Description: The June 2000 supplement of The Actuary. The SOA Committee on Elections and the June 2000 issue's editor invited candidates for the office of president-elect of the Society of Actuaries to be interviewed by The Actuary. This annual service of The Actuary is intended to help Fellows make more informed choices in voting for a future SOA president.

Description: York University will host the 2025 Actuarial Research Conference (ARC) from July 29 to August 1, 2025, bringing together scholars, industry leaders, and regulators to exchange ideas and present cutting-edge research in actuarial science. The conference will feature keynote speeches, research presentations, panel discussions, and networking opportunities, fostering collaboration between academia and industry. York’s actuarial program, recognized as a Center of Actuarial Excellence, will showcase its vibrant research environment and strong partnership with the Risk and Insurance Studies Centre (RISC). The event also highlights Toronto’s dynamic cultural scene, with planned activities such as a visit to the historic Casa Loma, enhancing the experience for attendees. ARC 2025 promises to be an enriching and memorable event for all participants.

Description: This article provides an update, as of October 2023, on Financial Reporting Section research projects in process and those recently completed.

Description: The mismatch between how interest rate impacts the value of assets and liabilities could have material negative impact to companies’ earnings and surplus. To quantify and mitigate the impact of such mismatches, companies have used matching a combination of duration and convexity. I will review these measurement techniques and their limitations.

Description: The article provides an overview of the federal tax treatment of long-term care insurance contracts, including a brief history of the tax treatment of long-term care insurance, the requirements that must be satisfied in order to be treated as qualified long-term care insurance under the Internal Revenue Code, and a brief discussion of qualified long-term care combination products and chronic and terminal illness accelerated death benefits offered under life insurance contracts.

Description: To inform and educate stakeholders for health plans and insurers on novel ways to optimize reinsurance structures to meet capital related goals and boost RBC and liquidity ratios. In lieu of traditional market-based financial instruments involving equity and/or debt, a quota share transaction can be used with potentially far more attractive terms and achieving essentially the same result.

Description: This article demonstrates that the alternative method of adjusting DAC amortization for actual experience fails to serve its purpose if amortization is based on amounts in force at the end of a reporting period. In that situation, the method would increase the amortization rate for excess terminations. Applying that increased rate to a lower basis, however, does not reliably reduce the unamortized DAC balance as required.

Description: Six pointers about career advancement for actuaries, based on real life experiences from my 47 year career.