Description: This paper concerns policyholder dividends on traditional participating life insurance products in regulatory contexts similar to those in the United States and Canada. This paper also touches on annuity products. It was prepared for use in the educational curriculum of the Society of Actuaries. Dividend actuaries seeking references to writings on policyholder dividends to refresh their perspective may also find it useful.

Description: This report describes the main features of structured settlement annuities in North America and current actuarial practices and issues related to this product. It was prepared for use in the educational curriculum of the Society of Actuaries.

Description: Highlight the importance of assigning granular policyholder behavior assumptions to cohorts of a block that behave differently for universal life products. The case study assumption testing will focus on potential cash flow impacts of surrender, lapse and premium persistency behavior— individually and combined. The case study will be based on testing data related to typical demographics for a ULSG product and not on any specific company data.

Description: As we step out of a historical pandemic that put words like life expectancy and mortality rate on everyone's vocabulary, we suffer some measure of intellectual PTSD. This dark period magnifies our cognitive bias as we try to understand future mortality, a key variable both for life insurance and pension plans. Does our propensity to quantify and the attractiveness of new predictive modeling tools cloud our judgment? Check out a reflection framework and insights on scientific discoveries that will allow you to develop plausible scenarios that will enrich your thought process. The panelist will start by presenting what is new when we think about future mortality. We will then facilitate the generation of plausible scenarios by the audience and explain how we evaluate them. There will be no answers, but the relevance of your mortality questions will definitely improve.

Description: Join us for an insightful session on best practices in setting assumptions and margins for Life and Annuity Products. This session will explore traditional best practices outlined by the ASOPs as well as their application in the context of emerging trends and risks in 2024, such as predictive analytics and AI. The session will also cover evolving trends in assumption governance, as corporate ERM areas become increasingly involved in the assumption setting process. Learning objectives include refreshing and enhancing knowledge of existing ASOPs, as well as understanding strategies for emerging risks that the ASOPs do not yet cover.

Description: EHRs are a source of digital health data that present both an opportunity and a challenge for insurers. These rapidly maturing data sources contain valuable insights and can create a faster, better applicant experience, but the costs can quickly add up. Listen to panelists discuss various use cases for EHRs, their protective value in relation to traditional underwriting approaches, and other considerations for expanding EHR use. We will take a look at how using EHRs could promote a smart ordering approach allowing us to be quicker and more cost effective, all while understanding the impact to mortality.

Description: Underwriting specialty risks in life insurance can be challenging, but due diligence is at the core of what allows us to make the best and most informed decision.

Description: Written in reaction to the AG49-A "quick-fix" passed, this article covers the history of IULillustration regulation. It begins by covering major product development and regulationmilestones to date, with numerical examples to show their impacts on illustrations. It thenexplains how the "quick-fix" works and what its impact on illustrations is. Lastly, the articlelooks forward to what could be in store in the future for IUL illustrations.

Description: In the second quarter of 2022, publicly traded life insurers reported some of their best financial results since the pandemic began. COVID-19-related claims fell sharply in many product categories. Sales, which had taken a big hit, showed significant improvement as well, though not always to pre-pandemic levels. Sales activity was enough, however, for industry executives to report confidently in their quarterly conference calls that in this regard the worst consequences of the pandemic are over.

Description: A summary article about the SOA Research Institute's participation in the summer 2024 NAIC national meeting in Chicago.