Description: Businesses across the board have been drastically impacted by the effects of COVID-19 over the course of 2020, and insurance was not immune. Perhaps most relevant to this industry’s current capital and liquidity concern is the prevailing low interest rate environment. This has been a global trend in the last decade, and treasury rates in much of the developed world are at or near zero. Reduced investment returns limit an insurer’s ability to achieve their desired return on equity, eliminating previously profitable strategies that depended on the leverage of life and annuity balance sheets. Focus and activity have instead shifted to other methods to counteract the low interest rate markets and accompanying capital strain. Examples include increased mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity within the insurance industry and an increasing focus by private equity firms in the insurance market for asset-intensive products, both of which reflect the goal of increasing yield rates on capital.

Description: Describes how the mantra of 'tax cuts will pay for themselves" along with the political unwillingness to cut spending (extant since the 1980s), has led to this increasing debt problem in the U.S., reaching $17 trillion at time of writing. Other countries are behaving in a similar fashion, and it can be only a matter of time before the globe may reach another crisis, this time based on excessive government debt coupled with fewer interested investors.

Description: The Federal funds rate increased by 4.25% in 2022 with further increases in 2023, which have already resulted in a liquidity crisis for a few banks. As the rapid increase of the interest rates pushed the new money rates above the yields of many life insurers’ investment portfolios, insurance companies are facing a dilemma between compressed margins from peer pressure and the concern with liquidity shortfalls and realized capital losses should mass surrenders happen. This paper discussed main emerging risks under rising interest rate environment, and several ways to mitigate these risks.

Description: The September 2014 Issue of the Financial Reporting Section's newsletter, The Financial Reporter

Description: This paper, chapter VI of the 1987 Valuation Actuary Handbook, discusses a framework for the valuation of reserves and surplus in statutory financial statements, first providing a detailed section of definitions to clarify to clarify the terms used in the paper. The “new” environment of volatile interest rates is discussed, and the mathematics underlying ruin probabilities, and combinations of risks. Procedures for different products with different types of risks are discussed. Other topics include coordination of investment policy and product policy, aggregate reserves and surplus needed, use of simplifications, financial planning, and reinsurance.

Description: The article focuses on the need to develop a strategy for investing surplus resulting from the buildup of significant excess capital. The author discusses three principles on which a company can base its surplus investment strategy, including the risk/return preference of the client, attribution of surplus to the products and an investment strategy based on all company risks.

Description: Quarterly update on regulatory trends of interest to financial reporting actuaries.

Description: A discussion of life insurance securitizations and how they can be structured to provide surplus relief associated with onerous reserve requirements.

Description: Explains the more granular breakout of bond RBC factors proposed to the NAIC. Evaluates alternative asset allocation choices for insurers under the new rules.

Description: This article focuses on the motivation and trends, rather than mechanics, in Life Insurance Securitization.