Description: In this article, the authors give their overview of sessions that they attended at the June 2012 Life and Annuity Symposium. The sessions discussed are Life Insurance Illustration Regulation (15 years later), Advanced Mortality Topics, and Life and Annuity Product Development Strategies in the Wake of Low Interest Rates.

Description: This article contains a summary of some of the presentations given at the May 2013 SOA Life & Annuity Symposium. This article does not cover all sessions that are related to product development, but shares observations that have been made by various members of the SOA Product Development Section Council.

Description: Update on section activities

Description: Presenters will discuss mortality improvement as it applies to various lines of business with an emphasis on how individual life findings can be used to fine tune group life assumptions. In particular, it is important to know that there is not a single percentage of annual mortality improvement. Rather, experience shows that the rate of mortality improvement varies by factors such as attained age and target market.

Description: This article gives examples of how an actuary can live by the actuarial motto of substituting facts for appearances. The specific examples given are setting the mortality for table shaved individual life business and setting late duration lapse assumptions for level term business.

Description: This article gives an overview of the types of chronic illness acceleration riders that are now becoming prevalent in the US life insurance marketplace. The article discusses features that risk control measures that one may wish to consider when designing such an accleration rider.