Description: In setting future mortality assumptions for pricing, the actuary needs to consider not only recent results and recent annualized mortality improvements, but also must look at the possible impact of possible shocks epidemics, wars, etc.

Description: this article discusses actuarial audits

Description: This article is a book review of “Medical Risks: Patterns of Mortality and Survival,” by Richard B. Singer, MD, and Louis Levenson, FSA. The author of this review notes “monumental is an adjective one hears in reference to this book and it certainly seems apt both in regard to the tremendous amount of work in its preparation and, more importantly, its value to those to whom it is directed. The book contains a mine of information in the form of mortality indices relating to a large number of risk factors, mainly specific diseases, abnormal physical findings, or abnormal findings on medical tests.”

Description: Summary of the Internal Revenue Service study on demographic and financial characteristics of the top wealthholders of the United States and a review of Metropolitan Life's mortality exerience for this group.

Description: This article summarizes the 1967 Surgeon General’s report on the health consequences of smoking.

Description: This paper is from Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1955 Volume 7, Number 17. The author notes that in mortality studies the ‘natural’ unit for exposures and deaths is number of lives, but often more insight is gained by use of other weights, such as face amount. In this paper, the author develops a method which, ‘by a combination of exposed to risk formulas, provides a comparatively simple procedure to permit consideration of weights which vary during the observation period.’

Description: This article announces the publication of Phase II of Factors Affecting Retirement Mortality FARM by Victor Modugno. This article also provides a brief summary of the publication and its availability. From Pension Section News, March 2004, Issue No. 54.

Description: Column highlighting the upcoming release for RP2014/MP-2014, rationale for new scales including two-dimensional mortality projection techniques and upcoming SOA educational opportunities on these topics.

Description: Brief summary of the Canadian Assured Lives Table, 1958-1964.

Description: This article reviews the various functions and current activities of the The Society's Committee on Mortality under Ordinary Insurances and Annuities and summarizes the latest mortality experience study.