Description: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been our chosen metric for growth since the Great Depression, but expectations are for lower GDP growth going forward than we are accustomed to. Its two components, population and productivity, face headwinds—population from a declining birth rate and longevity, and productivity from increased climate events, energy costs, global conflict and raw materials shortages. Comparing demographic results from the U.S., China and Nigeria, representing countries with varying population growth rates, illustrates the potential economic growth issues of aging populations and high dependency ratios. The demographic challenges can be turned into opportunities to broaden prosperity; productivity can be improved by providing a level playing field and helping those in the lowest socioeconomic classes find opportunities. These topics and more will be discussed and enhance foresight about them.

Description: This is a report on the effectiveness of health and wellness programs offered by insurers and employers in the U.S. It includes sections on background, methodology, literature review, expert panel discussion, and survey responses. The report focuses on the impact of such programs on behavior, health outcomes, and costs.

Description: Gain a high-level understanding on how long-duration targeted improvement (LDTI) impacts insurance products and earnings. Explore highlights on secondary impacts to companies due to additional complexity of LDTI, such as a need for a source of earnings analysis. Then dive into the details and hear an explanation on how earnings emergence differs for each type of life and annuity product impacted by LDTI. Finally, discuss the impact -to-earnings volatility under LDTI for each product type. Close the session by connecting how the investor story changes with all the impacts discussed during the session.You should walk away with a good understanding of LDTI earnings emergence, which is a topic that has very limited thought leadership available today.

Description: There is a clear consumer need for long-term care (LTC) coverage. Combo life/LTC products sought to meet that need when stand-alone LTC coverages became more difficult and more expensive to get. Combo life/LTC are built to be more sustainable, allowing for more alignment of interests between the policyholder and insurer. However, combo life/LTC are typically on a universa life (UL) chassis with extensive secondary guarantees, and several were withdrawn from the market in the recent past because of very low interest rates. A couple of carriers have used the variable UL chassis which are still in market. Interest rates have also risen dramatically. The opportunity may be present for innovation in this area that leads to sustainable products. Join the conversation as experts in this area discuss the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in developing and marketing these products.

Description: The pension risk transfer (PRT) market has increasingly expanded to include the complexity of deferred participants who have additional options that do not exist for a retiree already receiving their benefit. Assumptions on the timing of benefit commencement and form of payment elected are highly dependent on specific pension plan provisions and the census population. These assumptions can have significant impact on the reserves and cash flows affecting not only the initial price but the future profitability of the deal and require a balance of both pension experience and annuity pricing. Learn about considerations for assumptions fit for purpose from pension actuaries working in the PRT market and who specialize in the assumption setting process for deferred lives.

Description: Speakers provide insights for adjusting historical and future mortality for COVID-19. Recent Society of Actuaries research examining historical U.S. population mortality by socioeconomic category and methodologies for removing the impact of COVID-19 from mortality rates will be presented. Additionally, results from an expert opinion survey on COVID-19 and future mortality will be discussed. Thoughts on how companies are utilizing external and internal sources to modify mortality assumptions/models for COVID-19 will be shared.

Description: The document is about the post-wildfire drinking water crisis and its implications for the insurance industry. It discusses the contamination of drinking water systems by wildfires, remediation strategies, financial considerations for the insurance industry, and potential contributions from the actuarial community.

Description: Join us for an exciting session as Actuarial Innovation & Technology Strategic Research from the SOA's Research Institute unveils two recently published research reports: ""Unveiling the Life Insurers' Actuarial Transformation Journey and the Impact of Analytics"" and ""Exploring Revolutionary Advances in Underwriting: An Initial Assessment of Epigenetics, Medical Tests, and Wearables"". In the first report, we delve into the evolving landscape of life insurers' Actuarial Transformation efforts, shedding light on their future prospects and emphasizing emerging Advanced Analytics techniques. The second report serves as the inaugural installment of a series dedicated to identifying promising innovations for underwriters and actuaries, and it promises to alert the SOA to the latest developments. During this session, our presenters will provide an insightful overview of the key findings and key takeaways from both research reports. By the end of the session, attendees will gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the invaluable research conducted in these areas.

Description: The Society of Actuaries Research Institute’s Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program is pleased to release three essays addressing the actuarial impact of mental health issues in retirement.

Description: Come discuss how to treat experience that is impacted by COVID (e.g., 2020+), as well as expected experience moving forward in terms of excess deaths related to COVID and non-COVID topics. Expect to also cover how the COVID period has impacted lapse/surrender behavior and trends in recent industry mortality and lapse studies that have been conducted including areas where individual companies typically have limited data. You will learn about various techniques of adjusting experience for the impact of COVID and the considerations in using such experience and setting a best-estimate assumption going forward. For mortality, the discussion will include both base mortality as well as future mortality improvement and the intersection of both of these.Explore an understanding of available data to supplement their experience in areas where they may have limited internal experience