Description: This report introduces quantum computing to actuaries. In addition, this research will assess and identify areas in the insurance field where quantum computing can make a difference, accompanied with suggested algorithms.

Description: View the QFIIRM Exam Solutions

Description: View the Fall 2022 Quantitative Finance And Investment—Investment Risk Management Exam.

Description: This report was developed by the CESRC as an update of one Rob Erhardt prepared in 2016 that compiled a collection of sources that deal with what scientists know and what actuaries could do. Sources have been chosen with practicing actuaries and the public in mind. In the original report, nearly all governmental sources come from the United States. In the update an attempt was made to include sources from actuarial bodies and regulators worldwide. Please let us know if you have a source we did not include as it is anticipated that the SOA will continue to update a list of sources for these topics in the future.

Description: The most recent report covers the strong heat wave hit the United States, particularly in the Midwest and South during the second week of June 2022 .

Description: On May 20, 2022, an EF-3 tornado hit Gaylord, Michigan and caused 2 fatalities and 44 injuries, according to the National Weather Service Damage Survey [2]. The supercell thunderstorm that produced the destructive tornado also produced damaging wind and hail up to 3 inches in diameter [3]. According to data from the National Center for Environmental Information, this tornado was the first EF-3+ tornado in Michigan since 2012 and first EF-3+ tornado in Michigan in May since 1991 [1].

Description: View the QFI IRM Model Solutions - Fall 2021.

Description: View the Fall 2021 Quantitative Finance And Investment—Investment Risk Management Exam.

Description: View the Spring 2021 Quantitative Finance And Investment—Investment Risk Management Exam

Description: View the Fall 2020 Quantitative Finance And Investment—Investment Risk Management Exam Solution.

Description: View the Fall 2020 ERM – Enterprise Risk Management INV Exam Solution.

Description: View the Fall 2020 Quantitative Finance And Investment—Investment Risk Management Exam.

Description: View the Fall 2020 Enterprise Risk Management – Investment Extension Exam Case .

Description: This session will have two sections: General consideration of IFRS17 implementation for VA writers and reinsurers A case study of IFRS17 implementation for a reinsurer The first section will go over VFA and GM approaches that are available for VA writers. Both approaches have their own challenges. We will highlight some of the challenges and how to approach/overcome them. Additionally, we will discuss how hedging/ALM can help smooth the transition. The second section will go over the details of implementation process of a VA reinsurer. The case study will explore valuation challenges unique to reinsurers assuming business that would otherwise be valued under the VFA. It will also go over some of the modeling difficulties, project management, and database requirement.

Description: This paper analyzes climate change's impact on corn yield and insurance claims in Southern Minnesota through an analysis of how temperature and precipitation are expected to change over the next 30 years.

Description: This report looks at identifying drivers of systemic risk to China’s insurance industry and develops a measurement method for systemic risk as well as systemic risk dependence between the insurance industry and other industries.

Description: Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are accelerating us into the fourth industrial revolution. In the next few years technological change and innovation will be rapid. The implications of AI on the actuarial profession are real and game changing. This session will help health actuaries understand what to expect from AI, how to begin using AI, and how AI will dramatically enhance the actuarial profession in the near future.

Description: This article is about how insurance companies are deploying insurance technologies.

Description: Read the August 2018 issue of Predictive Analytics and Futurism newsletter published by the Predictive Analytics and Futurism Section.

Description: The InsurTech market in China is divided into three categories, including online sales of traditional products through internet channels, product upgrades driven by technology, or the creation of more targeted products, and the innovation of eco-system-oriented products, or insurance service by data analysis. The market is expected to reach 1.4 trillion RMB in total.As the digital revolution goes deeper, new technologies have infiltrated into all business models in insurance companies and have promoted the generation and development of the InsurTech market. Digital technologies have been widely used by traditional insurance companies to optimize the procedures and products of the current value chain, bringing a virtuous cycle between InsurTech and the online eco-system. As a result, these traditional insurance companies can expand their business from insurance only to personal finance and other extended services, building a comprehensive solution for the eco-system. Technology is the cornerstone for the business development and innovation of insurance.

Description: View the Spring 2017 ERM GI Model Solution.

Description: View the Spring 2017 ERM-GH Model Solution.

Description: View the Spring 2017 ERM GC Model Solution.

Description: View the Spring 2017 ERM ILA Model Solution.

Description: View the Spring 2017 ERM INV Model Solution.

Description: View the Spring 2017 ERM RET Model Solution.

Description: This report is a collection of sources that deal with how do scientists know and what could actuaries do regarding climate change and environmental risks.

Description: Improving understanding of the complex relationships among financial entities is critically important for risk managers and for financial authorities charged with multiple policy objectives. High quality information is lacking at both the intra- and inter-enterprise levels and to support analysis of the financial network. Put simply, the current quality and quantity of relationship data is not sufficient to deliver on the ultimate objectives. For the purpose of this discussion we use a very generic definition of a term relationship somewhat similar to the definition used to describe human relationships. And like in the human relationships case we will not claim that only marriage and blood connection makes your relatives, but also loaning a book, loving, hating and sharing a flat. In the financial context, the relationships may be determined by accounting rules set, for example, by IFRS or US GAAP, as well as regulatory requirements in areas o f risk management, market integrity, know-your-client, network analysis and statistical consolidation. The financial industry and regulators have spent countless hours arguing and debating the definition of ownership. The problem lies in the question itself. We suggest that as part of any relationship data system the best approach is to put the question aside and avoid a conceptual and practical quagmire. Rather, we recommend collecting and storing less-subjective granular data on theactual legal and economic relationships between firms, which provides a flexibleframework from which any user can answer the question on corporate relationships he or she determines is appropriate at a given time. Encouragingly, technological solutions are available to accommodate this multiplicity of requirements in a single solution. The paper outlines where the practical challenges are that inhibit the development of high quality relationship data and how they can be overcome.

Description: Improving understanding of the complex relationships among financial entities is critically important for risk managers and for financial authorities charged with multiple policy objectives. High quality information is lacking at both the intra- and inter-enterprise levels and to support analysis of the financial network. Put simply, the current quality and quantity of relationship data is not sufficient to deliver on the ultimate objectives. For the purpose of this discussion we use a very generic definition of a term relationship somewhat similar to the definition used to describe human relationships. And like in the human relationships case we will not claim that only marriage and blood connection makes your relatives, but also loaning a book, loving, hating and sharing a flat. In the financial context, the relationships may be determined by accounting rules set, for example, by IFRS or US GAAP, as well as regulatory requirements in areas o f risk management, market integrity, know-your-client, network analysis and statistical consolidation. The financial industry and regulators have spent countless hours arguing and debating the definition of ownership. The problem lies in the question itself. We suggest that as part of any relationship data system the best approach is to put the question aside and avoid a conceptual and practical quagmire. Rather, we recommend collecting and storing less-subjective granular data on theactual legal and economic relationships between firms, which provides a flexibleframework from which any user can answer the question on corporate relationships he or she determines is appropriate at a given time. Encouragingly, technological solutions are available to accommodate this multiplicity of requirements in a single solution. The paper outlines where the practical challenges are that inhibit the development of high quality relationship data and how they can be overcome.

Description: The June/July 2014 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: This paper shows how Tranched Capital and RAROC can produce very different indicated reinsurance purchases than does the ISA.

Description: 2013 Symposium Presenter's Diary: Responses to the Global Financial Crises

Description: The August 2013 issue of Risks & Rewards newsletter—a member benefit for the Investment Section of the Society of Actuaries.

Description: Risk Management, the newsletter of the Joint Risk Management Section. December 2012

Description: Credit ratings have played an essential role in the financial system and have been used extensively by market participants. Despite their wide use in the financial services industry, they are actually insufficient for pricing and risk management of fixed income securities.

Description: In this study, a network approach is taken to characterize the systemic risk of two nontraditional insurance industries: the bond insurer industry and the CDS market. These industries were chosen since traditional insurance industries do not generate significant systemic risk.

Description: Exam FETE formula sheet

Description: The financial crisis and lessons for insurers

Description: Formula package for Fall 2011 Exam FETE.

Description: The recent financial crisis created incentives to review investment practices and see what was done well and what could be improved for the future. Looking inward at insurer investment practices, background trend information was generated and a survey developed for insurers to share their thoughts. The research continued with conversations in private and public forums, where initial conclusions were expanded.

Description: This is the SOA introductory web page for the research report U.S. Insurance Company Investment Strategies in an Economic Downturn. Please see the SOA website for the full report.

Description: This article focuses on strategies that long term care insurance companies are using today to invest assets more profitably and manage risks more effectively to help ensure that they can meet their obligations and move forward in an uncertain market.

Description: Formula package for Fall 2010 Exam FET.

Description: This article is a review of the book, The Big Short by Michael Lewis. This book is a follow up to his previous book, Liar's Club, and focuses on the high finance issues that affected the economy in 2007 and later. In this book, Lewis focuses on the contrarians and challenges the Efficient Market Hypothesis.

Description: 2011 SOA Enterprise Risk Management Symposium, Chicago. The stated purpose of this paper is to consider whether a more comprehensive and timely measurement framework for risk exposure is now needed and to examine one possible approach. This paper proposes a new approach to risk measurement that, along with capital measurement and more rigorous oversight, will allow banks an ability to manage risk.

Description: Collection of essays received in response to the “Systemic Risk, Financial Reform and Moving Forward from the Financial Crisis” call for essays.

Description: Lessons learned in the financial crisis - global ramifications and need for better financial reporting standards and market oversight.

Description: August 2010 issue of the Investment Section newsletter, Risks & Rewards.

Description: Feature article discussing Nassim Taleb’s black swan theory. Taleb points out that banks keep their loans at full value - anchored to the book value of the loan. The solution to the problem is to use mark-to-market reporting and have volatility instead of having no volatility and then experiencing a Black Swan event.

Description: This is the abstract for the paper on pricing and hedging synthetic CDO tranche spread risks.

Description: At the 2009 SOA Annual Meeting in Boston, Nassim Nicholas Taleb shared some thoughts on Black Swans, operating in the fourth quadrant, and living in the world of Extremistan versus Mediocristan during his keynote speech, all of which can be found in his published work. The follow-up session, summarized in this article, addresses the real question: What do we actuaries do about these phenomena?

Description: This article discusses how the industry as a whole is revisiting its risk management strategies in the wake of the financial crisis.

Description: This is the June 2010 issue of the Risk Management Section Newsletter.

Description: ARCH Table of Contents 2010.1

Description: In this article, the author examines five common perspectives on risk and see how they affect not just each participant’s own choices but everyone else’s choices, as well.

Description: This report, part of the Society of Actuaries [SOA} ‘Research Projects – Finance/Investment,’ is sponsored by the SOA Committee on Finance Research. This research report examines modeling of cash flow associated within a pool of mortgages, specifically focusing on the effectiveness of infusing a limited amount of capital into the pool. The report was prepared by Michael Ekhaus of Gibraltar Analytical, LLC.

Description: March 2010 Issue of the Risk Management Section Newsletter.

Description: Feature article summarizing a talk given by Andrew Lo at the SOA 2009 Annual Meeting on the credit crisis and why risk management failed to stop the excessive risk taking.

Description: This article describes the financial modelers’ manifesto. Focus is on how difficult it is to model financial instruments when there is a human element involved.

Description: This research report, part of the Society of Actuaries [SOA} ‘Research Projects – Finance/Investment,’ is sponsored by the Casualty Actuarial Society [CAS], Canadian Institute of Actuaries [CIA], and the Society of Actuaries [SOA] Joint Risk Management Section Research Team and the SOA's Committee on Finance Research. This paper examines the subprime mortgage crises and related financial consequences from the perspective of the insurance industry.

Description: This paper asks the Modligliani-Miller question regarding the mortgage markets. The paper is essentially about the genesis of the credit crisis. The proposed answer is that the practice of risk should not be allowed without actuarial supervision.

Description: September 2009 issue of Risk Management newsletter

Description: This is the full program for the 44th Actuarial Research Conference held in Madison, Wisconsin, July 30-August 1, 2009.

Description: This presentation examines the measurement and hedging of synthetic CDO tranche spread risks based on market spread data following the sub-prime crisis. A range of methods proposed for pricing bespoke CDOs are examined to assess their ability to hedge the credit spread risk. The methods assessed are calibrated to the traded CDO index spread and then compared based on the mean absolute pricing errors over a time period including the sub-prime crisis. Standard pricing methods and variations used to price bespoke CDOs generally perform poorly in hedging credit spread risk. Past data can be used to improve the performance of the methods. The results of this analysis also raise concerns with the accuracy of 'mark-to-model' valuations of bespoke CDOs using standard market methods.

Description: This article shows how market participants’ view of risk impacts not just their own choices, but also how they impact on everyone else's choices as well.

Description: This paper explains the development of the credit derivative market, describes the most common types of credit derivatives, discusses how insurers can and do use these instruments and explains the role they played in the financial market turmoil of 2008.

Description: December 2008 issue of the Risk Management Section newsletter.

Description: Financial crises are nothing new. What is unique and sobering is the far greater speed with which the current situation has evolved from a weakening of the U.S. housing market into a full-blown, global economic meltdown. Also new this time is how quickly the fallout spread beyond the financial sector into all areas of the economy. Advanced communications and information technologies are creating an era of greater risk with more serious and far-reaching consequences when compared with even the recent past.

Description: This crisis first started with subprime loans and quickly morphed into a credit crisis that eventually engulfed a lot of financial institutions around the world. If a AAA were really a AAA, this crisis would probably have been contained and localized. As the crisis developed, evidence emerged from the shadows that revealed the questionable quality of some AAA-rated MBS or ABS. Subprime loans were the weakest link. As the credit boom came to an end and the economy slowed down further, the Alt-A, prime and credit card loans were also affected. The subprime crisis is only the symptom of a much larger underlying problem. Both consumers and corporations were overleveraged.

Description: This article was written in June 2008, prior to the financial crisis in the fall of 2008. It discusses the very complicated new world of financial insturments and derivatives and the risks that there may be in light of no strong capital requirements, no control on leverage and the high derivative volume.

Description: A collection of essays written on the current financial crisis, lessons learned and future implications.

Description: This article addresses the difficulties of risk modeling in a poor economic environment. The problems include imperfect vendors of data, facing events that have never occurred before, unpredictable consumer behavior, conflicting data sources, and AAA credit doesn't always mean AAA.

Description: Interest rates rose from 2004 through 2007, so adjustable mortgage rates increased and many borrowers fell behind. After home prices topped out in 2006, speculators and some buyers who had overstretched found it impossible to refinance. This caused mortgage insurance claims. Insurers may want to study others’ missteps.

Description: This article introduces the reader to probabilistic methods used to model interactions in the financial market place. Three topics are specifically discussed, two concern modeling methods and the other concerns data analysis methods.

Description: This research report addresses two purposes: [1] to incorporate phase transitions into a copula framework, and [2] to calculate the probability of defaulting in the context of a portfolio of correlated mortgages when a contagion effect exists. Understanding and measuring the effects that contagion has on the probability of defaulting, for both single assets and portfolios of assets, are crucial to collateralized debt obligation [CDO] markets.

Description: Solutions for Fall 2007 Exam DP-Retirement

Description: This article discusses the trend toward outsourcing of insurance assets to third party money managers which has grown steadily as insurers face increasing market challenges. Insurers are finding that a strategic approach to outsourcing investments is critical to enhancing value within both liability reserves and surplus portfolios.

Description: Full version of Risk and Rewards Newsletter, August 2007, Issue No. 50.

Description: As an alternative to the widely-used 'return on economic capital' RAROC, this paper proposes a performance measure consistent with standard valuation models, and discusses its implications for prudential regulation. From 2007 Enterprise Risk Management Symposium, M-AS07-1.

Description: Presentation from the Actuarial Research Conference describing risk management at a leading Canadian Bank.

Description: In this session from the 2005 SOA New Orleans Meeting, panelists discuss the ever-growing range of credit-derivative instruments that are becoming available including credit default swaps - CDSs, replicated synthetic asset transaction - RSAT and synthetic collateral debt obligations - CDOs. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 31, No. 1.

Description: Economic capital is an embedded part of the banking risk management and regulatory framework. The insurance industry has relied on rating agency and regulatory formulas that have been criticized as overcapitalizing and not appropriately differentiating risk drivers in the capital formulation. The emergence of C-3 Phase I and C-3 Phase II have introduced an economic approach to capital in the insurance industry. This half-day seminar takes a detailed look at the subject of economic capital. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries 2005, Volume 31, No. 1: 2005 New Orleans Life Spring Meeting, May 22-24, 2005, Session 9 Seminar.

Description: The panel at this session of the SOA 2004 Annual Meeting describes and discusses methods that are currently used for quantifying credit risk, both from a portfolio perspective and an individual security perspective.

Description: From a session at the Spring meeting of the Society of Actuaries held in San Antonio, Texas, June 14-15, 2004 Speakers discuss the approaches to quantifying investment risk, including the credit risk subcomponent and mismatch risk sub-component in the three different types of risk-based capital RBC framework commonly used, such as regulatory, rating agency and company-specific economic-based formulas.

Description: This is the complete version of the Risk Management Newsletter, March 2004, Issue No. 1.

Description: This article discusses various approaches and processes that are involved with the risk management of financial conglomerates.

Description: This session from the 2003 SOA Orlando Meeting covers credit derivatives and how they have evolved, credit-default swaps CDSs, the advantages and disadvantages of credit derivatives and the regulatory overview. From the Society of Actuaries Record, Volume 29, No. 3.

Description: Presenters cover the outlook for credit defaults over the next 12 months and approaches used to price the debt market e.g., Merton's 1973 paper and subsequent developments. Attendees leave with an understanding of how the capital markets value debt issuance and knowledge of future trends in default risk. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 29, No. 1: Washington, D.C. Spring Meeting, May 29–30, 2003, Session 10OF.

Description: Panelists at this session of the SOA 2003 Washington, DC Spring Meeting discuss identifying the different equity market risk exposures of insurance companies. How insurance companies can measure these exposures and means they can use to manage and hedge these exposures is also discussed.

Description: This session at the SOA 2003 Washington, DC Spring Meeting focuses on the current low interest rate environment, which creates pressure on life companies to reach for incrementally higher yields via longer durations or higher credit risk or other means. The opportunities and risks of doing so are explored.

Description: This presentation is a Teaching Session, number 29TS, from the 2002 Valuation Actuary Symposium, held September 19-20 in Lake Buena Vista, FL. The panelists describe the three basic types of credit derivatives: total return swaps, credit default swaps, and credit spread options. They discuss techniques used to price credit derivatives, accounting and required capital treatment, the size and growth of the credit derivative market in the U.S., Canada, and globally, and early experience and performance of credit derivatives in an actual default case. Discussion from participants is included.

Description: Presented at May 2002 Spring Meeting. This session discusses financial management in the year 2001, which displayed an economic environment unlike that of any year since the 1960s.

Description: This session at the SOA 2001 Annual Meeting looks at issues associated with historically low interest rates from the perspectives of new product development, an investment professional and a corporate view. Included is a discussion of alternative investments ane their risk/return trade offs.

Description: This session looks at a number of other structures that can be used to package more exotic investments. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 27, No. 2, Session 44PD of the Toronto Spring Meeting.

Description: From a session at the 2000 Valuation Actuary Symposium held in Washington DC, September 14-15, 2000 Discussion of newer and more innovative investment structures and the modeling of these securities in cash-flowing testing and asset/liabilities management analysis.

Description: From a session 11 PD at a meeting of the Society of Actuaries held in San Diego, CA, June 22-23, 2000 This discussion presents an introduction to credit derivatives. From Record of Society of Actuaries, Volume 26, No. 1.

Description: 1998 SOA Spring Meeting, Maui. Panel discusses the some of the newer outlets that portfolio managers have been using for their investable cash. Topics discussed: 1. New risk classes. 2. Update on insurance and catastrophe risk bonds. 3. Capital-efficient structured notes. 4. Leveraged debt and equity plays. 5. Other risk/reward enhancement techniques.

Description: In session 141PD of the Washington Annual Meeting panelists discuss current developments and investment trends in the insurance industry. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 23, No. 3.

Description: Examination of the distribution of insurance products by and through financial institutions, products, distribution options, etc. The marketing opportunity was addressed from several viewpoints - insurance company, marketing organization and financial institution.

Description: Discussion of leading edge companies. Topics included: 1. How they got there 2. Lessons to be learned 3. Financial reporting issues faced by actuaries and others involved with companies that have failed or are close to statutory insolvency 4. Turning it around- strategies for future success.

Description: Presenters discuss: [1] market-value accounting, [2] accounting for mortgage-backed securities [MBSs] and collateralized mortgage obligations [CMOs], [3] the emergence of earnings under FAS 60 and FAS 97 products, and [4] effectively communicating financial results to management. Session 10 of the 1992 Valuation Actuary Symposium.

Description: Discusses asset and liability modeling for collateralized mortgage obligations [CMOs]. Assumes knowledge from previous Session 3. Session 8 of the 1991 Valuation Actuary Symposium.

Description: Panelists provide a primer on Collateralized Mortgage Obligations [CMOs], exploring how they are constructed and why they exist. Session 3 of the 1991 Valuation Actuary Symposium.