Description: This is a digest of three separate isues: First, discussion examines social security in the United States and recent developments shaping its future. Second topic, Fourth Pacific Insurance Conference for countries of the Pacific rim and Third, current legislative developments. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1969, Vol. 21, Pt. 2. No. 59 AB.

Description: JAMES L. COWEN’S figures in this issue, juxtaposed with a tabulation of present Fellows furnished by the Society office, permit constructing-for the first time, we believe-an abridged survival table recognizing the major decrement death from our professional ranks as well as the consistently minor one withdrawals. In the past ten years, net losses by Fellowships being dropped were only 25 out of 32,000 exposed. From The Actuary VOL. 16, No. 7

Description: This paper undertakes to give dossiers of essentially all the actuaries who entered the profession in Canada or the United States up to about 1872. It includes those who died or left the profession before the Actuarial Society of America was formed in April 1889, and those who, in due course, became Fellows of that Society when or after it came into being. The paper also mentions some of the conditions under which the Actuarial Society was organized, and suggests that a yet fuller story of how the actuarial pioneers coped with circumstances and events of more than a century ago would be a desirable record to document. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1984, Vol. 36.

Description: Affiliate Memberships aren’t new to the Institute of Actuaries, but they are rare. Only 16 such members are listed in its current Year Book of these, however, 6 are in the United States. These actuaries have had “the same rights and privileges as Honorary Members.”

Description: Discusses a speech by the Duke given at the Institute of Actuaries Twenty-Fourth Biennial Dinner on the Motor Car.

Description: This article is a summary of Darrell Laird's paper in T.A.S.A. 50, The Revenue of the Period of Account and Its Relation To Premiums, Valuation and Dividents. Mr. Laird saw 3 problems, 1 finding a comprehensive way to measure a life company's real performance, 2 displaying sale and administrative expenses revealingly to management and 3 distributing surplus equitably among holders of individual policies.

Description: This discussion at the SOA 1968 Philadephia and Los Angeles Regional Meetings covers premiuims and dividend determination methods for individual ordinary insurance, new product ideas such as nonsmoker policies, profit analysis methodologies, and methods for comparing products of different companies.

Description: This report presents a new set of select and ultimate expected individual life insurance lapse tables, based on inter-company experience of standard ordinary business between 1971-1972 policy anniversaries. Discussion includes overview of how the data was collected and how the tables were constructed and how they should be applied in practice.

Description: This article is a book review of 'Adventures and Misadventures in the Stock Market' by retired actuary, James G. Bruce, who talks about his personal finances. Asked by the reviewer why he believes that actuaries might appreciate his book, Mr. Bruce mentions that actuaries have curiosity about how people, especially fellow actuaries, reason, act and react that they may relish judging how wise or foolish he’s been and that comparisons of his views with those of others may prove useful.

Description: This article pays homage to the outgoing Editor of The Actuary, Andrew C. Webster.