Description: For over a decade, life insurers have been challenged by a low interest rate environment, making it difficult to find investments with adequate yield, manage corporate spreads, and offer competitive products to consumers. While interest rates are still low compared to the early 2000’s, volatility in rates over the past year, during which the 10-year U.S. Treasury rate has increased by nearly 100 basis points, could indicate a longer-term trend of rising rates. What would a rising rate environment imply for life insurance writers? Insurers able to react to interest rate changes with agility can remain relevant in an evolving economy, protecting themselves and their policyholders. This article addresses risks and considerations faced by insurers with respect to in-force retention, pricing and product mix, and reinsurance and mergers & acquisitions.

Description: Evan and Brad interview Larry Moews, Chief Actuary and Risk Officer of SCOR. The discussion focuses on Larry's insights and experiences in Risk Management.

Description: Departing chairman’s column recapping past accomplishments and describing future section initiatives.

Description: Gene therapy is a quickly evolving field and will continue to grow as a risk concern for many health plans, stop loss insurers and reinsurers. Currently, there are only two approved gene therapies in the U.S., but that number is expected to escalate starting in the fall of 2022. Revisit the experience plans have had with the first two gene therapies, discuss plan design and network considerations in light of gene therapy, and discuss the actual composition of the near-term pipeline along with a range of modeled financial impacts and considerations for payers.

Description: 2004 SOA Annual Meeting and Exhibit, New York. The panelists addressed fixed annuity regulatory issues with emphasis on the annuity nonforfeiture law, current trends and product design, and how reinsurance can address the conflicting issues of competitiveness and profitability.

Description: The U.S. life insurance industry has been increasing its exposure to complex assets, either directly as investors or via offshore reinsurance (e.g., Bermuda). In order to address regulatory concerns about such investments and reinsurance arrangements, the NAIC has begun multiple initiatives to improve disclosure and strengthen regulatory requirements, and the Bermuda Monetary Authority is also strengthening its requirements. Hear a summary of these initiatives, and get an update on the latest developments at the NAIC and at the Academy on these topics.

Description: I.R.C. § 4371 imposes an excise tax on policies issued by foreign insurers or reinsurers covering U.S. risks. The application of the tax to funds withheld reinsurance can raise difficult questions. The IRS’s position is that an accrual concept applies, although that position is questionable. Taxpayers that instead determine the excise tax by looking only to actual payments made by the ceding company to the reinsurer or to the net amount of the ceded premiums after adjusting for the allowance paid by the reinsurer have a variety of arguments to support their position. The language of the premium excise tax, the regulations thereunder, the legislative history of the provision, and the very nature of an excise tax all support the position that the tax applies only when there is an actual payment. Other Code provisions that use similar language as well as the Supreme Court also support this view.

Description: A tremendous amount of work goes into each issue of the Reinsurance News. At this year’s SOA Spring Meeting in New Orleans, we spent some time reviewing the strategy for the newsletters, both print and electronic, and identifying topic areas that would be of interest to section members. The section publishes an electronic newsletter, Re-News! on a timely basis as events or news items need to be distributed. The print newsletter will continue to be distributed twice a year.

Description: Back by popular demand, it is that time of year for this well-liked annual webcast. Get ready to hear from three expert speakers, who will be covering the latest considerations for the year's U.S. statutory financial reporting work. 2021 has proven to have been quite remarkable, providing many important topics to be discussed.

Description: “Getting to Woe Some” is a thought-provoking title for Rick Flaspöhler’s recent presentation to the ACLI Reinsurance Executive Round Table in March 2005. Flaspöhler presented the high-level findings of the biennial reinsurance survey, and in his words this industry has gone from “bad to worse.” The reinsurance industry now finds itself in a unique and difficult situation that will require dramatic steps to improve things going forward.