Description: This article delves into a new line of statistical thinking of the author, that may be useful for product development actuaries. The key concept is how product design can produce products that diversify quickly, meaning that the company can be confident of a profitable product line, based on fewer sales than might be true for other designs.

Description: Investors in the Life Settlements Market have had to rely on simple actual to expected analyses for a quality assesment of life expectancy reports. This article presents an alternative validation methodology, which makes much better use of the available mortality information. Investors can thereby perform their own, statistically conclusive, analyses concerning the life expectancies on which they have based their pricing and management of future cash flows.

Description: Summary of annual Milliman UL/IUL Issues Report, covering issues and challenges of these products.

Description: Hear from the chairperson on themes in the February 2018 issue of Product Matters published by the Product Development Section.

Description: SOA Product Development Section Contest Winning Article. Contest was to provide a creative article on future technology for the life insurance industry.

Description: Technology now supports customized non-level death benefits which help consumers optimize their coverage and cost. Creating individual policies and individually pricing them for a level premium quote is the start of personalizing and optimizing coverage and cost for consumers and pricing life insurance policies at the individual consumer level --- a revolution for actuaries.

Description: Read the October 2019 issue of Product Matters! published by the Product Development Section. Newsletters provide practical information for the working actuary, articles on trends that impact sections and news about section activities.

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: Part 2 of the article continues providing data on why IUL income streams need to be managed and suggests techniques that insurance companies could provide to policyholders and advisors to do so. The author also offers his research data free of charge to any actuary who contacts him to request it.