Description: 2020 and 2021 presented numerous challenges to life and annuity product development actuaries. External forces required carriers to rethink underwriting requirements and risk assessment in real time. Alterations in regulatory frameworks and statutory requirements forced changes to product development priorities while alterationsin the work environment forced changes in how work routines were structured. This session will bring together a group of life and annuity stakeholders to discuss how they addressed these and other challenges, and how their work will be impacted going forward.

Description: The SOA Investment Section is holding a three-part Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Investment Considerations Webcast Series in September and October, which will cover the challenges and implementation. This series is suited for actuaries, consultants, plan sponsors and asset managers that work with insurance companies or pension funds and want to learn more about the latest in ESG. The increasing focus on climate change and recent social movements witnessed globally brought many institutional investors to further think about and perhaps reevaluate, the way they integrate ESG factors into their investment decisions. This new reality raises many questions: what's next for ESG in the institutional space? What will be the challenges? How will institutional investors go beyond the basics? What are current and future ESG needs and who will meet them? This will be the first of three educational sessions aimed at taking the conversation on ESG integration to the next level. During this webcast, you will hear from a panel of various types of asset owners who will share their perspectives, challenges and learnings in the journey to implementing their ESG views, including in the context of a pandemic. The discussion will start broadly, and narrow down to some of the most pressing topics today with the focus on climate change resilience and adaptation of assets.