Description: Estimates and analyzes current growth of premium, reserves and lives for long term care insurance. Interested in distribution of reserves by active versus inactive players as well as reinsurance of long term care reinsurance.

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: 2015 Design Accounting Exam Syllabus U.S.

Description: 2015 Design Accounting Exam Syllabus Canada

Description: 2015 Quantitative Finance and Investment Core Exam Syllabus

Description: Excel tips for actuaries

Description: Brief introduction to the various software and technologies that the 21st century actuary is exposed to and should be familiar with. Future technological challenges and innovations that an actuary should be prepared to face.

Description: The Committee on Finance Research is pleased to make available a research report that models cash flow risks and empirically analyzes cash flow risk management of insurance firms under a dynamic factor modeling framework. The report was authored by Patricia Born, Hong-Jen Lin, and Min-Ming Wen.

Description: Fourth installment in an ongoing series of articles adapted from Michael Carroll's "Awake at Work", applying Buddhist principles to the challenges faced by actuaries. This installment examines the often chaotic work circumstances faced by actuaries and encourages the reader to see such situations as opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Description: Partnership Opportunities are a means to address needs within the organization. The SOA is looking to partner with organizations/individuals that are leading-edge, distinctive, innovative, and add something fresh and dynamic to our curriculum plan. These partnerships should raise our visibility collectively and contribute to the development of our members.

Description: As part of its work, the PBITT Working Group issued its eighth survey to gather the range of assumptions actuaries use in pricing, reserving, and risk management of minimum guarantees on Variable Annuity products, such as death benefits, income benefits, withdrawal benefits and maturity benefits.

Description: Chairperson's corner October 2014 Health Watch

Description: Complete issue of the October 2014 Health Watch Newsletter

Description: The article compares the financial features between Medicare Part D and the ACA exchanges. As highligted in the article, while the two programs share many similar features, the programs still have many different characteristics that make simple comparisons among the programs and their ultimate financial performance not appropriate.

Description: Comments on session 1A presentations

Description: Taxation Section Supplement for the October 2014 newsletter.

Description: As part of its work, the PBITT Working Group issued its eighth survey to gather the range of assumptions actuaries use in pricing, reserving, and risk management of minimum guarantees on Variable Annuity products, such as death benefits, income benefits, withdrawal benefits and maturity benefits.

Description: E-book contains 16 topical essays that express the opinions and thoughts of a number of authors on the subject of Investment Fallacies.

Description: Investment Fallacies: Mathematical modeling of social phenomena

Description: Investment Fallacies: The Myth of Time Diversification

Description: The objectives of this paper include an assessment of the basis of volatility of experience and financial results, considering the risks and uncertainties associated with long-term policies, especially LTCi. In so doing, it is observed that a properly determined provision for risk and uncertainty is needed in premiums and reserves. It then describes the approaches that can be taken to quantify such a provision in new and re-rated LTCi. The paper discusses possible mitigation approaches that have and should be taken, especially but not limited to the use of policy design features to enhance the alignment of interests of the LTC insurer and its policyholders. It also explores the relationship between historical and expected future risks and uncertainties specific to LTCi. It concludes by pointing out the pervasiveness of the uncertainties involved, the earlier underestimation of the uncertainties involved, although the actual degree of uncertainty may have decreased over time as relevant experience has been obtained. Effective management of LTCi demands incorporation of mitigation approaches in its product design and continuous monitoring of relevant experience.

Description: 2014 Fall ERM Case Study

Description: This paper develops a conceptually rigorous formulation of the cost of capital method for estimating margins for mortality, lapse, expense and other forms of underwriting risk.

Description: 2014 QFI formula package

Description: Small Talk September Issue

Description: Regulatory Update, First Six Months 2014

Description: The purpose of this research is to a) identify regulatory structures and influences in North America, b) provide examples that illustrate regulatory risk, and c) suggest mitigation ideas for both insurers and their regulators. The audiences for this paper are a) actuaries who must price policies, value policies, or manage capital, b) other insurance professionals who deal with operational risk, strategic risk, and capital planning, and c) regulators who protect the interests of policyholders and address the solvency of insurers.

Description: Describes why, contrary to common opinion among financial economists, investments may be less risky for a longer time horizon. Describes where the assumptions underlying Paul Samuelsons assertion may not apply

Description: Describes qualitative relationships among market factors that should be addressed in a successful "real world" calibration of a stochastic investment scenario set.

Description: recap of the 14th Annual Intercompany Long-Term Care Insurance (ILTCI) Conference.

Description: SOA executive director’s column, research on Asia insurance opportunities, e-courses, recent research and experience studies, and professional development opportunities.

Description: The author delves into other important parts that should be in the scope of model validation besides the code.

Description: French language version of Risk Management, August 2014 newsletter.

Description: Recently completed experience and research studies from the SOA.

Description: Complete issue of the August 2014 Risk Management newsletter.

Description: The August/September 2014 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: In this article, the authors discuss “tail events,” market dislocations deemed a priori, to be statistically improbable.

Description: August 2014 edition of Long-term care newsletter

Description: This article discusses the concept of All models are wrong but some are useful.

Description: Highlights of the 2013 initiatives and accomplishments of the Society of Actuaries.

Description: View the spring 2014 Retirement Benefits: Retirement Plan Investment and Risk Management Exam syllabus.

Description: General overview of course content

Description: The June 2014 issue of the Financial Reporting Section’s newsletter, The Financial Reporter.

Description: Article discussing the risk focused exam approach incorporated in the Financial Condition Examiners Handbook.

Description: View the fall 2014 Enterprise Risk Management Introductory study note.

Description: Download the Introductory study note for Exam Foundations of Corporate Finance and ERM.

Description: In this article the editor previews the issue.

Description: An update from the ACLI staff to keep readers informed about the organization's work on tax issues affecting the life insurance industry.

Description: This report is a summary based on current actuarial practices around the development and use of policyholder behavior assumptions including the use of dynamic modeling approaches. The research team surveyed and evaluated current practices in the industry; and highlighted current thinking on modeling human behaviors outside the life insurance industry. This project was sponsored by the SOA’s Financial Reporting Section and the Committee on Life Insurance Research.

Description: This report is a summary based on current actuarial practices around the development and use of policyholder behavior assumptions including the use of dynamic modeling approaches. The research team surveyed and evaluated current practices in the industry; and highlighted current thinking on modeling human behaviors outside the life insurance industry. This project was sponsored by the SOA’s Financial Reporting Section and the Committee on Life Insurance Research.

Description: View the May 2014 Issue 2 Volume 10 of the Taxation Times

Description: Congress once again turns to defined benefit pension plans as a misguided source for financing programs that have nothing to do with retirement.

Description: The article describes a dynamic investment strategy for defined benefit pension funds to de-risk the plan by changing the asset mix based on the funded ratio.

Description: The editorial cautions that while the development of more sophisticated models may increase efficiency, it is important to consider the very real risk management costs associated with the increased complexity, efficiency and overconfidence in the predictive power of models.

Description: This research report analyzes the risk associated with the use of models through the potential for model error.

Description: Complete issue of the March 2014 Small Talk newsletter.

Description: Research is a primary mission of the Financial Reporting Section and is the largest use of section dues. This scorecard will keep section members informed about research projects sponsored or co-sponsored by the section.

Description: Read the complete issue of the March 2014 "The Financial Reporter" newsletter.

Description: Reinsurance News, Reinsurance Section, Issue 78, March 2014

Description: Full issue of Risk Management, March 2014

Description: This article discusses the details of what happened in equity repo in 2013.

Description: Interview with Michael DeKoning, CEO of Munich American Reinsurance Company

Description: The article summarizes recent regulatory discussions of interest to small insurance companies, primarily related to issues discussed at the NAIC.

Description: The Society of Actuaries Financial Reporting Section is pleased to make available a new report examining the International Standards Board’s (IASB) Re-Exposure draft, Insurance Contracts, issued in June 2013. Performed by Rodrigo Careaga, Tara Hansen, Asad Khalid, and Bruce Rosner of Ernst & Young LLP, this study illustrates differences in earnings emergence for new business projections between current US GAAP and the proposed standard for a sample of 12 products. Additionally, it shows the impact on earnings emergence of various sensitivity tests.