Description: This article discusses the attributes of a unified Operational Risk Management framework and how those attributes can underpin a seven-factor economic capital model.

Description: This article highlights 13 attributes shared by various groups of companies that landed in trouble. The companies are identified, and the attributes are described.

Description: On January 12, 2023, the Arizona Blockchain Applied Research Center (AZ BARC) and the SOA Research Institute jointly ran a workshop on the use of blockchain technology in insurance and financial industries. The workshop included presentations focused on academic research in the blockchain space by Arizona State University, AZ BARC and an industry expert panel assembled by the SOA Research Institute. This document summarizes the research highlights and the discussions that occurred during the two-hour workshop.

Description: In the fourth quarter of 2022, publicly traded life insurers reported on their financial and operational activities, which included a downturn in income from alternative investments, the continuing impact of COVID, the impact of equity market returns on variable annuity products, and growth trends related to pension risk transfer transactions.

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: To discuss the principles to be followed in the determination of dividend distribution scheme, how to ensure the fairness and sustainability of dividend distribution, and the specific issues to be considered in the practice of dividend distribution.

Description: Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the investment landscape. From natural language processing and large language models to physical AI applications like robotics, autonomous vehicles, and drones, the evolution of AI is reshaping both how we analyze data and where we find opportunity. We’ll begin by exploring the evolution of AI, which is already driving disruption across industries such as coding, customer service, and marketing. However, the future of AI is physical AI (drones, AVs, robotics). With valuations already stretched, and growing concerns about the “circular economy” and bubble risks, investors should focus on high-quality tech companies that generate free cash flow and deliver strong returns on invested capital. We'll explore examples of interesting companies across the globe: Meta, Alphabet, and Uber in the US; ASML in Europe; Tokyo Electron in Japan; TSMC in Taiwan; and BYD in China. The session will also examine how natural language processing and large language models are reshaping the way quantitative and fundamental managers extract insights from raw data. We’ll highlight how these tools are being deployed to enhance understanding of risk and return, and how they’re increasingly supporting collaboration between quant and fundamental teams.

Description: This report explores how artificial intelligence can be applied to investment and retirement planning, highlighting real-world applications, risks, and recommendations.

Description: This paper evaluates the current practice of operational risk management in the insurance sector. Operational risk is nothing new in insurance, but, because of regulatory requirements, companies have initiated computation of risk capital for their operational losses. The current effort to manage operational risk is not a naturally evolving phenomenon, and operational risk, in the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s Basel II definition, is unlikely to be a significant cause of insurers’ failure. In addition, the current Basel II definition of operational risk is not suitable for the insurance sector. Consequently, the invention of models and tools based on the definition is incomplete and illusionary. My findings are based on the analysis of dozens of interviews with insurance industry professionals. I demonstrate the way operational risk is quantified in practice, show that the result obtained from this computation is of littl e use in managerial decision making and propose a set of policy recommendations illustrating the characteristics of operational risk in insurance. This study can be used as a platform for launching dialogues to initiate fresh thinking about operational risk in insurance beyond the current artificial and narrow boundaries.

Description: The Casualty Actuarial Society, the Society of Actuaries Research Institute, the Society of Actuaries Joint Risk Management, Reinsurance and Financial Reporting Sections are pleased to make available key findings from the 2022 Emerging Risks Survey, the sixteenth in the series. Conducted by Max J. Rudolph of Rudolph Financial Consulting LLC, the survey incorporated a set of Emerging Risks defined by the World Economic Forum as the basis for several of the questions. The survey also included questions related to current risk management topics.