Description: This abstract describes a paper that measures the magnitude of the systematic bias, found when using the Lee-Carter model for mortality prediction, using the bootstrap method and also provides suggestions on how to correct the bias.

Description: This abstract describes a paper that examines the risk and return of fixed index annuity (FIA) with an enhanced model framework.

Description: This abstract describes a presentation that introduces a new class of bivariate distributions whose marginals can be beta-generated.

Description: This abstract describes a paper that develops a saddlepoint approximation for the aggregate claims distribution and compares with some existing approximations.

Description: A high level summary of the basics of Medicare Part D settlements - what they are, and the impact they have on plan sponsors' final financial results. Intended for an audience with limited familiarity with Medicare Part D.

Description: This is Part 2 of a summary of the new, upcoming Social Insurance Law in China. Part 1 was presented in the July 2011 issue of 'In the Public Interest.'

Description: Mexico substituted its defined benefit system [IMSS] of the formal sector by a defined contribution system in 1997. The initial plan called for buying single premium annuities for the widows and disabled workers under the new system. In the first three years, this market came to occupy a significant part of the insurance sector. Then, the number of workers getting benefits started to fall dramatically. This is the abstract of a paper that shows that such a fall has been a direct result of how the IMSS authorizes the issuance of single premium annuities. The paper analyses the rationale behind such a dramatic change in policy, analyzes various possible scenarios of IMSS strategies, and examines the problem to see if it brings in any long-term benefits to IMSS.

Description: This abstract describes a paper that proposes a quantitative framework which jointly considers the endowment spending policy and the asset allocation decision a-la Markowitz.

Description: This abstract describes a paper that reverses the sequence of the Euler (or gradient) allocation technique by calculating the marginal costs of risk exposures for a profit maximizing financial institution with risk averse counterparties, and then identifying a closed-form solution for the risk measure whose gradient delivers the correct marginal costs.

Description: This abstract describes a paper that shows that by modeling the time series of mortality rate changes rather than mortality rate levels, human mortality can be better modeled.