Description: A jurisdiction’s regulatory regime can make some insurance products capital intensive to write. This can increase incentives for insurers to enter into risk transfer arrangements, such as reinsurance, to support their business and growth objectives.

Description: The article summarizes results of a Milliman survey per the title. These products comprise about 40% of the total individual life market, and the survey covers a range of topics on these plans, which should be of interest to a large portion of the life industry.

Description: Actuary Dave Dillon describes his role volunteering his time as a teacher in higher education, including the rewards and challenges that teaching offers. He discusses the importance of being attentive to his audience’s pre-existing knowledge and adapting his presentations accordingly. His work as a teacher typically encompasses three distinct domains: 1) acquainting young students with the actuarial profession, 2) educating non-actuaries about public policy issues related to health insurance (including the Affordable Care Act), and 3) instructing current actuaries on advanced methodologies and principles within the field. Recently he taught a health insurance course for actuarial science graduate students at Georgia State University and lectured at Boise State University’s master's program in Population & Health Systems Management. In every teaching and mentoring opportunity, actuaries can contribute to the expansion and prosperity of the profession and are encouraged to pursue these endeavors.

Description: This is the second part of a 2 part series on Real options analysis (ROA). This article looks into the limitations of using financial option theory when doing real options analysis with projects that are long-dated and uncertain, such as: 1. First-degree homogeneity, 2. Uncertainty must derive from Brownian motion, and 3. Risk neutrality.

Description: The LTC insurance sector faces a crisis of credibility due to recent company failures. Market evidence indicates reduced confidence in the reserve sufficiency of companies with large legacy LTC exposures. Disclosures show the persistence of problematic actuarial and investment return assumptions. Institutional backstops exist but vary by jurisdiction and have elements which can exacerbate rather than ameliorate problems. Fortunately, LTC liabilities accrue over long time periods. An industry supported incentive structure can be conceived that would establish stronger standards and encourage greater reserving in exchange for a more reliable and rational backstop.