Description: Future mortality improvement has been a common assumption in life insurance and annuity pricing and forecasting for many years. However, experience over the last decade suggests this might be an assumption that merits reconsideration in the United States. This article will take a closer look at factors that impact mortality improvement trends and discuss why insurers may want to reevaluate product designs to better manage the associated mortality risk. We then introduce a product idea with this in mind, where premiums are based on a life expectancy index and insurers share the risk (and opportunity) or mortality improvement with policyholders.

Description: Discuss changes in group life waiver of premium claim recovery and mortality experience since the 2005 table was released, the development of the 2023 table, and the new statutory valuation standard approved by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

Description: The Student Research Case Study Challenge provides an opportunity for teams of students to apply their actuarial skills on a real-world problem in a business setting.

Description: Are you searching for an overview of the SOA Research Institute's Mortality & Longevity Strategic Research Program? Join us for an introduction into studies focusing on the historical U.S. population and insured mortality trends. Two research projects are observed in this webcast, one examining the impact of COVID-19 on mental illness and the impact of mental illness on U.S. Mortality & Longevity. The second study looks into the Group Life COVID-19 Mortality Survey and the high level view of U.S. group term life insurance mortality results during the pandemic. Come explore the research goals and the future for the Mortality & Longevity Strategic Program.

Description: Life insurance and annuity illustrations are an important part of the sales and ongoing policy maintenance process educating consumers on how the products could perform in a given set of circumstances. While candidates for Fellowship in the Society of Actuaries and even practicing actuaries may have a general knowledge of what they are and awareness of the regulations and applicable standards of actuarial practice, they may not know much about the intricacies of illustrations and illustration testing. The purpose of this project is to create a resource to improve actuarial practitioners’ understanding of illustrations. Additionally, this topic is not currently addressed in the exam curriculum. It is intended that selected sections of the report on this research would be suitable for inclusion in the Fellowship syllabus.

Description: The paper describes a cost-benefit analysis to determine the value of electronic health records (EHRs) in life insurance accelerated underwriting programs. Sample cases from a carrier were underwritten pre-EHR and post-EHR and the mortality savings estimates from risk class changes using EHRs was compared to procurement costs. Results were developed to cover a range of scenarios. Factors to consider for carriers evaluating the cost-effectiveness of using EHRs in their own accelerated underwriting programs are also described.

Description: Discover the impact of COVID-19 on member costs post diagnosis and the future of mortality in this Emerging Long Term COVID-19 Trends webcast. This webcast will be split up into Health and Life portions. During the Health portion of this webcasts, you will learn more about the impact on risk scores due to recent findings. Enjoy this discussion and further dive into the emerging COVID-19 trends that may affect how you conduct business practices. At the Life portion, the SOA Research Institute assembled a panel of mortality experts who will express opinions on the effects of the U.S. mortality rate for general, insured and pension populations in the short-term.

Description: This article details different methods for calculating mortality impact associated with new underwriting programs. A common simplified calculation is compared and contrasted with two first principles approaches. The strengths and weaknesses of both approaches are discussed.

Description: This paper applies the research in Prospect Theory of Kahneman and Tversky to explain why sales of annuities lag sales of life insurance products. The author theorizes that life insurance is easier to sell because customers perceive themselves to be in the domain of losses, while potential annuity customers perceive themselves to be in the domain of gains. Kahneman and Tversky showed us that people are mostly risk averse in the domain of gains and risk seeking in the domain of losses. Purchase of an annuity or life product is a risky investment. Customers will find it easier to take the risk in the life insurance domain of losses than the annuity domain of gains. The author then proposes a hybrid life annuity product that might address both mortality and longevity risk in one product that would allow both products to be more competitive than stand-alone products.

Description: If you're intrigued by the impact of recent interest changes or updates about the Principle Based Reserves ASOP 22 Statements of Actuarial Opinions Based on Asset Adequacy Analysis for Life Insurance, Annuity or Health Insurance Reserves and Other Liabilities, then this webcast discussion featuring three expert speakers will grab your attention. Join us for the annual Year-End U.S. Statutory Financial Reporting Considerations webcast and discover more about cash flow testing, as well as potential changes to statutory financial reporting due to climate change. This popular webcast will be taking place December 14, so don't miss out on the latest considerations from our important speakers.