Description: In the United States, there has been much industry discussion of the challenges associated with a sustained low interest rate environment, which impacts both the asset and liability sides of the balance sheet in unfavorable ways. The intent of this article is not to focus on these strategic issues. Rather, we attempt to shine a spotlight on some of the modeling challenges that practicing actuaries may experience when incorporating negative interest rates into their models.

Description: Latest development in IFRS 17 including a first look at companies disclosures and financial impacts, as well as a discussion of some of the run time issues that companies face.

Description: Discount rate curve construction has been a topic of renewed interest following recent changes in financial reporting standards. Interpolation is a key component of curve construction and can be conducted via an assortment of methods. This article explores six popular interpolation techniques and assesses how they perform with regards to desirable features of such methods: continuity of forwards, stability and locality, simplicity, and market consistency.

Description: Actuaries can leverage cluster modeling to reduce model runtime and cloud compute costs, which can be a real concern as companies transition from an on-premise grid to a scalable cloud solution. We consider practical considerations associated with clustering, through both US statutory and US GAAP lenses. Lastly, the results from a variable annuity liability clustering case study are presented.