Description: Several modern retirement arrangements, including lifetime pension pools, allow retirees to convert a single premium into income for life that varies with investment and mortality experience. It is anticipated that there will be an increase in the number of lifetime pension pools in the future. There are, nonetheless, some challenges that might slow down the potential increase in the number of lifetime pension pools. This session will present the results of recent research reports jointly sponsored by the Society of Actuaries and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, addressing two challenges: 1. the lack of efficient and reliable ways to communicate risk to members2. the optimality of lifetime pension pool design elements. Attendees will further their understanding of these topics and how they may be applied in the future.

Description: Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT will redefine the nature of work across industries in coming years, What does this mean for the actuarial profession? Delivering generative AI tools to actuaries capable of leveraging them effectively will dramatically modernize how actuaries work and contribute to organizational growth. In this educational session, explore how generative AI can accelerate actuarial model development. Gain an introduction to generative AI and its implications for actuarial modeling. Learn how it specifically helps actuaries improve accuracy, reduce errors and save time in model development. Then explore use cases, including how generative AI can improve data cleaning, model building, as well as simulate scenarios and test model robustness. Close with a discussion on how to integrate generative AI into actuarial modeling workflows effectively, including common challenges actuaries may face during implementation and tips to overcome them. You will come away with a deeper understanding of how generative AI can accelerate actuarial model development.

Description: Focus on the importance of achieving complete and accurate technical reviews of work products that contribute to decision making. As actuaries, we often face tight deadlines and the demand is high for our team members to provide results in a timely manner. Through investing upfront time into a quality review of our work product, with an added focus on professional excellence and ethics, overall time savings can be gained and an overall higher quality work product can be achieved, not only of the technical work being performed, but of the decision making that is influenced by the result of the work. At the conclusion of this session, you will be able to understand the value of technical reviews and the methods of preparing for and implementing technical reviews across a team.

Description: In *From Distress to Distinction*, Chris Droussiotis explores a novel approach to valuing distressed companies using option pricing theory, drawing parallels to the financial challenges faced by startups. With over 30 years in banking and startup advising, he emphasizes that both distressed firms and early-stage ventures endure periods of negative cash flow but retain potential for recovery. He combines Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) and the Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model to evaluate distressed firms’ recovery prospects and debt sustainability. A case study on Spirit Airlines illustrates this approach: though its current equity value is negative, projected future cash flows suggest significant potential recovery. Droussiotis concludes that strategic valuation, using trend, peer, and expected analysis, can reveal hidden value in distressed companies, guiding effective investment and restructuring decisions.

Description: Actuarial projects have become more intricate, involving external resources and requests beyond the actuarial team's purview. Whether a task appears minor or exceptionally complex, adept project and change management play a pivotal role in successful execution. In this session, we explore practical strategies for tailoring implementation management approaches.

Description: At the conclusion of this session attendees will be familiar with the status of the NAIC's GOES project and have a better understanding of the scenario sets under consideration and how they can be tested to assess the potential impact to principle-based reserve and capital levels.

Description: Understanding Asian Capital Regimes

Description: We will discuss how climate change risk represents radical uncertainty and the challenges this presents in integrating climate risk analysis and traditional investment risk analysis. The session will then explain and illustrate why deterministic, narrative-based, scenarios form a suitable basis for analyzing the potential impact of climate change on investment portfolios and strategies. At the conclusion of this session, attendees will understand deterministic and stochastic approaches to integrating climate risk with economic scenarios and how these can be applied in investment management. Attendees will also understand the challenges in creating a realistic integration of climate and economic scenarios.

Description: This session guides actuaries through the key steps of building a principles-based valuation model for a life product, starting with a brief overview of key requirements in LDTI and VM-20. The focus is on practical steps: defining product specs, sourcing in-force data, gathering actuarial assumptions and incorporating economic scenarios. We'll walk through a simple term life example, prioritizing Day 1 essentials such as accurate cash flow projections and basic reserve calculations. Attendees will learn where to find critical inputs (e.g., IT for data, pricing teams for specs), how to structure a model and pitfalls to avoid. Participants will gain foundational skills to construct LDTI and VM-20 models, confidence in prioritizing model build phases and a clear starting point for sourcing inputs.