Description: Description of the design and purpose of the military health system and Veterans Health Administration's programs. Covers the types of benefits offered and how these programs differ from typical commercial health systems.

Description: An interview of the winning co authors of the SOA essay contest on how differences in wealth and retirement outcomes are experienced by people of different races and ethnicities and to promote a better understanding of the underlying issues surrounding the differences.

Description: In this article, we summarize inflationary factors that may result in a sharp increase in interest rates and implications for life insurer convexity risk exposure, most notably to dynamic policyholder lapsation. We further provide insights into potential ALM strategies to mitigate this convexity risk. Due to the prolonged low-interest rate environment and low minimum interest rate guarantees offered to policyholders, liability convexity is higher than prior historical periods, which results in life insurers’ ALM positions being extremely vulnerable to short-term interest rate spikes. Convexity mismatches cause issues for life insurers under both rising and declining interest rate scenarios. This means that life insurers are not compensated for taking convexity risk and, therefore, convexity matching should always be considered in the asset optimization process. There are mixed signals from policymakers and financial markets regarding potential inflationary and sharply rising interest rate scenarios. The key takeaway is that life insurers are not compensated for taking convexity risk and it is the right time for insurers to review convexity exposure. There are different approaches available to mitigate convexity exposure through rebalancing of asset positions and hedges within each life insurer’s risk limits.

Description: The IFRS Foundation’s establishment of the International Sustainability Standards Board is a major step toward achieving relevant, decision-useful sustainability information for market participants that is comparable across industries and jurisdictions.

Description: Describes the December 2021 COLA and other changes effective in 2022, along with how they are computed.

Description: Overview of guest editorials and special issues in the Annals of Actuarial Science, dealing with great societal challenges that the actuarial profession is responding to.

Description: The rapid economic development of Asia has ushered in profound lifestyle changes, particularly in urban centers. Increased disposable income, urbanization, and the proliferation of convenient food services have contributed to dietary habits associated with elevated health risks. Among these, insulin resistance (IR)—a metabolic condition linked to diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases—has emerged as a critical yet underrecognized threat. IR is also strongly associated with an increased risk of dementia, particularly Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. For life and health insurers operating in markets such as Greater China and Southeast Asia, traditional underwriting methods face significant challenges in accurately assessing these evolving risks. This article investigates the limitations of conventional approaches and explores the potential of continuous underwriting methodologies to better align risk assessment with dynamic lifestyle factors.

Description: The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into actuarial practice has accelerated dramatically in recent years, potentially transforming how actuaries approach traditional tasks and creating new opportunities for professional growth. This evolution has generated significant enthusiasm about increased efficiency, deeper analytical capabilities, and novel insights that were previously unattainable. Simultaneously, it has raised legitimate concerns about skill obsolescence, appropriate governance, control limitations, and the changing nature of actuarial judgement in an AI-augmented environment. While much has been written about the theoretical possibilities of AI in insurance and risk management, there remains a gap in our collective understanding: the actual, day-to-day experiences of practicing actuaries as they navigate this technological shift. There is an interest in learning from others’ experiences in implementing AI tools, realizing benefits, encountering challenges, and understanding how AI is altering actuarial workflow.

Description: In this report, we consider high-level results from provisional mortality data released from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 2021, including looking at changes by sex and age group.

Description: Hardly a day goes by without a feature story about the latest reverberation from the expanding use of Artificial Intelligence/Large Language Models (tools) in a variety of settings. The pace of use (and misuse) of these tools, such as ChatGPT and Bard, has been explosive and shows no sign of abating. Many experts would argue we are on the cusp of a permanent paradigm shift in teaching/academics and overall application of technology. With these issues in mind, the Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute’s Aging and Retirement program is interested in an exploration of this topic from a variety of perspectives. The result of this effort is intended to provide a useful resource for readers to become well-grounded on the issues surrounding the impact of these tools in a retirement context and set the stage for future research.