Description: In addition to death and maturity guarantees on the mutual funds they sell, some insurance companies make it possible for the investor to extend the guarantees for a fixed number of years. In this paper, we consider the case when that option is of the European type that is, the investor, at maturity, can either close out the contract or extend it for the stated, fixed term. When extended, the guarantee is on the value of the fund at the original maturity date. The fund is assumed to be fully invested in common stock.

Description: S&P reissued a second Request for Comment (RFC) in May 2023 that proposed changes to their insurer capital adequacy methodology and assumptions, and suggested these proposed changes may become effective at the end of 2023. This paper is to highlight the notable changes between the current capital model criteria and the proposed model. We also discuss major changes from the first RFC and the second RFC, as well as several key items that still require enhanced guidance and clarification. Our analysis is based on information gathered from S&P's public comments, conversations with industry participants, and publications released by S&P Global as of July 2023 when this paper was written. Most U.S. life insurers are rated by S&P using their U.S. Life Statutory Capital model, while other insurers use the GAAP/IFRS Capital Model. Statutory financials will remain the starting point for U.S. life insurers under the proposed model, however there will be additional adjustments made to these numbers in an effort to create consistency and comparability with other accounting and solvency regimes.

Description: This article summarizes the findings of the 2020/2021 Milliman UL/IUL/VUL survey. The survey covers a range of specific product and actuarial issues and the results provide a good tool for benchmarking

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: This article addresses the issues of short-term volatility, the non-equivalency of traders and, how product development is being impacted by market consistency.

Description: The Actuary Vol. 22 , No. 7. This articles explores the dangers posed by many guaranteed-return life insurance and annuity products.

Description: This article is a book review of Life Insurance Company Investment Activities, Huebner Foundation Lectures, edited by J. David Cummins, and published for the S.S. Huebner Foundation for Insurance Education by Richard D. Irwin, Inc. The author notes it has been 25 years since a similar work was published by the Huebner Foundation, and that the new book does a good job of capturing the many changes that have occurred in that time. The article summarizes the book’s discussion of various topics, including investment strategy, types of investments, the impact of inflation, and investment regulation.

Description: This is a Fellowship Credit Research Paper. A portfolio of different insurance policies such as temporary, endowment and whole-life insurance policies is studied in a stochastic mortality and interest environment. The first two moments of the present value of the benefits of the portfolio are derived. The riskiness of the portfolio as measured by the variance of the present value of the benefits can be divided into an insurance risk and an investment risk in two different ways. One way leads to a more natural interpretation of the two risk components. A simple portfolio is used to illustrate the results.

Description: Letter to the editor from a reader regarding a previous article titled, “Is This Correction Good For Life Insurance,” with a response from the author of the article.

Description: Panel discussion about how the Investment Year Method is used with life insurance and annuity products to determine the credited rate, and how market entry has affected investment policy. From the 1979 Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 5, No. 1.