Description: The Health Section Council Chairperson looks back at a historic year for the health care industry, and what it means for health actuaries.

Description: Answers to questions that have surfaced with regard to recent trends in the use of psychiatric medications, including relative effectiveness compared to prescribing patterns, drivers of prescribing patterns, classification and indications for recently publicized drugs, role of primary care providers, preventive use ofdementia medications, and new developments in the field.

Description: Chairperson’s column discussing the Marketing and Distribution Section initiatives.

Description: This essay explores the role that the emerging defined contribution retirement system may be playing in the growth of wealth inequality in the United States. The current system leaves many Americans with little or no retirement savings. Those with higher accumulation levels appear to invest proportionally more in equities, which may have an exponential effect of balances over long time periods. The author hypothesizes that willingness to take investment risk involves the relationship between the amount an investor has accumulated and what she/he needs in order to cover basic costs of living. This is one reason that investors with greater accumulation levels may be able to earn higher rates of return. The essay concludes by suggesting that the U.S. defined contribution system should include all workers and provide additional fiduciary guidance. Examples reforms, both in the U.S. and other countries, are provided.

Description: Book review of the latest edition (4th) of Life, Health, and Annuity Reinsurance by John Tiller, Jr and Denise Fagerberg Tiller

Description: This article covers domestic and international developments in the carbon market, offers some reflections on potential opportunities for actuaries in the carbon markets and provides insights into the skills needed to develop a successful carbon market practice.

Description: Research report describing the results of an Emerging Risks Survey conducted in 2010. This survey attempts to track the thoughts of risk managers about emerging risks across time. The new top five are: 1. Fall in value of US Dollar. 2. International terrorism. 3. Chinese economic hard landing. 4. Oil price shock. 5. Failed and failing states.

Description: Retirement income can be provided by Social Security, employer-provided pension plans, personal savings and family support. With the growth of Social Security and employer-provided pensions, and the decline in birth rates and marriage rates, the role of families in the U.S. retirement system has declined.

Description: Read the Society of Actuaries' latest update about how health care executives view the future of predictive analytics in the health care industry.

Description: The author makes 10 predictions of how risk management will change over the next decade.