Description: This article is written in response to the article that appeared in the February/March issue of The Actuary entitled Better Standards for Setting Standards written by Dave Kass. It discusses the process itself, the time it takes to develop or change standards and how quickly new ideas should be incorporated in the standards.

Description: This author makes a few suggestions for how the ASB can improve the way it defines and sets standards of practice in light of the challenges actuaries face today. The author believes that ASOP's hould be promulgated by the ASB ony after a thorough process that goes beyond codifying existing practices.

Description: This article explains the Society of Actuaries' views on mandatory continuing education.

Description: This article from The Actuary, November 1996, Volume 30, No. 9 discusses the value of the actuary. What is our value to our publics? Is it in sheepishly agreeing with statutory impositions -pension plans are a social good that should have favored status as long as they pay their fair share - or is it in sticking to, then clarifying and explaining, our principles regardless of the penalties? Our corporate agreement with the notion that there are “individually realistic actuarial assumptions.”

Description: This article from The Actuary, April 1971, volume 5, Issue 4 is about a pension section meeting. The moderator opened the meeting by laying down some general principles. Using market value instead of book, accounting for unrealized gains, taking cognizance of different cash flows, objectives, constraints on the manager, and other characteristics of the funds to be compared-all met with general acceptance, in this audience at least.

Description: Discusses the tarnished image of pension actuaries in Washington and the importance of good standards of practice and strong enforcement to ensure that actuaries maintain their public credibility.

Description: The SOA president emphasizes the importance of actuaries maintaining their level of professionalism by always striving to inform and prepare the decision maker with all the possibilities, not just the quick answers or the minimum level of disclosure.

Description: This article is about the challenging role of the actuary in business and how Canada's resolution to this challenge can benefit the profession as a whole.

Description: This article from The Actuary, April 1971, volume 5, Issue 4 talks about an exposure draft. The Exposure Draft of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants on Audits of Life Insurance Companies has not apparently had among actuaries the wide circulation it deserves, judging by the relatively few responses to Robert Winters letter in the February issue of The Actuary. This is a most important document because it affects not only the accounting practices of life insurance companies but also the status of the actuarial profession.

Description: In this increasingly global economy, actuaries frequently find themselves in situations involving cross-border practice. This is particularly true for U.S. and Canadian actuaries. This article is about recent agreements and discussions among the U.S. actuarial organizations and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries [CIA] that clarify how the various actuarial standards apply to cross-border activities.