Description: Mandatory implementation of life principle-based reserves (PBR) is just around the corner and there is no shortage of work to do, as most products have yet to be moved to PBR. Oliver Wyman recently completed its 2019 PBR survey, with more than 40 participants covering 85 percent of the individual life market, including 23 of the top 25 life writers and five reinsurers. This article will expand on the key survey findings, including implementation trends, analysis to date and recent discussions and decisions on the treatment of non-guaranteed reinsurance.

Description: discussion of arbitrage possibilities cause by inconsistent mortality pricing assumptions in annuity products vis. a vis. life insurance products

Description: This article discusses challenges in innovation, governance, and balancing the tension that naturally arises between them. Company culture is often a driver of success or failure in innovation. This article outlines a new dynamic to address this challenge.

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 article discusses the continued popularity of indexed UL insurance and possible reasons why a company's actual indexed UL earnings may be below their original pricing expectations for the product. The article discusses several key items that may be the source of that underperformance (e.g., hedge ineffectiveness, policyholder behavior) and the need to monitor earnings and perform analyses to better understand those potential sources.

Description: The last few years have seen a dramatic change in the way that insurance products are priced. If we traveled back in time 15 to 20 years, we would see a world where most insurance products were priced on the basis of a few static scenarios. In the last several years, pricing on a stochastic basis has become more mainstream—at least for contracts with embedded guarantees.

Description: This article discusses an update to a survey that focuses on how companies are trying to price for and understand the risks inherent in the products they sell.

Description: Analysis of Alzheimer’s Disease as a potential Critical Illness insurance benefit trigger.

Description: This is an excel spreadsheet with some data pertaining to an article of the same name from the Product Development News