Description: Discussion of Society of Actuary's efforts to provide continuing education resources on the internet

Description: Discussion of the existence of embedded derivatives and the consequent required accounting treatment in Modco and Similar Reinsurance Arrangements

Description: A discussion of Actuarial Aspects of Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley

Description: A discussion of the possible effort required and impacts resulting from the implementation of C3 Phase II for establishing risk-based capital for variable annuities. This article will describe practical considerations gleaned from actual valuation calculations recently performed by a consulting firm.

Description: discussion of the capital management alternatives for funding the additional reserves required due to Actuarial Guideline XXX

Description: This article analyzes two common interpretations of SOP 03-1 in determining the guaranteed minimum death benefit GMDB liability in a variable annuity contract, and it analyzes the resulting impact on the initial GMDB reserve and on the volatility of GAAP earnings as actual experience emerges. This analysis could be applied to the guaranteed minimum income benefit GMIB, guaranteed minimum accumulation benefit GMAB, guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit GMWB and other guaranteed benefits in a variable annuity contract that are subject to SOP 03-1, and the conclusions would be similar.

Description: A discussion of alternative meanings to “Best” in best estimate. When one is trying to estimate a result that is normally distributed, the mean, median and mode will all equal one another. However if the results are not normally distributed, different variance metrics will result in different “best” estimates. When different parts of a financial statement use different criteria for measuring best estimates and different processes for handling variances, the results can be volatile, unpredictable and perhaps unreasonable.

Description: As council members, we have a fiduciary duty to use the section’s funds to benefit our section’s members. By creating an inviting “target” out of our funds, we create a situation that isn’t prudent from a risk management standpoint.

Description: The Financial Reporter has featured several articles in the past year on the fair value of liabilities, with good discussion of the “own credit risk” question: if and how the credit risk of an insurer should be reflected in determining the fair value of its insurance liabilities.

Description: Loss ratio formulas that make it a good tool for financial analysis, with modifications for level premium business such as disability income and long term care.