Description: Chairperson’s column discussing the current challenges of life insurance product development in the present times.

Description: Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2018-12, commonly referred to as long duration targeted improvements (LDTI), is the most significant GAAP accounting change impacting the life insurance industry in the past 40 years. This article discusses the impact of LDTI on variable annuities (VA) and fixed indexed annuities (FIA) from a product development and in-force management angle. Detailed discussion topics include hedging and ALM, product strategy and development, and pricing. LDTI will cause many VA and FIA writers to re-evaluate their hedging and asset liability management (ALM) strategy following the move to fair value accounting under the new MRB requirement. Stakeholder appetite for accounting volatility and resulting changes to hedging and ALM may trigger changes in product mix and designs. In addition to updating pricing infrastructure to handle the new requirements, pricing actuaries will need to produce analyses to educate stakeholders on the risks and pricing implications of any changes to designs, hedging and ALM.

Description: A paper demonstrating how to obviate the need for market timing strategies in variable annuity products by judicious use of product design. The paper presents the premise behind the product design, provides numerical examples, then explores possible extensions of the concept to produce more sophisticated variable annuity plans based on guarantees of investment outcomes.

Description: This article discusses the proper slope of mortality tables, especially at the high attained ages.

Description: Product concepts that are born in one country often find their way to the other. This article discusses which products are the hot products in the United States and Canada, and what we can expect for future sales for these products.

Description: Chairperson’s column likening product development to campaigning.

Description: Discusses the events of the inaugural Life and Annuity Symposium held May 17 and 18, 2010.

Description: Chairperson’s column describing activities the Product Development section has undertaken to date.

Description: Provide high level summary of predictive modelling.

Description: This article discusses the opportunity for annuity carriers created by the SECURE Act to distribute annuities through Employer Sponsored Defined Contribution Retirement Plans. The article covers a high-level overview of the changes enacted by the law that create the opportunity, as well as the potential opportunity for future annuity sales.