Description: An update on the latest actions of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).

Description: Insurance companies utilize derivatives in a variety of ways to manage and mitigate risks that are inherent in their investment or liability portfolios. They can be characterized by three main features: medium long-term duration; large volumes; and significant market risk exposure. Given the persistent low interest rate environment across the curve since the 2008 financial crisis, large companies need to hedge their liabilities, as illustrated by the significant recent increase from $786 billion as of fiscal year 2010 to $1,885 billion as of FY 2014 by insurance companies.As the Variable Annuities (VA) guarantees embedded within those liabilities hold a strong convex risk profile with respect to the underlying stock, VA carriers need to buy some convex hedge assets such as options to match the liability risk profile to improve hedge effectiveness, implying the growing cost of hedging. Such market impact of the quantity on the cost of hedging is further magnified in the recent period with the short-lived, but sharp transitions from low volatility to high volatility, when market volatility suddenly increases, even when there were no well-known fundamental catalysts. This partially stems from the growing managed volatility funds embedded within VA ($bn 400).VA carriers willing to trade a large quantity of options will see such market impact as an important dilemma, as the cost of placing one large order to close position will be far greater than the sum of infinitely small orders differed in time. In that context, managing market impact requires introducing an explicit market impact function, the influence of which the agent will try to minimize. The effect on hedge asset prices significantly depends on whether there is or not significant delta hedging activity. In case of no significant delta hedging activity, the risk appetite has a significant influence on the optimal execution strategy. If there is significant delta hedging activity, the optimal trading involve

Description: A summary of Medicare reform and its effect on prescription drug coverage.

Description: Statistics about funded status of Directors Guild of America-Producer Pension Plan

Description: The Revenue Act of 1987 amended section 807d2B of the Internal Revenue Code. It established the interest rate used in the calculation of tax reserves to be the greater of the applicable federal interest rate or the prevailing maximum statutory valuation rate for the contract’s calendar year of issue. The amendment is effective for contracts issued in tax years beginning after December 31, 1987. This document shows all the applicable federal interest rates from 1998 - 2009.

Description: Research report describing the results of an Emerging Risks Survey conducted in 2016. The report, the tenth in a series, includes comparisons to the previous surveys.

Description: Trends in the Marketing and Distribution of Life Insurance products.

Description: This article presents the background around the Post Retirement Needs and Risk call for essays focused on: (1) defined contribution plan risk management strategies; (2) decumulation strategies for retirement and (3) long-term care financing. The important essays from that exercise are presented in this Pension Section News publication along with interviews of the winning authors.

Description: A discussion of adjustments to the issue and underwriting process to speed up the process in order to succeed with bank distribution of insurance products.