Description: Presenters will discuss difficulties within the new NAIC ESG, such as how the model deals with interest rate flooring and its treatment of the linkage between equity and treasury bond returns. They will also discuss the documentation and governance process surrounding the new NAIC ESG.

Description: For over a decade, the low interest rate environment in the U.S. has shaped the life insurance industry. Challenges in finding reasonable yields on investment-grade assets have defined insurer decisions on product designs and business mix. Now, we see a material shift in the interest rate environment, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury rate increasing nearly 3% from 2020 lows. In this follow-up to ImpACT 2021's popular Interest Rates May Be Rising...Now What Do We Do?, join us as we investigate the industry's response to the shifting interest rate environment with respect to pricing and product design, inforce and capital management, and the M&A and reinsurance markets. Have insurers been altering product designs and management actions to take advantage of the increased investment yield on long-term assets? Or are we seeing business-as-usual? How have the changes in rates impacted policyholder behavior? What are the benefit and risk of the rising interest rate for life insurers? We will also discuss developments in the M&A and closed block reinsurance market as (re)insurers continue to navigate the evolving economy. Gain an understanding of the impact that the new interest rate environment has had on life insurance and annuity pricing and product design, inforce and capital management, and the M&A and reinsurance markets.

Description: The NAIC is attempting to transition to a new economic scenario generator. The process has been ongoing for several years and many interesting challenges have emerged along the way. Get an overview of where this transition is at and what comparatives have been established between the existing and proposed economic scenario generators through scenario releases and field testing. A significant amount of discussion and investigation has been done concerning acceptance testing for interest rates, equities and corporate bond returns.

Description: Recently, life insurers have seen a lot of change in their business model. Whether it be new accounting rules (e.g., long-duration targeted improvements [LDTI]) or new capital charges (e.g., structured equity tranche), companies are being forced to reconsider how they invest their assets. Today's session will help attendees understand how companies are using modelling software to help understand the impact of these changes on both their existing portfolio and potential changes that these new regulations may lead to. By attending, attendees will get a better understanding of: - How life insurers' asset allocation decisions are different than other financial companies (e.g., banks, pension funds, P&C companies) - How these changes may impact the risk vs. reward tradeoffs that life insurers' face - How these companies can use modelling software to help evaluate these potential impacts

Description: In this session, the panelists discuss several common cognitive biases that can adversely impact the capital allocation decision process, introducing the notions of time, accounting convention, positivity, hierarchy, and social proof in describing them. Historical case examples of sub-optimal capital allocation are then explored, identifying the contributing behavioral factors including the simultaneous confluence of multiple factors. The panelists will close the session with several suggestions for attendees to consider for incorporation into their decision-making processes. At the conclusion of the session, attendees will be able to: - Learn common cognitive biases that impact capital allocation decisions - Differentiate which biases impact different aspects of the capital allocation process - Build awareness of biases affecting capital allocation decision models - Mitigate cognitive biases present in decision making processes

Description: Discusses the market, demographic, and macroeconomic factors that affect actuaries' choices for the assumptions they use in the pricing and valuation of many insurance products.

Description: Occasionally, in the financial reporting world the stars align, and insurers get the opportunity to leverage their financial results and cashflows across multiple reporting use cases. Such opportunity came about with implementation of the U.S. generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP) long-duration targeted improvements (LDTI) accounting standard, that required companies to move away from locked-in assumptions for traditional life and limited-pay products and produce best estimate liability cashflows for these business lines.

Description: In this webcast, we will overview the recent trends in the pension landscapes, as well as discuss investment solutions that assist with navigation through volatile market conditions. Learn more about the challenges that investors face now, as well as in the past. If you're ready to dive into the issues of investing during a period of inflation, monetary tightening and turbulent financial markets, then join us and discover more about what's going on in the pension and retirement industries.

Description: The last 20 years of global interest rate experience has low interest rates for long periods of time ('low for long'), negative interest rates, strange yield curve shapes, and now the most rapid increase in interest rates in our history. What is it we should be focused on as risk managers? Low for long, high rates due to prolonged inflation, or some blend of the two? The session will discuss our interest rate experience and the factors that appear to be dominant for the next decade. The session will address how one establishes a set of stylized facts to guide the development of a suitable interest rate model and how calibration targets can be determined. Discussion will then move to the suitability of existing interest rate models for capturing the real-world risks that actuaries and other finance professionals are concerned with. Are there interest rate models that are fit for purpose given the past 20 years of experience? A selection of candidate models will be discussed and illustrated.

Description: CMS has required hospitals to publish their chargemaster rates, cash discounts and negotiated rates as of January 1, 2021. Our panel is comprised of a data strategist, an executive from a large hospital system and an actuary.