Description: Complete issue of the Independent Consultant, February 2014, Issue 49

Description: S&P reissued a second Request for Comment (RFC) in May 2023 that proposed changes to their insurer capital adequacy methodology and assumptions, and suggested these proposed changes may become effective at the end of 2023. This paper is to highlight the notable changes between the current capital model criteria and the proposed model. We also discuss major changes from the first RFC and the second RFC, as well as several key items that still require enhanced guidance and clarification. Our analysis is based on information gathered from S&P's public comments, conversations with industry participants, and publications released by S&P Global as of July 2023 when this paper was written. Most U.S. life insurers are rated by S&P using their U.S. Life Statutory Capital model, while other insurers use the GAAP/IFRS Capital Model. Statutory financials will remain the starting point for U.S. life insurers under the proposed model, however there will be additional adjustments made to these numbers in an effort to create consistency and comparability with other accounting and solvency regimes.

Description: As the new VM-22 framework reshapes reserving for non-variable annuities, actuaries face both opportunities and challenges. Our latest insight and highlights what you need to know about assumption setting, model validation and asset optimization ahead of 2026.

Description: This article starts with the increasing attention that FP&A receives due to the implementation of new financial regimes and emphasizes the collaborative nature of FP&A. It then describes the roles that actuaries play in FP&A, the new demands for actuaries that we are observing, and suggests some best practices that we are seeing across the clients. This article targets to point out the new demands from FP&A on actuaries and provide some advice on how actuaries can do to meet these demands.

Description: Latest development in IFRS 17 including a first look at companies disclosures and financial impacts, as well as a discussion of some of the run time issues that companies face.

Description: Update on IFRS 17 including news, how IFRS 17 is impacting companies financials, comparisons to LDTI, and KPIs.

Description: A closer look at the Reinsurance Loss-Recovery Component (RLRC) under IFRS 17

Description: This publication presents an exploratory framework that applies volatility signals—specifically the VIX and MOVE indices—to asset allocation decisions. Rather than prescribing a definitive model, the work highlights a potential pathway for linking equity and bond market risk expectations to portfolio construction. The analysis demonstrates how relative volatility between asset classes can inform dynamic weighting, opening the door to more adaptive strategies in shifting market environments. Importantly, this is not intended as a finished methodology, but as a foundation on which more experienced professionals can build. Readers with advanced backgrounds in finance, risk management, or quantitative analysis are encouraged to refine, stress-test, and extend the framework to suit their own investment contexts. By positioning the concept as a starting point rather than a conclusion, the publication invites collaboration and deeper exploration into how volatility-based metrics may enhance long-term allocation models.

Description: Our previous article, “Introduction of Cashflow Matching Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) Framework,” introduced the concept and included a real-world case study that developed a liability-driven investment strategy for a single line of business (LOB) for a life insurer. This article expands the framework and the case study from a single LOB to simultaneously optimize asset allocation across multiple LOBs. It discusses how this multi-line SAA framework can enable an insurance company to efficiently tag its asset holdings to each LOB, identify opportunities in the public and private asset markets to enhance risk-adjusted returns, and develop a deeper understanding of the trade-off between the degree of cashflow matching and risk-adjusted returns across LOBs.