Description: This article studies the syllabus as a dynamic, interactive teaching tool that informs and is informed by both solutions of complex course problems and student difficulties with these problems.

Description: Over the last few years, many direct companies have started inforce management programs and are now navigating what actions can be taken to optimize the business. At the same time, the legal, compliance, and regulatory environments are also changing. The presenters will explore the development and implementation of programs such as changing non-guaranteed elements or efforts to improve experience while considering the changing compliance environment, including New York Regulation 210, ASOP2 and litigation challenges.

Description: The arrival of ASU 2018-12 (a.k.a Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts or GAAP Targeted Improvements) presents insurers with augmented financial reporting risk across all areas of the valuation process. Naturally, the internal control frameworks that serve to mitigate these risks must evolve and expand. Valuation actuaries should view this transformative event as an opportunity to take an active role in developing new and improved controls that are both effective and sustainable.

Description: Describes a process for identifying relevant industry experience to credibility-weight with relevant company experience to set modeling assumptions and margins.

Description: Describes a process for identifying relevant industry experience to credibility-weight with relevant company experience to set modeling assumptions and margins.

Description: July 2017 issue of The Stepping Stone by Leadership & Development Section. practical information for actuaries, trends that impact section, section activities

Description: How can actuaries tailor their work to a target audience? This article explores success stories and key considerations when preparing work for others.

Description: Models are useful in illustrating various facets of complex phenomena, but they are inherently limited.

Description: This article covers the importance of a system peer review within the systems change control process and offers suggestions for creating more robust controls.

Description: On October 30, 2015, the SOA Assumption Development and Governance Group, an informal discussion group consisting of nearly 200 interested actuaries with topics pertaining to actuarial assumption development and governance, organized an industry discussion call on end-to-end assumption documentation practices. The purpose of this call was to generate a large list of ideas for best-practice assumption documentation. More than thirty companies were represented in the call, including direct insurers, reinsurers and consulting firms. This article is the work product of the discussion written by Laurie Li and Alex Zaidlin.

Description: The April 2016 Issue of The Modeling Platform

Description: On October 30, 2015, the SOA Assumption Development and Governance Group, an informal discussion group consisting of nearly 200 interested actuaries with topics pertaining to actuarial assumption development and governance, organized an industry discussion call on end-to-end assumption documentation practices. The purpose of this call was to generate a large list of ideas for best-practice assumption documentation. More than thirty companies were represented in the call, including direct insurers, reinsurers and consulting firms. This article is the work product of the discussion written by Laurie Li and Alex Zaidlin.

Description: Metadata for entire issue

Description: February issue of The Stepping Stone

Description: The February/March 2016 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: Challenge to actuarial business as usual in re public pension plans with a focus on setting actuarial standards of practice

Description: The next evolution of actuarial systems in the U.S. will likely be a move toward a single system solution. This article defines a single system solution and illustrates how models can be shared across actuarial functions, the potential benefits of a single system solution, and describes potential mitigation strategies to address typical actuarial concerns.

Description: The Stepping Stone issue 60, November 2015

Description: The October/November 2015 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: The Modeling Platform

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

Description: Highlights of the 2013 initiatives and accomplishments of the Society of Actuaries.

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

Description: AHIP commissioned the Menges Group to write this white paper on key pressures in the budgetary environment that stress the actuarial soundness of Medicaid rates. Though written by non-actuaries, this white paper thoroughly describes key professionalism topics that face Medicaid actuaries in their daily work.

Description: The December 2013/January 2014 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: In the summer of 2012 the SIC decided the time was right to find out what current practices were with respect to Asset Adequacy Testing. This article summarizes the survey process and results obtained. The purpose of the survey was twofold: first, to educate actuaries prior to year-end work about current AOMR practice reflecting changes since the American Academy of Actuaries’ (AAA’s) 2004 Practice Note had been issued; secondly, to provide enough information such that an update of that practice note could be done should the AAA decide a revision to the note was desired.

Description: The April/May 2013 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: Overview of a recent visit to silicon valley and how the learnings from this trip can be applied in an insurance setting.

Description: The October/November 2012 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: The authors suggest that mastering 'star performer' skills and work strategies is simply a matter of learning and practicing the outlined techniques. From The Stepping Stone, February 2012, Issue No. 45.

Description: Feature article highlighting readers’ responses to a previously published hypothetical workplace dilemma where unlocking assumptions resulted in an unexpected DAC writedown.

Description: A summary of the responses to the article “Stochastic Cherry Orchard”. A situation where a subordinate actuary was asked by his superior to reduce the number of scenarios run on a UL valuation in order to meet a time deadline.

Description: Summary of recent SOA-sponsored research on Enterprise Risk Management practices as applied to health insurers, self-insured plans, and health finance professionals.

Description: The author has gathered a variety of resources, general theories, and specific practices concerning spreadsheet errors and their avoidance.

Description: This paper considers the question of whether the growth in the size of financial statements witnessed over the last several years has yielded an increase in the quality of disclosure around issues of financial risk and to what extent this disclosure is satisfying the perceived needs of readers of the financial statements, as represented by the investment analyst community.

Description: Discussion of the investigation of the Faculty and Institute of Actuaries in the United Kingdom relating to the events surrounding the closure to new business on December 8, 2000 of the UK’s Equitable Life Assurance Society.

Description: This article highlights the role of the regulatory actuary and gives advice to company actuaries when making state filings.

Description: This session from the 1994 Valuation Actuary Symposium presents a question and answer format relating to various valuation topics.

Description: This session from the 1994 Valuation Actuary Symposium covers long term care and health related issues for valuation, an update from the Risk-Based Capital Task Force of the Academy on developing a risk-based capital formula for health coverages, an overview of the health practice notes.

Description: This session from the 1993 Valuation Actuary Symposium looks at an overview of developments in 1993 including a regulator's viewpoint of various valuation actuary issues, an update on the valuation actuary and health insurance, current developments in reinsurance that should be considered in the valuation process and a sample actuarial opinion and memorandum.

Description: This session from the 1993 Valuation Actuary Symposium introduces the Basic Issues and Principles Health Practice Note and provides some background information including cash flow testing, Section 7 opinions and an update on solvency issues.

Description: This session from the 1994 Valuation Actuary Symposium provides an introduction and overview to the symposium including several NAIC-related activities, regulation XXX, proposed GGG regulation, and the entire life practice notes at the time.

Description: This session from the 1993 Valuation Actuary Symposium discusses opinion and memorandum issues facing the appointed actuary including the criteria used to form an opinion, analyzing year-end testing, documentation needed, reliances, how to handle a qualified opinion and options other than cash flow testing.

Description: This session from the 1993 Valuation Actuary Symposium focuses on problems and solutions observed by consulting firms including cash flow testing, modeling of assets and liabilities, who the valuation actuary relies upon and the software being used for valuation actuary work.

Description: This statement is an expression of opinion by the Committee on Actuarial Principles regarding the identification of actuarial principles to be considered for adoption by SOA membership. This covers the following types of principles: statistical, economic and financial, modeling, risk management.

Description: Discusses the direction for actuarial research in the areas of experience studies, theory, and practice.

Description: Discusses the pricing issues that, if handled successfully, pave the way for a solid statement of actuarial opinion: coordinating pricing and valuation roles, communicating product specifications, setting mutually acceptable assumptions, reflecting risk in pricing and valuation, coordinating investment policy and interest-crediting policy, and anticipating a volatile economic environment. From the 1987 Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 13, No. 2.

Description: 1987 Valuation Actuary Handbook: Chapter 1: Addresses life insurance company statutory reserve valuation.

Description: From the 1985 Valuation Actuary Symposium A review of the process involved in making an actuarial opinion and in developing the related actuarial report to management. This was accomplished through a case study approach, specifically covering a universal life product.

Description: Teaching session about forecasting techniques for evaluating alternative futures, and how to use these techniques in making policy decisions. From the 1978 Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 4, No. 3.

Description: Book review on Standards for Discussion and Presentation of Errors in Survey and Census Data by the American Statistical Association, Washington, D.C., 1975. The material will be of interest to actuaries and of help in preparing their own study reports. The guidelines discuss some relatively simple means of presenting error estimates for published data.

Description: In the absence of a generally accepted guide to actuarial principles and practices for pension plans, a new professional firm offering actuarial consulting services has both the freedom to establish and the burden of establishing the professional policies by which it will be guided. Our thinking about the practical and professional necessity of annual valuations is reflected in this paper. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1972, Vol. 24, Pt. 1, No. 69 AB.