Description: Department column featuring an interview with Sim Segal.

Description: Feature article that makes the point that an MBA is needed in addition to an FSA.

Description: Article discussing the SOA’s plans for growth.

Description: Strategic Risk Management was given lower priority in a recent survey of ERM Objectives. This article tells how the author believes that recent events have caused many to shift to a more short term focus and in the future there will be a shift back to a priority for the longer term view that stands behind Strategic Risk Management when the environment settles down and things again seem to be more predictable.

Description: This article focuses on personal experiences and observations, what risk managers say about emerging risks, how climate and emerging risks fit into the bigger retirement picture for the individual, and how they affect actuaries and plan sponsors. During the last few years, there has been an increasing concern about the impact of emerging risks and about concerns about them. Climate change is a top emerging risk. At the end of 2022, climate change was highlighted in the news as a major concern. At the 2022 annual meeting of the SOA, it was clear that actuaries accepted the importance of climate change and the need to think about how it affected many areas of practice. It is however clear that disruption can also come from other emerging risks. This article focuses on the broader picture of emerging risks but with more detail about climate change. It looks at the issues through SOA research, personal experience and other data to provide a big picture insight into these risks and retirement security.

Description: Women have different resources and experiences than men in retirement, partly due to demographic and life cycle differences and partly due to societal practices. This article reviews the differences, the situation 25 years ago, and then compares the situation 25 years ago to the situation today. Some of the big long lasting issues are differences in life spans and periods of disability, differences in pay, different shares of caregiving responsibility and differences of time out of the workplace. It finds some things that have improved, but other issues that existed 25 years ago have still not been addressed. New issues have arisen. The article draws on a presentation given at the 25th anniversary of the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER). It also focuses on the impact of COVID and the changes that have taken place in the workplace in the last few years. It provides insights into and discussions of the pros and cons of remote and hybrid work arrangements. It provides insights into issues that still need to be addressed.

Description: The introduction and effective application of US GAAP LDTI have increased the scrutiny of those reviewing the updated financial results. That is because LDTI has resulted in significant changes in actuarial reserving and deferred acquisition cost (DAC) models for long-duration contracts, including significant changes to data, assumptions and required disclosures. In light of the changes, greater reliance has been put on companies’ model risk management (MRM) teams and model validations to assess the conceptual soundness and accuracy of their companies’ actuarial models and to assess that the underlying data and process utilized are suitable and appropriate. This article covers a brief background on model validation, walk through a sample LDTI-focused model validation framework/test plan, then provide insights on common LDTI-related validation observations based on the authors' prior validation experience.

Description: This article enumerates many important considerations for a managing general underwriter(MGU) desiring to contract with an insurance carrier to issue and service provider excess of loss policies covering catastrophic medical risks assumed by accountable care organizations (ACOs).

Description: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the GUIDE model, which represents a significant step forward in improving dementia care nationwide. Those with deep expertise in dementia recognize that family caregivers are the most powerful frontline defense to improve care for people living with dementia. It is thus not surprising that the GUIDE model specifically requires the inclusion of the family caregiver in the care team.

Description: This article discusses Life-Cycle Saving and Investing for retirement. The article reviews how actuaries can add to the discussion of what is wanted and needed in retirement and how traditional replacement ratios can be linked with consumption targets.