Description: The InsurTech industry continues vibrant activity. Some areas of focus include transformation of the underwriting process, new data sources being used, focus on the consumer, automation and more. By attending this session, you will hear about some of the latest trends in InsurTech that are impacting the life insurance industry.

Description: Examine how investment portfolios have been changing over recent years with a panel of industry experts from the life insurance industry, and learn what lies ahead. This will be a highly practical session, with real-life case studies referenced as much as possible.

Description: Over the last several years, the life and annuity industry has seen significant reforms to the Valuation Manual and RBC Instructions, but one outstanding item not yet addressed with recent 'VA Reform' was the economic scenario generator (ESG). The NAIC has engaged Conning, Inc. to replace the Academy's generator (AIRG) that is currently benchmarked for VM-20 and VM-21 calculations. Learn about a broad overview of the current statutory ESG reform, and possible considerations companies need to account for in the reserve and capital calculations dependent upon it. You'll explore a brief regulatory history of the ESG efforts, as well as key mechanical differences between the proposed Conning 'GEMS' model and the AIRG. We will also examine key statistical differences between the model outputs, potential implications for company risk management, and pending regulatory changes to consider before official implementation of the new ESG. With industry field testing recently completed, review of this new scenario set is still ongoing. This initiative is extremely important to the industry because it could ultimately have significant implications on companies' regulatory requirements and risk management strategies.

Description: The Great Resignation of the Post-COVID-19 era has affected nearly every major industry and profession over the past year. The actuarial profession, which has historically been a beacon of stability,is also impacted. Actuaries are leaving their positions at higher rates than ever before, demanding increased pay and benefits, more flexible hours, and the ability to work remotely. Ever-increasing demand for actuaries due to constantly evolving regulatory and business needs has widened the gap between the demand for and supply of actuarial work. What innovations are available for actuarial employers looking to bridge this gap? Get ready to listen to a panel of specialists on actuarial staffing models. The panel will discuss direct hiring, staff augmentation with consultants, independent contracting, and offshoring / outsourcing. The panel will explain how employers might pursue these options as well as the costs and benefits of each. Learn more about how current employees can benefit from various staffing models while avoiding common pitfalls; for example, how to engage and work effectively with offshore resources.

Description: ALM and hedging can reap significant benefits from innovation in computation and operations research. Explore applications of static and dynamic optimization in two different ALM and hedging use cases. Insurers are increasingly moving offshore by establishing Bermuda captive reinsurers. In calculating the Bermuda Best Estimate Liability ('BEL'), reinsurers will need to segment assets to support liabilities in each treaty. A Linear Programming ('LP') problem can be formulated to tactically select assets in a way that minimizes the BEL and consequently the total asset requirement. Learn more about what US Variable Annuity Insurers face with the regulatory requirement to reflect 'future hedging strategy' in their statutory funding calculation. The traditional numerical method of finding the optimal hedging target and then allocating assets may encounter the curse of dimensionality with expanding product and economic environment complexity. A Reinforcement Learning algorithm may well fit this problem and provide insurers a solution for dynamic hedging.

Description: Climate change is a risk that all sectors are facing, and both regulators and investors are expecting more disclosure around the ways in which companies are handling climate risk. The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) framework provides a way to disclose climate-related risks and management structure of these risks. Come learn about the leading framework for climate disclosures for insurers, with many of the framework's principles being used within the updated NAIC climate risk survey and SEC climate regulation. Take a deep dive into the TCFD framework and how it can best be used by life insurers, focused around the SOA sponsored research 'TCFD Best Practices'. Check out the current progress of the TCFD within the insurance sector, best practices of the framework, approaches that are currently taken to satisfy the framework, and how current insurers are using the framework within their business.

Description: Models are meant to represent reality, and they often do so quite well. However, they cannot make decisions that contradict the modeling algorithm or underlying assumptions and data. Neither do they possess emotional intelligence or the ability to adjust for social equality. As complexity of models evolved to predictive analytics and machine learning, reliance on model results has increased as well. Over the last decade, as actuaries, modelers and data scientists looked closer into their models, they often identified certain social biases in model assumptions and algorithms. From the use of indicators like credit scores to geo-social segmentation, insurance models have often skewed results in favor of certain socio-economic groups. Underlying this segmentation, one can identify bias around access to health care and education, socioeconomic groupings and financial literacy.

Description: Predictive analytics projects in the life insurance industry are oftentimes set up as research ideas leading to intangible or unusable results for the practicing actuary. What if you could change that? What if the research turned into development and practical use through leveraging valuable resources properly? Learn how to structure predictive analytics projects, and about the project team, so there will be actionable takeaways for the business unit. Specific areas of value for you include underwriting, experience studies, assumption-setting, and product development. Watch as presenters talk through real case studies on turning a predictive analytics project into workable solutions rather than a resource drain, an unclear goal, or a misunderstood business need, which are some of the pitfalls of a poorly planned project.

Description: Actuaries from all functions have been required to evolve their skill sets over the past two -and -a half years, by strengthening their ability to analyse the unknown, keep pace regulatory changes and rapidly changing market conditions, and clearly communicate results to stakeholders as it pertains to an unprecedented pace of strategic decisions, all while adapting to a remote working environment. Listen in as panelists discuss how they have seen the actuarial role change over the course of the pandemic and their expectations on the continued evolution of the role. Discuss successful characteristics and best practices, and participate through polling and facilitated discussion.

Description: Jump into an informative discussion on Behavioral Economics (BE) that will 'nudge' you away from traditional economic thinking. We'll share a primer on key BE concepts and explore ways to actively use these approaches in underwriting applications, marketing and more. Using simple Behavioral Economics (BE) design approaches, carriers can improve applicant disclosure of medical conditions on insurance applications, claims and mortality experience, website effectiveness, and much more.