modeling Controls in the Context of a Model-Based Valuation Framework (December 2012)”, and from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

Description: This is a short story on the retirement income calculator.

Description: This article describes how to model variable annuities using a GPU along with some of the stumbling blocks.