Description: To understand the relationship between lifestyle behaviors and mortality, RGA investigated a national, health-related, mortality-linked data set provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). RGA Strategic Research Actuary Julianne Callaway discusses the company's findings.

Description: Recently the interest rates have been slowly trending up from the lowest point in August 2020. The focus of this article is on current market trends for long-duration products —including life insurance, annuities, and long-term care insurance —following an extended period of low interest rates, and lessons carriers can learn from similar historical periods of rising interest rates. Innovative and flexible product features will continue to be essential, as the current interest trend may not substantially increase insurers’ portfolio rates. When designing or modifying product features, insurers should consider profitability in a wide breadth of interest rate scenarios and be particularly mindful of the impact that crediting rates and asset durations will have on earnings.

Description: Milliman was engaged by the SOA to conduct two Accelerated Underwriting (AU) surveys, one of direct companies and another of reinsurers. The surveys explored actual results from 2019–2021 and expected results from 2022.

Description: The article summarizes results of a Milliman survey per the title. These products comprise about 40% of the total individual life market, and the survey covers a range of topics on these plans, which should be of interest to a large portion of the life industry.

Description: Mental health, suppoting policyholders

Description: In this article we provide a market overview of these three living benefit riders, discuss key product development and pricing considerations, explore the advantages of offering many living benefit riders on a single life insurance policy, and review considerations when filing these products for review and approval for entering the market.

Description: The article summarizes 2013 survey results of company assumptions for term products in the post-level period. The focus is on product design, shock lapse assumptions, and mortality deterioration assumptions. This article features highlights from the larger SOA-sponsored research project on this topic published in 2013 that compiled end-of-2012 assumption data from 41 companies. This content may prove useful to product development actuaries as they consider their current post-level term assumptions.

Description: Mandatory implementation of life principle-based reserves (PBR) is just around the corner and there is no shortage of work to do, as most products have yet to be moved to PBR. Oliver Wyman recently completed its 2019 PBR survey, with more than 40 participants covering 85 percent of the individual life market, including 23 of the top 25 life writers and five reinsurers. This article will expand on the key survey findings, including implementation trends, analysis to date and recent discussions and decisions on the treatment of non-guaranteed reinsurance.

Description: Mandatory implementation of life principle-based reserves (PBR) is just around the corner and there is no shortage of work to do, as most products have yet to be moved to PBR. Oliver Wyman recently completed its 2019 PBR survey, with more than 40 participants covering 85 percent of the individual life market, including 23 of the top 25 life writers and five reinsurers. This article will expand on the key survey findings, including implementation trends, analysis to date, model robustness and common simplifications.

Description: Mandatory implementation of life principle-based reserves (PBR) is just around the corner, and there is no shortage of work to do, as most products have yet to be moved to PBR. Oliver Wyman recently completed its 2019 PBR survey, with more than 40 participants covering 85 percent of the individual life market, including 23 of the top 25 life writers and five reinsurers. This article will expand on the key survey findings including implementation status and model simplifications.