Description: Feature article describing the status of research reports relevant to Financial Reporting Section members.

Description: Risk adjustment is needed under IFRS 17 to reflect the compensation that a company requires for bearing the uncertainty about the amount and timing of the cash flows that arises from non-financial risk. Companies are also required to disclose the method and confidence level used for the calculation of the RA. However, IFRS 17 doesn’t specify a method and a confidence level, nor does it provide a list of specific risks that are considered to be non-financial risk. Companies need to define them based on their own preferences or existing practices. This article will introduce available approaches and discuss the confidence level approach with potential consideration stemming from industry preferences and illustrative examples.

Description: This is an update, as of July 2020, on projects in process and those recently completed sponsored by the Financial Reporting Section.

Description: This article discusses the survey of published embeddd value EV financial assumptions through 2010 sponsored by the Society of Actuaries International Experience Study Working Group. The purpose of this survey is to provide international actuaries with benchmark assumption data.

Description: The Valuation Actuary (ValAct) Meetings empower actuaries across all practice areas for success with in-depth content on the latest valuation and financial reporting concepts. ValAct content is tailored for professionals specializing in valuation actuarial practices within the insurance and financial industries.

Description: The landscape of climate-related and sustainability-related disclosures has been changing and evolving. The approaches that companies will use under the new ISSB standards (IFRS - IFRS S1, IFRS - IFRS S2) remains to be seen. To help prepare for these standards taking effect, the SOA Research Institute Catastrophe & Climate Strategic Research Program Steering Committee is seeking researchers to conduct a literature search to lay out methodologies and approaches being considered to implement these new standards, along with common terminology and common language determination in the approaches.

Description: This study is an update of a 2015 study that illustrates the differences that occur when measurement is made under different accounting bases. The observations come from research performed on two products (term life insurance and universal life insurance with secondary guarantees.

Description: At the conclusion of the first part, attendees will be able to describe sources of reserve redundancy for products under Principle Based Reserve (PBR) and products under Commissioners' Annuity Reserve Valuation Method (CARVM). Such products include Term Life, Whole Life, Universal Life, and Fixed Annuity with and without rider. We will also review sources of capital redundancy from the C-1 factor under Risk-Based Capital (RBC) and assets such as Unrated Asset Credit Fund can have high C-1 factor even if its risks are limited. At the conclusion of the second part, the attendees will learn about potential Reserve Relief reinsurance solutions. Such solutions can provide Reserve Relief for annuity and term life businesses, as well as potential innovative asset-side solutions. Asset managers can structure assets that the C-1 factor aligned with the corresponding risk.

Description: This 60-minute panel discussion led by Academy volunteers will explore the treatment of reinsurance under the Valuation Manual's principles-based reserving (PBR) requirements for life insurance (VM-20). Panelists will discuss different reinsurance agreements, such as coinsurance, modified coinsurance, guaranteed and non-guaranteed yearly renewable term (YRT), stop-loss reinsurance, and financial reinsurance. The session aims to address practical reinsurance considerations for PBR in 2025, focusing on emerging issues such as reinsurance reserve credit and approaches for YRT reinsurance, and considering relevant ASOPs and updates to Practice Notes. Participants will gain insight into how different reinsurance structures affect VM-20 reserving.

Description: Interest Maintenance Reserve ("IMR") has become a hot topic recently due to rising interest rates, causing decreases or even negative IMR balances for some insurers. This article aims to exam some new questions facing financial reporting actuaries: - How should negative IMR be treated for statutory reporting? - What are the other actuarial implications of negative IMR? - What have regulators done and/or plan to do about negative IMR? - What are potential mitigants?