Description: This is an article about the new format of The Independent Consultant newsletter.

Description: In this Column, the editor of The Independent Consultant discussed section activities and goals and solicited ideas for how the members' needs could be better met.

Description: The author, outgoing chairperson of the Entrepreneurial Actuaries Section, ‘EAS,’ relays thanks to various individuals who have helped advance the goals of the section, and describes a request to the SOA, submitted by the EAS to develop a separate website for finding actuaries. “This would not be an extension of the SOA Directory which allows actuaries to find actuaries but a website for public access to actuaries who would register as independent entrepreneurs, small business and larger consulting firms.”

Description: This is a discussion of the medical loss ratio, the confusion and debate over the calculation method under the new MLR requirement, and the opportunities it presents to consulting actuaries.

Description: Over the last several decades, mortality trends and life expectancies in developed countries have been improving and are expected to continue to improve in the future. This paper discusses issues of longevity risk and volatility faced by small defined-benefit DB pension plans in Canada and outlines the opportunities available for entrepreneurial insurance companies interested in providing solutions to address these issues.

Description: We are an attractive target market. As small business owners, partners, or others with purchasing responsibility, we have the need to purchase many products and services ranging from computer equipment, software, office equipment and supplies to training and educational materials to legal or accounting services. We each use vendors that would love to have exposure to 600 or more other professionals just like us.