Description: This article details different methods for calculating mortality impact associated with new underwriting programs. A common simplified calculation is compared and contrasted with two first principles approaches. The strengths and weaknesses of both approaches are discussed.

Description: Pricing longevity swap reinsurance transactions consists of a number of different actuarial tasks, each of which hides potential pitfalls. The article outlines the pricing process, which includes a detailed analysis of current mortality experience of the portfolio to be transferred, choice and calibration of an appropriate model for mortality improvement trends and the calculation of a risk margin which reflects the uncertainty associated with the pricing best-estimate, which includes mis-estimation risk, model risk, longevity basis risk and stochastic uncertainty.

Description: In 2015, LIMRA partnered with the SOA on a study that focused on examining individual LTC policy termination experience including both voluntary lapse and mortality results. This work was based on data submitted by 22 LTC carriers representing approximately 75 percent of the LTC lives inforce over the study period 2000-2011. This article discusses an area of emphasis for the policy terminations work which was to better understand the impact of data quality on reported results given the continued difficulty for insurers in accurately distinguishing voluntary lapse activity from deaths.

Description: This article talks about RPEC’s February 2014 release of exposure draft reports for RP-2014 base tables and the MP-2014 projection scale (for use by U.S. pension actuaries), the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) new final pension mortality tables for Canadian pension plans.

Description: This article is a call to participate in industry mortality studies.

Description: There are certain occasions when the knowledge we have gained in our jobs carries over into our personal lives. For instance, developing insurance products certainly helps when it comes time to buy an insurance policy. Recently, one of the authors had the experience of giving his 91-year-old grandmother, Nanny as she is affectionately called, an Extended Delayed Word Recall DWR test. This article will show that DWR tests are a powerful predictor of mortality in the elderly. As the population ages and more and more life insurance is being applied for at the older ages, having a DWR test in an underwriting arsenal is like comfort food for an actuary.

Description: Discussion of the development of a new Preneed Valuation Mortality Table

Description: The article is Part 1 of two articles that provide a case study for the development of a profitability and risk dashboard. The sample dashboard provides distilled information regarding actual to expected (A/E) ratios for key risks, agent quality scores and customer value scores. The dashboard would also provide the value of new business written, surplus strain, debit balances, and expected losses on debit balances at different levels, down to the agent level. A product mix index is provided, together with visual comparisons of key metrics to the company's business plan. The Part 2 article will add information to the dashboard regarding risk margins, target capital, and company value.

Description: This article reviews studies find that the mortality gap has significantly reduced – though not eliminated – the overall progressivity of Social Security.

Description: In the June 2014 issue of Product Matters, Doug Robbins of Pacific Life authored a fascinating article entitled “Velocity of Diversification.” Therein, he proposed a pricing measure that describes the “…speed at which confidence in profitability is attained”. How can stochastic modeling of mortality be applied to analyze the velocity of diversification, and how would that measure be affected by volatility in the underlying assumptions?