Description: Decentralized finance, or DeFi, is an emerging financial system powered by blockchain technology. This research report aims to introduce actuaries to DeFi and help them develop a solid understanding of DeFi. It will begin with addressing “what is DeFi?” by providing an introduction on blockchains and DeFi. It will then discuss in further detail the key characteristics, applications, opportunities, and risks of DeFi. After providing the foundation, this report will discuss the potential adoption of DeFi and its interaction with the current financial system (sometime referred to as traditional finance for contrast with DeFi), and the implications for practicing and aspiring actuaries. In addition, a glossary of terms used in DeFi and a brief history of the development of DeFi have been included in the appendix.

Description: This study presents a comprehensive approach of real option analysis to climate adaptation policies aiming to mitigate flood risk. The framework focuses on pricing catastrophic risk in coastal regions, allowing for economic growth and uncertainty in the mean sea level rise.

Description: "Through both informed policy debate and opinionated social media, there are many current event health topics actively discussed and debated. The question remains... how does one separate out subjective information, seek objective analysis, and at the same time consider where there might be more research needed to come to conclusions? This session will use several current event topicsas examples and discover insights as to where research has been performed, what it may or may not cover, and also note where lines are still blurred and may need further details to be studied. Topics that may be discussed include: How valuable and exact is the use of risk-adjustment for Medicare Advantage What is the health and mortality impact of receiving COVID-19 vaccinations"

Description: This article is an update on the No Surprises Act, which is a U.S. Act aimed to reduce the risk that a person unexpectedly receives out of network charges for their health care visits. This is Part 2; Part 1 was featured in Health Watch's Sept 2024 issue.

Description: Review of paper describing Collective Defined Contribution Plans. the elimination of traditional pensions by many companies have left employees without easy access to reliable retirement income Collective Defined Contribution plans which are used to a small extent in the US but more broadly used elsewhere offer an option for consideration.

Description: As the use of predictive models and novel datasets becomes more prevalent, a focus on consumer protection is being highlighted by regulators, ethicists, and industry insiders. Over time, increased rigor should and will be applied in model development and implementation. These issues are not new. Hundreds of individuals have worked on these issues in the laboratory, the board room, and the court room. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Uniform Guidelines of the US EEOC, the Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection and other sources are intended to protect the rights of citizens and consumers and provide guidance to professionals in the development and use of decision-making tools. Drawing heavily on examples and parallels from psychology and employment practices as well as other disciplines, concepts such as model bias, fairness, adverse impact, disparate treatment and the like will be presented. Suggestions to ensure model validity, demonstrate model and data relevancy and minimize the potential for adverse impact to protected classes will also be offered. Each of these considerations will be linked to recent dialogue and concerns in the Life Insurance sector.

Description: The article provides an introduction to some of the key limitations that the Internal Revenue Code imposes on business uses of life insurance, focusing on the limitations under Section 264(a) on business deductions for premiums and interest expenses related to life insurance, the similar limitations under Section 264(f) for unrelated interest expenses of businesses that own life insurance, the limitations under Section 101(j) on the excludability of death benefits under employer-owned life insurance contracts, and the recently-enacted rules for life settlement transactions.

Description: Guidance and a model for actuaries to use when performing their professional services related to Medicaid (Title XIX) and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP or Title XXI) managed care capitation rate setting.

Description: This report details the 2025 HMI and FMI scale recommendations for individual life insurance mortality valuation under AG38 and VM20 using insured population data.

Description: A biennial survey analyzing financial risk awareness and retirement transition experiences of Americans aged 45–80.