Description: The article discusses the continued popularity of indexed UL insurance and possible reasons why a company's actual indexed UL earnings may be below their original pricing expectations for the product. The article discusses several key items that may be the source of that underperformance (e.g., hedge ineffectiveness, policyholder behavior) and the need to monitor earnings and perform analyses to better understand those potential sources.

Description: In this article, we collected data from the companies’ roll-forward disclosures related to calendar years 2021 and 2022 on Market Risk Benefit and shared a high-level summary of the Market Risk Benefit volatility that a focus group of companies incurred and summarized the most common ways to mitigate volatility.

Description: Actuaries can leverage cluster modeling to reduce model runtime and cloud compute costs, which can be a real concern as companies transition from an on-premise grid to a scalable cloud solution. We consider practical considerations associated with clustering, through both US statutory and US GAAP lenses. Lastly, the results from a variable annuity liability clustering case study are presented.

Description: An overview of how the VM-31 requirements for documenting PBR approaches and assumptions can/should reflect the Actuarial Standard of Practice on Modeling, ASOP No. 56

Description: In the United States, there has been much industry discussion of the challenges associated with a sustained low interest rate environment, which impacts both the asset and liability sides of the balance sheet in unfavorable ways. The intent of this article is not to focus on these strategic issues. Rather, we attempt to shine a spotlight on some of the modeling challenges that practicing actuaries may experience when incorporating negative interest rates into their models.

Description: In this article, a numerical comparison of two commonly used FIA valuation methodologies is conducted to help insurers decide on the best methodology to use under GAAP LDTI and VM-22. We compared two modeling approaches to project the future index credits with the annual point-to-point crediting formula: Tthe stochastic equity crediting model and the deterministic option budget crediting model. The analysis is then extended to different levels of option budgets and the monthly average crediting formula. The advantages and disadvantages of the two equity return projecting approaches are also highlighted and will be discussed later in the report.

Description: This is the first in a series of articles about accounting for reinsurance under GAAP Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts (LDTI). It provides an introduction to the topic, giving an overview of what has and hasn't changed. Changes include a few that directly address reinsurance and others that indirectly result from changes to direct accounting and the existing ties between reinsurance and direct accounting.

Description: Read the December 2019 issue of The Financial Reporter published by the Financial Reporting Section. Newsletters provide practical information for the working actuary, articles on trends that impact sections and news about section activities.

Description: Feature article discussing the number of challenges associated with ASU 2018-12 related to the measurement of market risk benefits.

Description: Feature article discussing how the insurance industry can become more data driven.

Description: This article lays conceptual foundations associated with projecting investment-related discretionary elements of various life insurance and annuity products. It outlines potential implementation approaches that may be appropriate when calculations are performed in a risk-neutral setting. The article concludes that crediting rates in risk-neutral models can be projected as in real-world models, except that the modeled provision for expected credit losses should be modified to equal real-world expected losses initially, but over the projection reflect management’s evolving expectation, moving ultimately to risk neutral expected losses.

Description: Read the December 2018 issue of The Financial Reporter, published by the Financial Reporting Section.

Description: Read the September 2018 issue of The Financial Reporter published by the Financial Reporting Section.

Description: Read the March 2017 issue of The Financial Reporter published by the Financial Reporting Section.

Description: A status update on research projects sponsored or co-sponsired by the Financial Reporting Section.

Description: A description of current council member areas of responsibility, Life & Annuity Symposium sessions to be sponsored, and other future projects.

Description: A question from a reading regarding the accuracy of a comment from the December 2016 issue of The Financial Reporter article titled “Negative GAAP Term Insurance Reserves—to Floor or Not to Floor?”

Description: December 2016 edition of The Financial Reporter

Description: September 2015 Reinsurance News

Description: The December 2013 issue of the Financial Reporting Section’s newsletter, The Financial Reporter.

Description: This article provides the reader with some insights regarding tax planning under the new required methodology.

Description: The article gives background on the Brazilian insurance market and summarizes the newly released regulations which deal with revised reserving guidelines and new capital requirements. Additional capital requirements are promulgated for credit, market, legal, underwriting and operational risks.

Description: An Overview of Stochastic Simulation modeling techniques and usages

Description: Why More U.S.A. Life Insurance Companies Are Considering Economic Value as an Additional Internal Accounting System by Armand de Palo from The Financial Reporter, December 2001, Issue No. 48.

Description: The purpose of paper is to outline and illustrate some of the more important differences among the current US and Canadian regulatory capital regimes and the standard formula of the Solvency II framework using a hypothetical term-life insurance portfolio as an example.

Description: Financial Reporting for Healthcare Plans objectives, defining market segments, preparing & recasting segment monitoring reports, quantification of liabilities, reconciliation of claim payments, medical management reports, expense control, company plans & projections & budgets, financial indicators & measurements. Issue No. 41.

Description: Blazing the Path for a Unified Valuation System by David K. Sandberg from The Financial Reporter, June 2000, Issue No. 42.

Description: Dynamic Financial Condition Analysis Update by James F. Reiskytl from The Financial Reporter, October 1999, Issue No. 40.

Description: This article discusses value at risk, VaR, and VaR modeling of the bank's portfolios that would recognize diversity and hedging. This article also covers the differences between classical VaR and the longer horizons required by the insurance industry and the feasibility of extending VaR to the insurance industry.

Description: The Cash Flow Valuation Method has recently been adopted for valuation of annuity products in Canada and has application to all other life insurance products. Under this method, the statement liability for a block of business is the value of the assets required to enable the insurer to run off the block. The method therefore involves both assets and liabilities and reflects the insurer's investment policy.

Description: New York’s Regulation 126 effectively requires all companies doing business in New York to file an actuarial opinion and memorandum on their annuity and GIC business. This article attempts to answer 13 of the most commonly asked questions about this regulation.