Description: The actuary's responsibility to do accounting estimates in a transparent manner. Also summaries the IASB's discussions of insurance contract accounting during the fourth quarter of 2014.

Description: A description of a new method for deriving PBA prudent estimate assumptions from company experience.

Description: A dialogue on purchase accounting for insurance business combinations under China-GAAP from an actuarial perspective.

Description: Understanding the Deferred Acquisition Cost (DAC) asset balance movements from one reporting period to the next can be a challenge when reportinged under FAS 97. The mechanics of FAS 97 call for an amortization ratio (i.e., k factor) that forces the amortization of the DAC asset to be matched to the earnings received over the life of the product. However, the fact that the k factor is dynamically set results in “unlocking” components of the DAC rollforward. This article shows how the basic equation for the amortization ratio can be used to derive equations that provide insights into what the DAC balance represents. Furthermore, partial derivatives of these equations are used to show how unexpected changes in the Estimated Gross Profit (EGP) stream impact the amortization and unlocking components of the DAC rollforward.

Description: A listing of the Financial Reporting Section's current research projects.

Description: Read the December 2017 issue of The Financial Reporter published by the Financial Reporting Section.

Description: A discussion on how to use data visualization for model controls.

Description: A status update on research projects sponsored or co-sponsired by the Financial Reporting Section.

Description: Formulas for changes in GAAP liabilities and liability accrual rates are shown for three assumption update methods—retrospective, prospective and immediate.

Description: Summary of the NAIC and SOA's PBR Survey.