Description: The author, noting the inadequacy of traditional ‘rules of thumb’ used for profit objectives, demonstrates that, assuming a stock life insurance company’s objective is to maximize its current value, the profit objective can be expressed as maximizing ‘the present value of book profits per unit of limiting constraint.’ Includes discussion and author’s review of discussion. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1983 Volume 35.

Description: The objective of this paper is to demonstrate that the long-term trends in the rate of company expansion affect policyholder costs and estimate the amount of the impact. Followed by several discussion papers submitted

Description: This paper outlines a framework for managing life insurance company surplus. This framework can be used to assess capital investments, control the amount of capital used, monitor return on capital, and take actions when results deviate. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1986, Vol. 38.

Description: In this paper the author develops techniques for measuring GAAP return on total capital by line of business, where total capital includes “benchmark surplus,” the amount of statutory surplus set aside, in addition to reserves, to support in-force business. The author also shows how GAAP returns relate to the internal rate of return the actuary may have calculated to describe expected profitability on a statutory basis. Includes discussion and author’s review of discussion. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1982 Volume 34.

Description: This discussion looks at principles which should govern the determination of the respective proportions of earnings to be allocated to policyholders and stockholders, the level of contingency reserves and surplus which should be maintained, and looks at the extent to which the mandatory Security Valuation Reserve should affect the level of unassigned surplus.