Description: Many insurance companies have started Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives over the past few years to better engage with their employees and communities in new ways. Explore another important audience of DEI programs: the customers who purchase insurance products. Review research on the unique needs of specific groups that may have been underserved by insurance companies in the past. You will also touch on ways to make the insurance buying process more accessible to everyone.

Description: With the ever changing economic and regulatory environment along with emerging experience, companies face real challenges managing non-guaranteed elements (NGE) for life and annuity business. Explore the opportunities and challenges offered by NGE management, with consideration for market trends, regulations, and the new ASOP 2. By attending the session, you will: - Understand recent market trends in NGE management for life and annuities. - Better appreciate the regulatory and compliance requirements surrounding NGEs especially the revised ASOP 2. - Understand the risks of action and inaction on NGEs.

Description: Product complexity, the services provided by distributors, their method of obtaining clients, and their relationship to insurers all affect the characteristics of in force membership. Selecting the distribution channel(s) for a product can have a significant effect on overall profitability. Total sales, acquisition costs, anti-selection/quality of business, persistency, control over market targeting, etc., will vary based on the initial strategy decisions and future adjustments. Gaining a high-level understanding of distribution channels will help develop an appreciation for the importance of these decisions.

Description: Dive into the recent updates to the Bermuda Market and how this may impact current and future market players. Learn more about the Bermuda reserving and capital requirements and how the recent Bermuda Consultation Paper may impact the industry.

Description: Highlight key trends in life and annuity pricing, including pricing assumptions and pricing methodology. Participate in a discussion that includes pricing targets, use of value of new business (VNB), mortality assumptions, use ALM models and pricing scenarios.

Description: Fixed Indexed Annuity Experience Study – Policy Years 2013-15

Description: What is a vitagion? Is there such thing as catastrophic longevity? What does a 1 in 200 year mortality loss event look like? How might actuaries use mortality scenarios in their practice? Explore how to move beyond simplistic stress testing with singular percentage shocks to building a robust set of information, derived from stochastically generated scenarios for longevity and excess mortality outcomes. This data can inform assumption setting, longevity swaps, capital levels, and risk management. These concepts apply to life insurers, pension actuaries, and reinsurers. By attending the session, you will: - Understand what is a loss exceedance curve is and how it may be useful to quantify tail risks. - Comprehend how to incorporate stochastic variability into longevity and excess mortality assumptions. - Find out what elements go into a stochastic prediction of extreme mortality events using nested models. - Learn how to add more depth to youractuarial assumptions.

Description: This session will kick off the key National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) activities, with a primary focus on updates to principle-based reserve valuations and appointed actuary topics. Discover insights into the current set of activities and initiatives being considered and/or adopted by the NAIC Life Actuarial Task Force (LATF) and the NAIC Risk Based Capital Working Group as well as Actuarial Standards Board. Discuss actuarial practice issues and other appointed actuary and opinion topics relevant to life insurance, variable annuities and fixed annuities. By attending this session, you will: - Understand what changes are being made to reserves, RBC, PBR and Actuarial Standards and related topics and the anticipated timing of such emerging changes.

Description: This article summarizes a recent session at an SOA meeting that presented tips on improving and speeding the product filing process.

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.