Description: Open Architecture retirement advice for average Americans is still in the future; business model biases across all industry business silos may impact SPIA sales

Description: The survivor principle--that the share of each, at death, is enjoyed by the survivors--can be used to design tontine annuities and tontine pensions.

Description: Many experts tout the benefits of index investing, but history tells us that when enough investors do the same thing it tends to end badly. Stay tuned!

Description: Response to Life Insurance 2020 Foresight – A Call for Essays. An essay stating the author’s vision for the future of the life insurance sector.

Description: The world of the local S&Ls, the partner-owned investment bank and Bretton Woods isn’t coming back. So what does that leave us to do next? Part of me is persuaded by the second law of thermodynamics, which says that existence gets progressively more and more disordered with the passage of time, since any work done to address the current crisis expends more energy and causes more disorder than it fixes.

Description: The system of using securities exchanges and commodity futures contract exchanges is inadequate to the task. Neither can transfer the risks of derivative financial contracts to the capital markets. Regardless of the degree of regulation or the financial incentives, this system is insufficient. A new type of exchange is needed that copes with fast price changes – even from “long” to “short” – without inviting bankruptcy.

Description: This study develops mortality ratios, using contemporary population tables and standard industry tables as the base of expected deaths, for 3,037 members 2,811 Fellows and 226 Associates of the Society of Actuaries observed from January 1, 1955 through December 31, 2004.

Description: This paper provides guidance to employers who are contemplating the use of COLI as a means for funding employee benefits. Commentary will be provided on critical issues to consider when analyzing the benefits of COLI, including product characteristics, cost considerations, legal considerations, representations and warranties, investments, and accounting. “Best Practices” pricing guarantees, representations, warranties, and indemnities will be provided as examples and are generally indicative of the stronger positions taken to date on each issue. This paper does not provide guidance on group term life or other non-COLI products.

Description: The purpose of this article is to explore the causes and effects of FAS 97 DPAC amortization revisions and to encourage the preparation of analysis that will assist in the interpretation and communication of results for management users of GAAP product line financial reports involving such revisions. From Society of Actuaries Financial Reporting Section Monograph, M-AS99-1.