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: This article addresses the expected impact that the 2001 CSO table will have on pricing and product structure for UL plans.

Description: This report examines options for analyzing periodic changes in VM-20 reserve amounts.

Description: Results of a company practice survey is presented. Among the areas to be 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: Regulatory Update

Description: Companies can implement VM-20 as early as 2017. While there have been research and educational materials produced to help actuaries and others better understand the implications and implementation of the new requirements from a financial reporting perspective, little has been developed emphasizing the product development actuary perspective. This SOA research project examines the impact of VM-20 from a product development actuarial perspective. The research will help actuaries and others enhance current practices to optimize pricing and product development activities within a VM-20 framework as well as enhance intracompany communication and efficiencies related to VM-20. This session is a follow-up to the session at last year’s symposium and will focus on Phase 2 of the research project.

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 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 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: Activity surrounding the principle-based approach to statutory reserves and minimum regulatory capital is gaining momentum. This article will allow those readers who are not as close to this initiative to quickly become familiar with the landscape of the movement and where it stands today.