Description: This article argues that wealth managers should advocate dynamic spending in proportion to survival probabilities, adjusted up for exogenous pension income and down for longevity risk aversion. The authors criticize the rule of thumb of spending a fixed 'x' percent of assets for retirement planning purposes.

Description: Lessons, tips, and suggestions for properly approaching the first stages of actuarial research.

Description: Replacement rates have historically been a tool to determine the adequacy of retirement income to maintain an individual’s standard of living. Numerous conceptual and methodological issues lie, however, beneath its simple exterior. The purpose of this paper is to examine these underlying issues for the benefit of retirement security stakeholders, pension plan sponsors, advisors, financial product providers, and individuals planning for retirement.

Description: Statistics show that the risk of fatality associated with motorcycle crashes far exceeds that of automobiles hereby Connecticut introduced mandatory motorcycle safety training. This paper develops a unifying framework to quantify the effectiveness of such mandatory programs and to translate this in terms of a possible insurance rate reduction.

Description: 2011 Enterprise Risk Management Symposium, Chicago. This paper explores cognitive and behavioral theories that can be applied to explain why emerging risk is often overlooked, downplayed or ignored. It also proposes an innovative framework for managing emerging risk within an overall enterprise risk management program.

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: This report helps to identify key socioeconomic trends influencing the need and demand for the industry's products and services, and how these trends will influence marketing methods.

Description: Risk management theory prescribes a few legitimate reasons for management to hedge corporate revenues and reduce income volatility. In this paper we will use the oil tanker industry to illustrate some of these strategic considerations and how management can account for them in their decisions regarding whether and how much to hedge. Further work is needed to incorporate these considerations into a broader theoretical framework. Presented at 2010 Enterprise Risk Management Symposium, Society of Actuaries, April 12-15, 2010.

Description: This paper develops an option pricing model that takes cost of capital concepts as its foundation rather than dynamic replication. The resulting model, called the 'C' measure in this paper, is related to the family of Affine Jump Diffusion models that are well known in the finance literature, so it is fairly easy to understand and implement. We argue that this is a reasonable model to use for estimating equity implied volatilities that are beyond the five- to 10-year horizon that can typically be observed in today‘s capital markets. The paper concludes with a short discussion of how to grade from observable market data to the 'C' measure.

Description: Presented at the Living to 100 Symposium, January 2011. Long-term care LTC insurance is frequently not covered by national social insurance programs. When costs are expressed as a percentage of gross domestic product, the future burden of financing LTC would not lead to unbearable tax levels and is not particularly large in comparison to the projected costs for pensions and health care. After identifying the breadth of definitions of LTC needs, it is argued that LTC is an insurable risk. The paper concludes that LTC social insurance is affordable in developed countries.

Description: This is the Phase II report of a two–phase effort. The Phase I report, released in March 2009, consists of defining relevant and actionable consumer segments among middle–income/mid–level net worth households. This Phase II report defines a basic approach that could lead to a set of answers or 'solutions' that address the retirement risks faced by each segment. A second objective of Phase II is to provide insight regarding the nature of the retirement risks faced by varying segments of consumers and suggestions for solutions that address those risks.

Description: February 2010 Supplement to the Taxation Section newsletter, Taxing Times. Extensive discussion of the issues in computing statutory and tax reserves for annuities under VA CARVM.

Description: This report presents the results of a survey conducted in August of 2008 on foreign travel underwriting practices of reinsurance companies.

Description: September 2009 issue of the Forecasting & Futurism Section newsletter

Description: An essay discussing universal access to high quality, low cost health care.

Description: This paper looks at the problem of valuing and managing the ALM risks associated with insurance liabilities that are too long to be matched by available investments. Two options were explored and the paper concludes by arguing that the Static Control Model leads to more useful ALM strategies for long liabilities.

Description: Note developed by the IAA for insurers to support the ERM Standards and Guidance materials developed by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors for supervisors.

Description: This paper develops a new technique, which allows the analyst to maximally use all thte historical interest rate information available in forecasting interest rates. Interest rates' daily change do not follow a stationary random process over long time periods. Instead, the process is comprised of stationary periods, each a few years long, with relatively short transitional periods between different stationary periods.

Description: This paper argues that living longer with dignity is what is desirable and also that this should be an objective in designing specific social support systems for the elderly. The paper identifies and discusses certain areas where dignity is lacking or where the likelihood of living with dignity could be enhanced.

Description: This is a speech from Bill Bluhm entitled "The U.S. Actuarial Profession at a Crossroads." From The Actuary Magazine August 2007

Description: Full version of International Section News, April 2007, Issue No. 41.

Description: Full version of Product Matters! February 2007, Issue No. 67.

Description: Abstracts from all presentations at the 41st Actuarial Research Conference.

Description: The purpose of this discussion is to introduce a few additional points and discuss how different assumptions will alter the results in some cases.

Description: Full version of Taxing Times, May 2006, Volume 2, Issue No. 1.

Description: Full version of Health Watch News, Issue No. 52, May 2006.

Description: This article discusses the implications of a principle-based reserve PBR system with respect to federal income taxation of life insurance companies, particularly with respect to tax reserves and their deductibility for tax purposes. The article discusses potential problems with existing tax rules for reserve deduction, what courses of action the IRS could take, and suggestions for design features of a PBR approach that would make it more consistent with current tax rules. Life insurance product tax implications are also discussed.

Description: This is an editorial about direct marketing, credit insurance and non-traditional product management. From News Direct, May 2006, Number 53.

Description: This paper describes a current approach to capital allocation, tail contribution analysis TCA, and then compares it to an alternate method called economic profit analysis, EPA. The advantages of EPA over TCA are then outlined. From 2006 Enterprise risk Management Symposium, M-AS06-1.

Description: Over the past year the actuarial profession, led by the Society of Actuaries, has taken a step back to review the role of the actuary in today’s global economy. In doing so, the actuarial profession has decided to reposition the “actuary brand.”

Description: Full version of International Section News, November 2005, Issue No. 37.

Description: Formal report of the Accreditation Implementation Task Force to the Board of Directors at its June 2005 meeting. This document contains general objectives of the task force, membership and structure information, and the group's strategic plan for implementing an accreditation program for actuarial science academic programs.

Description: Full version of Risks & Rewards Newsletter, August 2005, Issue No. 47.

Description: Are Your Scenarios on Target?From Risks and Rewards Newsletter, August 2005, Issue No. 47. Actuaries are faced with the dilemma of how to incorporate advances in insurance products and modeling technology into their work. Increasingly, this means looking at a large number of potential outcomes using stochastic simulations.

Description: The hot days of summer are upon us and, with it, the inevitable reference to the dog days of August. All over North America this year, summer began early with heat waves, heat alerts, smog alerts and hurricane and tornado warnings. Admittedly, this is not very encouraging news for our society which is concerned with preservation of life, quality of life and conservation of property. Accordingly, it is a challenge for our profession that prides itself on its ability to accurately calculate the financial impact of natural or catastrophic events on society at large. The Actuary Magazine August 2005

Description: This presentation from Session 15 of the SOA 2005 Health/Pension Spring Meeting discusses current developments affecting health plan contracting with institutional, professional and ancillary providers. Specific questions addressed are: 1. What are the trends in financial arrangements sought by providers?, 2. Has consolidation changed negotiating strategies?, 3. Has technology affected the types of financial arrangements available?, and 4.How can actuaries assist in the analytical/negotiating process?

Description: Presented at May 2005 Spring Meeting. Panelists discuss the insuring of the aging population in respect to assessment of the health of the insured and resulting mortality costs.

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: Full Version of International Section News, April 2005, Issue No. 35.

Description: Full version of Long-Term Care Newsletter, April 2005, Issue No. 14.

Description: This is an article about claims and the growing impact they have on insurance companies financially.

Description: Full version of Product Matters! March 2005, Issue No. 61.

Description: Panelists discuss economic capital, capital modeling, and hedge modeling, especially for guaranteed living benefits [GLBs] on variable annuities. Session 34PD of the 2005 Valuation Actuary Symposium.

Description: The session at the 2004 Valuation Actuary Symposium describes current risk mitigation techniques and their impact upon valuation systems including hedging mechanisms, regulatory relief, GAAP measurement, product 'quarantine', realistic assumption changes, maximizing returns and minimizing litigation.

Description: From a session at the Spring meeting of the Society of Actuaries held in San Antonio, Texas, June 14-15, 2004 The panelists discuss the benefits of hedging variable annuity guarantees, the challenges they face and how they keep score.

Description: From a session at the Spring meeting of the Society of Actuaries held in San Antonio, Texas, June 14-15, 2004 This session covers different methods for estimating future volatility of financial markets, how to predict the effect of volatility on insurance company results, alternative approaches to managing volatility and the impact on volatility management on the choice of modeling method.

Description: Panelists discuss key public policy issues relating to access, coverage, and financing of health care, as well as current health care reform proposals. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 30, No. 1, Session 47

Description: Full version of Health Section News, April 2004, Issue No. 47.

Description: Full version of The Actuary Newsletter Volume 38, Number 3 - March 2004

Description: Full version of The Actuary Year In Review Newsletter Volume 37, Number 10 - December 2003

Description: Full version of The Actuary Newsletter Volume 37, Number 9 - November 2003

Description: Full version of Product Matters! July 2003, Issue No. 56.

Description: A panel of actuaries and clinical consultants at this session of the SOA 2003 Vancouver Spring Meeting provides an assessment of current and future applications of predictive modeling techniques in the health arena. A practical example of risk adjustment, discussion of the clinical use of this technique, and applications in underwriting are discussed.

Description: Full version of The Actuary Newsletter Volume 37, Number 5 - My 2003

Description: Panelists at this session of the SOA 2003 Washington, DC Spring Meeting give an historical perspective and discuss actual and proposed changes to the Standard Nonforfeiture Law for annuities and life insurance.

Description: Full version of Product Matters! April 2003, Issue No. 55.

Description: The full version of The Financial Reporter, Issue No. 52, March 2003.

Description: This article discusses secondary factors that affect pricing and long-term care claims experience gender, marital status, region, product type, distribution, and education.

Description: Full version of Long-Term Care Newsletter, December 2002, Issue No. 7.

Description: Full version of Product Matters! November 2002, Issue No. 54.

Description: Panelists discuss the contractual relationships between health-care providers and health-care insurers [payers], and how they can be improved. Discussed are managed care, HMO, and PPO types of negotiated contracts in the private arena. Recent trends in types of provider arrangements, and expectations for the future, are also discussed. From the 2002 Record of Society of Actuaries, Volume 28, No. 3. Session 97PD of the Boston Annual Meeting.

Description: Panelists provide: [1] a summary of legal issues and recent federal court cases regarding employee and retiree benefit plans, and [2] discussion of three research papers providing new thought and insight involving the perspective of many disciplines about the aging population and changing family structures in the U.S. and around the world. From the 2002 Record of Society of Actuaries, Volume 28, No. 2. Session 143TS of the San Francisco Spring Meeting.

Description: This discussion on long-term care [LTC] highlights secondary drivers in LTC experience in both insured and general populations. Practical applications of this new information for pricing, reserving and marketing is discussed. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 28, No. 2, Session 42pd.

Description: Presented at May 2002 Spring Meeting. Discusses basic considerations and the process of an international acquisition or merger.

Description: Presented at May 2002 Spring Meeting. This session addresses the important elements in designing preferred risk products. Theoretical and pragmatic approaches to establishing a sound policy for setting underwriting requirements and mortality assumptions are discussed, including the real mathematics of preferred risk classification, distribution of risk profiles by age and the key elements of age-specific underwriting.

Description: Full version of NewsDirect Newsletter, Winter 2001, Issue No. 36.

Description: From a session at the 2001 Valuation Actuary Symposium, held in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, November 29-30, 2001 Teaching session covering the development of realistic liability models for use in asset adequacy analysis, asset/liability management, pricing/repricing, financial reporting or other corporate purposes. The primary focus is modeling issues for variable product features, such as minimum living or death benefit guarantees on both variable life and annuities, annuity death benefit enhancements, and variable immediate annuities. Topics include: • Analysis of the special risks posed by these products • Selecting realistic dynamic assumptions • Techniques used in modeling these products • Scenario testing and result presentation to best communicate risks

Description: Attendees will hear a brief summary of the major requirements of the Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 133, Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities SFAS 133, a more detailed description of certain key provisions is given and the leaders summarize the impact on the industry. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 27, No. 3, Session 42TS of the New Orleans Annual Meeting.

Description: A presentation on the principle of equivalent utility from the 2001 ARCH. Contains both the static and dynamic model as well as examples with exponential utility.

Description: This session explores where financial engineering is applied, who is “leading the charge,” and what are the current and future roles of actuaries. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 27, No. 2, Session 55PD of the Toronto Spring Meeting.

Description: This session at the SOA 2001 Toronto Spring Meeting focuses on FAS 133, which defines accounting for derivatives, embedded options and hedging activities. Details of FAS 133 and implementation issues are discussed.

Description: Full version of NewsDirect Newsletter, Summer 2001, Issue No. 37.

Description: In May of 2001 the Credit Insurance Experience Committee was asked to respond to the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s request to the Society of Actuaries to develop a recommendation for a uniform national valuation standard for credit life insurance policy reserves. This document contains the recommendation along with supporting material.

Description: After many years of decline, the individual disability insurance industry is now experiencing double-digit growth in sales and profits. Attendees learn about quantitative and qualitative evidence of opportunities that exist in the individual disability market, along with specific varying product approaches. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 29, No. 1, Session 22

Description: Full version of Health Section News, December 2000, Issue No. 39.