Description: The SOA Research Institute engaged Milliman to perform a study examining life insurer practices on accelerated underwriting and how COVID-19 has impacted them. This effort included a separate outreach to actuaries working for twelve different state insurance departments. At the time of this report, three responses to our regulatory survey had been received. Therefore, the results of the three-question survey are discussed in broad terms, rather than using numerical measurements.

Description: The SOA Research Institute engaged Milliman to perform a study examining life insurer practices on accelerated underwriting and how COVID-19 has impacted them. This effort included a separate outreach to actuaries working for twelve different state insurance departments. At the time of this report, three responses to our regulatory survey had been received. Therefore, the results of the three-question survey are discussed in broad terms, rather than using numerical measurements.

Description: The Reinsurance Section, Product Development Section and the Committee on Life Insurance Research are pleased to present preliminary results from a company practice survey of individual life insurance accelerated underwriting. Performed by a Milliman team led by Al Klein and Karen Rudolph, the study provides perspectives from both direct life insurance companies and reinsurers. Among the areas addressed include the structure of accelerated underwriting programs, how programs are monitored, how accelerated underwritten business is performing relative to expectations and how companies are considering accelerated underwriting cohorts in the context of VM-20 assumption setting. The report recaps a presentation of the preliminary results from the 2019 Life and Annuity Symposium. The final results are expected to be available later in 2019.

Description: Summary of the NAIC and SOA's PBR Survey.

Description: Non-guaranteed elements are parameters of life insurance and annuity polices that are not fixed when the policy is issued but may be changed from time to time by the insurance company.

Description: Article outlining the recent activity of the NAIC Life Actuarial Task Force LATF VM-20 Subgroup activities and the Academy’s Life Reserve Working Group dealing with feedback from the VM-20 impact study.

Description: Initiated by the Financial Reporting Section, this paper explores rising interest rates. Following this path, the paper will look at implications of interest rate changes for the life insurance industry, current stress testing practices, and how a risk manager can proactively prepare for an uncertain future. A paper published in 2014 focused on why rates could stay low, and some aspects of this paper are similar (e.g., description of insurance products). This paper also uses a sample model office to help practitioners look at their own exposures. It includes typical interest-sensitive insurance products and how they might perform across various scenarios, as well as a survey to establish current practices for how insurers are testing interest rate risk currently.

Description: The Reinsurance Section, Product Development Section and the Committee on Life Insurance Research are pleased to present results from a company practice survey of individual life insurance accelerated underwriting. Performed by a Milliman team led by Al Klein and Karen Rudolph, the study provides perspectives from both direct life insurance companies and reinsurers. Among the areas addressed include the structure of accelerated underwriting programs, how programs are monitored, how accelerated underwritten business is performing relative to expectations and how companies are considering accelerated underwriting cohorts in the context of VM-20 assumption setting.

Description: Twelve companies field tested the proposed principle-based valuation manual for four different product lines: term life, universal life, whole life and deferred annuity. This report compares the reserves and C3 capital amounts under PBA versus current formulaic standard and discusses practical aspects in applying the proposed methodology.

Description: Recently, joint teams of SOA and American Academy of Actuaries (AAA) volunteers have been busy on several such projects, including individual annuity mortality basic, individual annuity reserve, valuation basic table, preneed insurance, and more. This article provides a summary of their work.