Description: Panel session exploring a variety of issues connected to long-term disability reserve buyouts, including: · Advantages and risks for buyers and sellers · Use of appropriate reserving assumptions · Possible financial structures for a buyout

Description: We apply decision theory to develop a credibility formula that minimizes a loss function that is a linear combination of a squared-error term and a second-derivative term. The squared-error term measures the accuracy of the estimator, while the second-derivative term constrains the estimator to be close to linear.

Description: This session is about meeting the needs for financial information in managing an insurance company. Topics include: 1. What are management's basic needs how are they met can financial systems continue to meet the challenge? 2. Are fundamental changes ahead for GAAP reporting? 3. Is it time for mutual companies to provide more meaningful financial information? 4. Can current regulatory reporting meet the needs of the 21st century? 5. Can separate statutory and GAAP systems continue to coexist? 6. Will the United States regulatory environment reduce our global competitiveness? 7. Variance analysis - Why your predictions were wrong - Which variances are acts of God? - Which variances should be blamed on somebody? - How to deal with interest rate fluctuations 8. Market valuation, why? - What questions are being addressed with market valuation