Description: This report discusses drivers of U.S. mortality improvement for the short and long term.

Description: This presentation is an open forum, session 48OF, from the 2004 Spring Meeting of the Society of Actuaries, held June 14-15 in San Antonio, TX. The panelists focus on emerging U.S. GAAP accounting issues, and the implementation issues encountered by affected companies. The panelists discuss Statement of Position [SOP] 03-1 on nontraditional long-duration life insurance contracts, the SOP on internal replacements, and the impact of the Derivatives Implementation Group issue B36 on embedded derivatives for modified coinsurance and funds withheld reinsurance. Discussion from participants is included. From the Record of Society of Actuaries, Volume 30, No. 2.

Description: Study of the impact of IRS proposed mortality tables on private sector pension plan costs, including liabilities, contributions and PBGC premiums.

Description: Understanding U.S. defined-benefit plan annual funding notice definitions and what they are meant to represent is a key to understanding how “healthy” or “unhealthy” a pension plan is. This article offers a description of several types of funded status measurements and their applications under the rules mandated by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to fund private employer-sponsored defined-benefit pension plans.

Description: Updated study of metrics for measuring whether US mulitemployer pension plan contributions paid down unfunded liabilities or met regulatory benchmarks

Description: Analysis of the impact of projected multiemployer pension plan insolvencies over 20 years on affected participants and participating employers.

Description: Feature article describing a simple and ready solution that allows a hedging program to operate effectively without risk of mismatch due to mortality fluctuations.

Description: Results of survey conducted in July 2006 about the methods used by insurers to develop their pricing mortality assumptions for fully underwritten life insurance in the U.S. The objective was to understand how companies adjust base mortality tables and whether mortality improvement was assumed.

Description: This literature guide provides the user with a summary of representative sources of current general knowledge for continuing education purposes.

Description: This paper investigates the use of models of dependent mortality for determining annuity values. We discuss a broad class of parametric models using a bivariate survivorship function called a copula. Using data from a large insurance company to illustrate our methods, we calculate maximum likelihood estimates to calibrate the rnodel.