Description: Discussion of the diversification activities of a number of life insurance companies. This includes the formation of, or acquisition of, property and casualty insurers, variable annuity companies, mutual fund management companies, banks, finance companies, leasing companies, real estate development companies, televisions and radio stations, newspapers, software consultants and other corporate enterprises. Discussion includes: 1. Activities really compatible with the llfe insurance product. 2. Activities otherwise compatible with corporate objectives or offering potentially large profit centers. 3. Activities which can be an excessive drain on corporate earnings and executive manpower 4. The actuary's role in these diversification activities. Then the discussion goes into a discussion of corporate planning models

Description: 1994 SOA Spring Meeting, Orlando. In this session the panelists debated the diversity of professional practice about how companies and regulators can and should measure profit and set standards for profit margins. One panelist spoke of the traditional actuarial perspective, while the other represented the modern theory of finance.