Description: Article describing content and key takeaways from experience completing the SOA PA Certificate

Description: "Hear AM Best rating analysts discuss the rating process and the best capital adequacy ratio (BCAR), a quantitative foundation for AM Best’s assessment of carriers’ financial strength. The benchmarking of BCAR scores for various company types (national MCOs, BCBS plans, smaller regional plans) will be discussed. Look at how changes in investment and underwriting environment impacted the results over the past several years. Further, AM Best’s view of the quality of capital and various factors impacting the overall assessment of the balance sheet strength will be discussed. By attending this session, you will: Gain an understanding of AM Best’s building block approach to ratings and how the BCAR results fit into the process. Learn the differences between RBC and BCAR models. Learn how various factors—e.g. liquidity, financial flexibility, financial leverage, the org structure—impact the final AM Best assessment of health companies' capital."

Description: "Explore a general introduction to the opportunity of applying a relatively newer area in machine learning called uplift modeling, which has been successfully used in retail (Wayfair etc). The concepts are parallel to the intervention programs in health care, where we are interested in measuring the treatment effects and ultimately directing the right members to the most effective programs, driving the highest value for the programs both from a financial and health outcomes perspective. Uplift modeling can also be viewed in context of causal modeling where we are interested in assigning cause to a treatment relative to a member not receiving the treatment. Check out an introduction on the concept, seehow it relates and builds on existing work, and use a demo to showcase the potential of integrating this ML approach to current work."

Description: With the mandated health plan transparency files, health plans and providers are now able to substantially enhance their provider contracting efforts. Although the files are large and cumbersome they are market disruptors and provide new insights for provider contracting efforts. Explore a demonstration on the type of information now available and how it can be used to enhance this from both a health plan and health care provider perspective.

Description: The audience will learn about practical applications for actuarial and operational problems by using data science, how to collaborate effectively between actuarial, data science, data engineering, data management, legal and others and specific questions they need to ask the data science team to make effective data science solutions.

Description: Discuss various analytics and use cases using payer published reimbursement contract data under federal mandate of Transparency in Coverage. These contract rates are publicly available in machine readable format (MRF) starting July 1, 2022, and refreshed monthly. By attending the session, you will have a better understanding of the state-of-art development and analytics using MRF data, including the technologies used to extract and analyze huge MRF files, validation and limitations of published rates, and their use cases.

Description: Insurers have long relied on scenario analysis to understand the long-term impacts of potential business decisions, but the advent of rapidly changing market environments and a growing desire to optimize capital has spurred business leaders to leverage new tools in order to explore potential options. Companies are beginning to explore new analytical solutions that trade-off accuracy for speed for a more robust approach to impact quantification. In particular, they are looking at the use of additional what-if scenario models, built from the top down, to support decision-making processes. Actuaries can help take charge in the development of these top-down analyses by leveraging data and actuarial techniques to supplement their existing models. In this way, business leaders can simultaneously rely on the actuarial rigor of typical standalone cash flow projection models, while also receiving support for real-time business decision-making. The potential of what-if scenario modeling can help actuaries unlock a powerful new approach to scenario analysis to enable more rapid decision-making. Learning objectives: In this session we will discuss the fundamental concepts of what-if scenario modeling in an actuarial context, including: - Core principles and components of what-if scenario modeling - Common challenges and considerations around the implementation of what-if scenario modeling - Potential solutions to challenges and their implications

Description: The NAIC continues to move ahead with the GOES (generator of economic scenarios) project for the transition to a new real-world economic scenario generator (ESG) prescribed for principle-based reserve and capital calculations. This session will provide a detailed project update from the regulator and practitioner perspective. An overview of model details and methods that have been decided, what remains to be determined, and the projected timeline for implementation will be discussed. Recent developments such as the industry field test and NAIC model office testing to assess the potential impact on reserves and capital will be discussed as will a review of the implementation of the stochastic exclusion ratio test (SERT). We will also discuss the components of the ESG model and the associated scenario sets the NAIC has exposed with respect to target and acceptance criteria. At the conclusion of this session, attendees will understand the current status of the NAIC GOES project and its projected timeline and will be able to describe the components of the model and how the model has been calibrated and validated. Attendees will also appreciate the remaining challenges in bringing the model to full implementation.

Description: This session will discuss basic and advanced hedge modeling concepts. It will explain common hedge strategies used to support guarantees and options embedded within life and annuity products and the materiality of these products within the US. Attendees will learn how Machine Learning acts to reduce the computer processing needed to simulate the dynamic hedging of product liabilities projected in the future across many stochastic scenarios. Actuaries working in consulting, software development, and a large life insurance company will provide a wide range of hedging viewpoints ranging from a broad industry perspective to a hedging practitioner. Attendees will obtain a comprehensive understanding of a novel ML approach to modeling dynamic hedges and the hedge optimization opportunity it presents.

Description: Model runtime is a common challenge for actuaries in the life and annuity space. In particular, applications such as pricing and forecasting may require the use of nested-stochastic calculations, which may require extensive computing resources or use of rough approximations. There are also other areas where runtime may be a challenge, such as projecting certain reserves or layering solving algorithms within actuarial calculations. Recently, runtime challenges have been exacerbated by the development of increasingly complex insurance products and changes in reporting frameworks, such as IFRS 17, LDTI, PBR, and Solvency II. Many approaches have been explored by actuaries in the past to address model runtime challenges. To further this research, the SOA has recently published the paper Predictive Analytics and Machine Learning - Practical Applications for Actuarial Modeling. The authors of the paper will share their insights on innovative techniques using the implementation of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AIML). Come examine an introduction into AIML, review how AIML can be used to circumvent nested stochastic and other runtime challenges, explore case studies, review how costs and benefits can be measured and discuss model risk management considerations. Key learning objectives include: - Understanding the fundamental concepts of AIM - Understanding applications of AIML for actuarial modeling - Learning about the costs and benefits - Learning how AIML can be applied in practice to improve model runtime