Description: Introduces terms and concepts of Takaful (Islamic) insurance and describes the processes, goals and constraints that apply to the investments of such insurers.

Description: A research report providing a primer on the mechanics and uses of the Hidden Markov Model for actuarial and financial applications.

Description: As tariff policies are rapidly changing throughout 2025, the U.S. markets have been reacting in complex ways. In addressing the difference in short and long-term impacts of these policy changes, the importance of resilient and holistic risk management is highlighted in order for companies and investors to find opportunities and mitigate sudden losses.

Description: The models that seek to determine fair value for stocks use corporate earnings and a capitalization rate such as a price/earning ratio to arrive at fair value. Nearly all such models use interest rates to set the capitalization rate. Current interest rates are assumed to be fair, as if there were no emotions in the bond market. Interest rates themselves are never viewed as too high or too low. For the past 10 years [1984-1993] stocks have been viewed as too high, in relation to interest rates. In reality, interest rates have been too high.

Description: This paper uses the property-liability insurance companies as a research sample to investigate the relation between the enhancement of cost efficiency and the usage of reinsurance and financial derivatives as risk management tools. The stochastic frontier approach is applied to consider not only the mean of cost efficiency, but also its variance. The sample includes both organizational forms, namely, stock and mutual insurers.

Description: Institutional investors such as pension plans and insurance companies have enjoyed strong equity returns for a length of time with few historical precedents. Nearly a decade after the end of the financial crisis, strategies to provide downside protection remain expensive and the performance of traditional risk-managed funds has disappointed investors.

Description: In this session, senior pension and insurance investment professionals will share their thoughts on current investment topics. Attendees will hear about leading edge investment ideas and practices from industry leaders.

Description: Proposes a benchmark consisting of TIPs and deferred income annuities for retirement asset allocation decisions.

Description: ICP 16 and its requirement for an Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) will offer opportunities for the actuarial profession to provide uniquely well-educated and professional assistance to this process.

Description: Over a short span of two weeks, the financial system has observed the collapse of two mid-sized U.S. commercial banks, California-based Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) and New York-based Signature Bank, and a takeover of troubled Credit Suisse by a rival in Europe. Other banks that serve a similar demographic as SVB, such as First Republic Bank and PacWest Bancorp, have also experienced an elevated level of customer deposit withdrawals while their stock prices plummeted. The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) quickly stepped in and guaranteed all deposits from the failed banks to prevent a broader crisis in the banking system. The current turmoil in the financial system is a stark reminder of the importance of effective risk management and regulation.