Description: Discussion of the March 1, 2013 Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) release of PLR 201309011, which addresses the application of the section 817(h) diversification requirements to variable contracts that have invested in illiquid investment vehicles (the “Funds”).

Description: Review of modeling of impact of proposed GAAP changes and commentary on preparedness based on company survey.

Description: An update on the principle-based reserves (PBR) process and possible valuation manual adoption, with recommendations to actuaries on how to prepare.

Description: Developments in IFRS

Description: The selection of the economic capital calculation approach becomes more of a modeling decision. Now let us pause here and think about the arbitrage-free assumption at the beginning. At any time, there can be only one price on any asset. If the company considers the price calculated above as the fair price for its products, then it must hold true that the same price has to be arrived at if the company uses a real-world pricing approach instead of a risk-neutral approach. This gives us a very good basis to calibrate the appro- priate economic capital.

Description: The author uses a reprint of an article from the very first edition of the “News from the Individual Life Insurance and Annuity Product Development Section” and assistance from the Taxation Section Council and Friends of that Council to decipher the changes between the life insurance tax environment back in the 1980s compared to today.

Description: If you’ve been reading my columns for a while, you have no doubt recognized that I tend to be consis- tently optimistic when it comes to the insurance contracts project meeting deadlines. I am constantly disappointed as the International Accounting Standards Board IASB and Financial Accounting Standards Board FASB fail to meet their own deadlines for producing exposure drafts or other papers. But this time is different.

Description: The use of Other Comprehensive Income OCI is receiving its moment in the sun. It is being considered for housing some of the earnings volatility in the International Accounting Standards Board IASB current approach to measuring insurance contracts’ performance.

Description: The Financial Accounting Standards Board FASB, which promulgates accounting standards under US GAAP, and the International Accounting Standards Board IASB, which promulgates accounting standards for many countries outside the United States, have been working for several years on a joint project on accounting for insurance contracts. The boards agree on many aspects of the proposed accounting model. However, as of December 2011, there are a number of key areas where they do not. This article summarizes the boards’ views on the key areas where they disagree.

Description: The current life insurance development with a focus on the latest regulation change from actuarial perspective and its possible impact to the Vietnam industry.