Description: Identifies some key pitfalls in developing equity-indexed products and suggests some steps insurers can take to avoid unpleasant financial surprises.

Description: discussion of risk management and proper pricing of life insurance products.

Description: This article discusses The Compact is an agreement between member states to develop and use a single set of uniform standards as the guidelines to be followed for forms to be approved, including any actuarial-type requirements.

Description: February 2016 issue of Product Matters!

Description: Discussion of the appropriate use of geometric versus arithmetic average returns to use in a stochastic interest rate generator to be equivalent to a deterministic single interest rate scenario.

Description: Discussion of a direct writer survey and a reinsurer survey conducted in the fall of 2002 by the Society of Actuaries. The surveys asked a number of questions about underwriting criteria needed to qualify for preferred risk. They also asked questions about the percentage of issues in each underwriting category and the mortality assumptions for the different categories.

Description: Discussion of UL products with secondary guarantees and how they are similar to and different from traditional life insurance products. Discussion of possibility they are lapse supported in their pricing.

Description: The purpose of this article is to discuss potential issues and considerations that may be encountered with the implementation of VM 20. Crucial considerations include the modeling software used, validation effort, assumptions used, complexity of the process, documentation, and run time. A key takeaway is that an integrated modeling platform with solid automation and asset-liability capabilities is imperative for addressing the issues and considerations encountered.

Description: Read the July 2016 issue of Product Matters!

Description: Defines Accelerated Underwriting programs as a transformational trend, and outlines a process for evaluating mortality implications of such programs.