Description: The author encourages actuaries to provide more disclosure and better communication about their work to eliminate the perception of the black box.

Description: Discusses the Society of Actuaries Committee on Planning efforts to review the SOA's Mission Statement in light of current trends and possible future policy initiatives.

Description: This article discusses actuarial support for an international accounting regime designed to meet the dual objectives of: • Generating a realistic view of operations focusing on expected future cash flows, reflecting the duty of management to add value for shareholders and to protect the interests of policyholders. • Demonstrating the adequacy of supporting capital to cover the risks associated with the business. From: The Actuary, January 2000, volume 34, issue 1.

Description: The Financial Accounting Standards Board FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board IASB issued “The Norwalk Agreement” in October 2002, a memorandum of understanding that reaffirmed their commitment to develop a single set of high quality accounting standards. At that meeting the two standard setters agreed to place a high priority on three steps toward achieving that goal.

Description: Highlights from a 2014 Living to 100 Symposium panel presentation of leading social security actuaries from Canada, the U.K. and the United States with panel members Jean-Claude Ménard, chief actuary of the Canada Pension Plan; Adrian Gallop, of the insurance and social security area of the Government Actuary’s Department in the U.K.; and Steve Goss, chief actuary of the U.S. Social Security Administration.

Description: Arguably, many of the fundamental contributing factors to the 2008 mortgage crisis involved misdirected incentives and misinformation available to key participants in the housing finance process. The incentives discussed here include those of the mortgage holders, mortgage intermediaries, mortgage providers, securitizers, raters and CEOs and other highly paid staff of those involved. Unless similar incentives are recognized, future public policy decisions will again fail to avoid this system-wide risk. Since I am most familiar with the U.S. situation, my comments will be limited accordingly.

Description: This session discussion is about the role of data analysis in decision making, HIAA surveys, National Center for Health Statistics [surveys on Ambulatory Medical Care, Hospital Discharge and Nursing Homes], and SOA experience data collection efforts. From Record of the Society of Actuaries Vol. 15, No. 1.

Description: Papers: When Danes have only 15 years to live: Implications of linking retirement age with life expectancy – Jesus-Adrian Alvarez, Malene Kallestrup-Lamb, Ph.D., Søren Kjærgaard, James W. Vaupel, Ph.D. - University of Southern Denmark A Study into the Impact of Pre-Programed Genetic Health Risks in Retirement Planning – N.V. Subramanyan, Prudential Assurance Company Limited, Singapore

Description: This paper presents recent trends in obesity prevalence in significant population segments, including overall effects by age, gender and certain racial and ethnic groups, and discusses the ways in which obesity can influence mortality in each of these segments. It provides a synthesis of reported mortality experience relating to these behaviors by risk factors and diseases that will affect any mortality projection.

Description: This paper describes a modified development method for analyzing claims experience and calculating claim reserves and liabilities on short-term health insurance benefits. It identifies many of the influences on claim development and discusses various ways to recognize them. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1989, Vol. 41.