Description: Discussion of the merits of solvency versus going concern funding targets for pension plans, and the connection with different risk-sharing deals.

Description: Even the best algorithms are only effective if they are trained on appropriate data. This article discusses common pitfalls in creating a training data set.

Description: A discussion on artificial intelligence.

Description: discussion of arbitrage possibilities cause by inconsistent mortality pricing assumptions in annuity products vis. a vis. life insurance products

Description: Discussion of private letter tax rulings on the definition of Cash Surrender Value for purposes of interpreting the definition of life insurance for the policyholder's taxation of the contracts.

Description: Letter from the Chair of the Product Development Council. Challenging times bring opportunities. Today's low interest environment is a rallying cry for our industry to transform our products and the way we do business

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: Reviews basic desirable features in an economic scenario generator. Discusses basics of model structure and validation process

Description: Written from a regulatory perspective, the article covers the purpose of regulation and some regulatory expectations. The topics include the appointed actuary's involvement in corporate governance, reasonability of results when compared to prior results, data quality, familiarity with the company's annual statement and applicable statutes, and areas where appointed actuaries can add value though services provided to smaller life insurance companies.

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.