Description: This session explores the product development process life cycle and focuses on the front-end elements of market research and competitive analysis. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Volume 27, No. 2, Session 22PD of the Toronto Spring Meeting

Description: 1994 SOA Meeting, San Francisco. This session is about joint ventures and private labeling for life, annuity and disability products. In a primary variation of private labeling, a manufacturer develops, underwrites, administers, and does the actuarial functions, but the client company markets the product. Other variations of joint ventures have different distributions of duties.

Description: 1993 SOA Meeting, Quebec. This session discussion is about the dilemma for mutual companies including the search for capital, M&A considerations, and the demutualization alternative. Topics included: 1 Large mutual companies and their issues. 2. Small mutual companies and their issues. 3. The regulatory, legal, and tax aspects.

Description: 1993 SOA Spring Meeting, Boston. This session addressed the problems unique to mutual companies. Topics addressed included: 1. In search of capital. 2. Merger/acquisition considerations. 3. The demutualization alternative. 4. Profit crunch. 5. Joint ventures. 6. Lessons from other countries - Canada, Mexico, Britain.

Description: 1994 SOA Spring Meeting, San Francisco. This session explored the product design, pricing, and investment management strategies to mitigate the risk of long term minimum interest rates in a low interest rate environment.

Description: 1993 SOA Annual Meeting, New York. This session is about product design and pricing of products with bonus features. Topics included: 1. The need for maximum long-term benefits. 2. Designs that maximize long-term benefits. 3. Reasons we should focus on benefits and not cash values. 4. Principles of equity behind bonus features. 5. A practical method to define equity. 6. A summary of current regulatory activity. 7. The definition of equity. 8. The need for cash values. 9. Reasons for considering maximum limits on non-guaranteed elements. 10. Disclosure of non-guaranteed elements. 11. Reserving practices.