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: This article outlines industry practice and consideration for pricing acceleration-only riders to life insurance policies.

Description: "Issues surrounding end-of-life and palliative care are not well understood and there is little research in the actuarial literature. From an actuarial perspective, however, end-of-life is important because of the significant cost to the healthcare system. Ian Duncan will discuss some of his research on the financial implications of end-of-life care, as well as the outcomes of a palliative care program. Dr. Matzo is an engaging personality with decades of experience in gerontology and palliative nursing, including training and teaching professionals in the field. Dr. Matzo focuses on educating the public on the importance and benefits of palliative care and hospice (care given in the final six months of life). In this session on “Palliative Care Public Education,” Dr. Matzo will give us an overview of the benefits of palliative care and how this knowledge empowers the individual to make important decisions about their healthcare options. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss the role that the actuarial profession may play in this area."

Description: "Weighted compositional data analysis for modeling and forecasting life-table death counts – Han Lin Shang, Ph.D., Professor of Business Analytics and Director of Research at the Department of Actuarial Studies and Business Analytics at Macquarie Business School, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, Steven Haberman, PhD, Bayes Business School, City University of London, UK Compensation Effect of Mortality as a Challenge to Life Extension – Natalia S. Gavrilova, Ph.D., Leonid A. Gavrilov, Ph.D. Academic Research Centers, NORC at the University of Chicago"

Description: ReMark's Global Consumer Study delivers 10 key insights to empower customers. Insurers can design products that meet customers' needs and enhance client experiences and add significant value to their business. At the same time with new products being launched seemingly continuously, it is important to take a step back and assess risk throughout the product management cycle.

Description: Learn more about the predictive modeling that was applied to industry data for the lapse and mortality experience in the post-level term period. Novel approaches were taken to model the shock lapse, subsequent lapse, and mortality experience. Observe a demonstration of the Tableau tool, which was built to allow users to analyze data on their own.

Description: This article summarizes findings from a recently published peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Risk and Insurance (Hanewald et al., 2025),[1], which examined how access to housing wealth affects stated demand for LTC insurance in China. We conducted a survey of homeowners aged 45-–64 across 49 cities in China and found that offering reverse mortgages or home reversion products significantly increased stated demand for LTC insurance. This article highlights the study’s key results and implications for insurers, actuaries, and policymakers.

Description: This session will review reinsurance fundamentals, risk assessment techniques, optimization strategies, and regulatory considerations through case studies and best practices. Attendees will gain insights into enhancing capital management, risk mitigation, and improving operating results, utilizing practical insights from both reinsurers and direct experience.

Description: New digital data known as alternative data is everywhere. Our industry has seen the financial, and hi-tech industries leverage new digital data to expand their key offerings and core services. From the lens of the global life and health industry, new digital data is still searching to be further understood. Risk assessment is a current focus area for using alternative data. A key question is even though risk assessment has always been data-driven, can it now move to the next level with the arrival of this alternative data. Can we use alternative data to make the risk assessment process quicker, cheaper, or faster thereby driving more sales and better conversion rates. It is an exciting time! With the increased adoption of health and well-being apps, data such as physical activity, nutrition, sleep, and mental wellness is now readily available. Expanded data such as digital biomarkers, IoT data, electronic health records and many more can also be accessed. However, how to effectively implement alternative data remains a challenge across the industry. We firmly believe it is, and will continue to be, imperative to take a structured approach to alternative data through a set of key considerations and a framework of principles.

Description: General Session