Description: On January 12, 2023, the Arizona Blockchain Applied Research Center (AZ BARC) and the SOA Research Institute jointly ran a workshop on the use of blockchain technology in insurance and financial industries. The workshop included presentations focused on academic research in the blockchain space by Arizona State University, AZ BARC and an industry expert panel assembled by the SOA Research Institute. This document summarizes the research highlights and the discussions that occurred during the two-hour workshop.

Description: In the fourth quarter of 2022, publicly traded life insurers reported on their financial and operational activities, which included a downturn in income from alternative investments, the continuing impact of COVID, the impact of equity market returns on variable annuity products, and growth trends related to pension risk transfer transactions.

Description: The Society of Actuaries’ Committee on Finance Research is pleased to make available a research report covering the extent to which investment sectors have been contagiously affected by major disasters.

Description: A report providing a high-level review of the literature that addresses the relationship between bond prices/yields and demographic variables, a deep dive into one of the papers, and empirical analysis starting with the methodology of that paper and extending to the stability of the relationship over time, to longer-dated bonds, and to the sovereign bonds of various countries

Description: Decentralized finance, or DeFi, is an emerging financial system powered by blockchain technology. This research report aims to introduce actuaries to DeFi and help them develop a solid understanding of DeFi. It will begin with addressing “what is DeFi?” by providing an introduction on blockchains and DeFi. It will then discuss in further detail the key characteristics, applications, opportunities, and risks of DeFi. After providing the foundation, this report will discuss the potential adoption of DeFi and its interaction with the current financial system (sometime referred to as traditional finance for contrast with DeFi), and the implications for practicing and aspiring actuaries. In addition, a glossary of terms used in DeFi and a brief history of the development of DeFi have been included in the appendix.

Description: The document is a report on the impact of inflation in retirement based on survey findings conducted by the Society of Actuaries Research Institute in partnership with Optimity. It includes survey questions and results, along with observations on the impact of inflation on personal finances.

Description: This article series highlights the growing impact of climate change on health, property, and financial institutions, emphasizing the need for actuaries and risk analysts to evaluate and adapt their practices to manage evolving climate-related risks.

Description: This research report summarizes methodologies used for yield curve extrapolation to value liability cash flows that extend beyond the maximum observavble portion of the yield curve.

Description: The Society of Actuaries’ Investment Section and Committee on Finance Research and Investment Section is pleased to make available a research report using a comprehensive attribution analysis to identify meaningful relationships between market volatility and potential causes. Also included for educational purposes are the open-source codes used to perform the analysis.

Description: The Society of Actuaries (SOA) commissioned Milliman to develop this report to provide health care stakeholders—patients, payers, policymakers and actuaries—with a comprehensive description of DPC as well as an objective actuarial evaluation of certain claims made about the DPC model of care.