Description: Read the April 2017 issue of The Modeling Platform published by the Modeling Section. Newsletters provide practical information for the working actuary, articles on trends that impact sections and news about section activities.

Description: Read the December 2016 issue of The Modeling Platform published by the Modeling Section. Newsletters provide practical information for the working actuary, articles on trends that impact sections and news about section activities.

Description: Everyone loves efficiency. But what does it truly mean for something to be efficient? An actuary who has spent almost 20 years managing process improvements shares his experiences and the evolution of his views on efficiency. This parable highlights the broader aspects of efficiency that are often missed, and some of the challenges that can come from targeting a typical view of efficiency.

Description: In this article, we talk to Lei Rao-Knight, FSA, Vice President and Actuary at Prudential Financial. Lei discusses her model development experience in the Modeling Center of Excellence.

Description: Actuarial systems access and change controls are hot topics these days as modeling continues to increase in complexity and as new modeling regulations may begin to crest over the horizon. Many companies are currently in the process of either formalizing their actuarial system access and change control protocols, or are reevaluating and strengthening their existing control processes in response to identified deficiencies or in conjunction with new actuarial system implementations. With these undertakings in mind, this article discusses a number of valuable components commonly incorporated in formal systems access and change control protocols. Also discussed are leading practices identified in the SOA publication “Actuarial Modeling Controls: A Survey of Actuarial Modeling Controls in the Context of a Model-Based Valuation Framework (December 2012)”, and from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

Description: This article presents a case study that examines the implication of using real-world interest rate scenario generators with a block of fixed deferred annuities. We contrast cash flow testing results based on New York 7 deterministic scenarios to stochastic scenarios generated with the Academy Interest Rate Generator , as well as an alternative economic scenario generator designed explicitly to capture the risk of a persistently low interest rate environment and the transition to a rising interest rate environment.

Description: This article is the first installment of a three-part series and is focused on providing an overview of LTC modeling approaches and considerations.

Description: This article is the first installment of a three-part series that aims to provide an overview of ESGs and will focus on the general motivation for stochastic modeling, its advantages and its limitations. Future articles will further break down the key factors of ESGs and the application of these factors to better understand the Academy Interest Rate Generator (AIRG).

Description: In this article, the interviewers will discuss the pros and cons of centralized modeling function vs a business unit based modeling function. Their experience will help us in identifying factors in contributing to a successful centralized model function and understand how to set expectation with modeling stakeholders.