Description: Learn various ways that actuaries are an making an impact on social issues such as healthcare, public health and climate change. Do you ever wonder if the actuarial profession is doing more than making bottom line revenue for its employers? Hear directly from multiple actuaries who are following their vocation by utilizing their actuarial skills to address real societal issues.

Description: This paper applies the research in Prospect Theory of Kahneman and Tversky to explain why sales of annuities lag sales of life insurance products. The author theorizes that life insurance is easier to sell because customers perceive themselves to be in the domain of losses, while potential annuity customers perceive themselves to be in the domain of gains. Kahneman and Tversky showed us that people are mostly risk averse in the domain of gains and risk seeking in the domain of losses. Purchase of an annuity or life product is a risky investment. Customers will find it easier to take the risk in the life insurance domain of losses than the annuity domain of gains. The author then proposes a hybrid life annuity product that might address both mortality and longevity risk in one product that would allow both products to be more competitive than stand-alone products.

Description: Review of modeling of impact of proposed GAAP changes and commentary on preparedness based on company survey.

Description: Future mortality improvement has been a common assumption in life insurance and annuity pricing and forecasting for many years. However, experience over the last decade suggests this might be an assumption that merits reconsideration in the United States. This article will take a closer look at factors that impact mortality improvement trends and discuss why insurers may want to reevaluate product designs to better manage the associated mortality risk. We then introduce a product idea with this in mind, where premiums are based on a life expectancy index and insurers share the risk (and opportunity) or mortality improvement with policyholders.

Description: In session 139PD of the Washington Annual Meeting panelists discuss emerging issues impacting the pricing of individual life and annuity products. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 23, No. 3.

Description: Letter from SOA President Craig Reynolds to American Academy of Actuaries Congratulating on 50th Anniversary

Description: A research project with the Society of Actuaries on interest rate hedging on traditional life and health insurance.

Description: This research report, part of the Society of Actuaries [SOA} ‘Research Projects – Finance/Investment,’ is sponsored by the Society of Actuaries [SOA] Committee on Finance Research. This paper explores and summarizes current practices on the interest-rate risk of traditional life and health insurance products.

Description: This session at the SOA 1998 Maui I Spring Meeting discusses GAAP financial reporting in terms of the types of management information GAAP provides, how to interpret that information, and how to measure emerging experience versus expectations. Analysis of GAAP ROE and GAAP source of earnings is presented.

Description: 1994 SOA Spring Meeting, San Francisco. This session provided an overview on the following issues regarding solvency analysis: 1. Will the actuary perform a financial condition analysis or provide an opinion on solvency? 2. Will the analysis be for internal use only or for public reporting? 3. Progress on the SOA's Dynamic Solvency Handbook. 4. Dynamic solvency research. 5. Canadian experience with solvency testing.