Description: This article helps illustrate that a guaranteed income stream in retirement has much more value than merely longevity protection. Used properly, a payout annuity is also a hedge against one's retirement nest egg evaporating, leaving the retiree living check to check on a fixed income only. The article will be of interest to those involved in product development and design, sales and marketing, and payout annuities or guaranteed withdrawal benefits in general.

Description: Interest Maintenance Reserve ("IMR") has become a hot topic recently due to rising interest rates, causing decreases or even negative IMR balances for some insurers. This article aims to exam some new questions facing financial reporting actuaries: - How should negative IMR be treated for statutory reporting? - What are the other actuarial implications of negative IMR? - What have regulators done and/or plan to do about negative IMR? - What are potential mitigants?

Description: The August/September 2015 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: Mental health, suppoting policyholders

Description: Critical illness insurance is a popular supplemental health insurance product in the U.S. market. This article discusses how carriers have recently sought to add value by expanded the benefits offered in their critical illness products. Specifically, the article discusses the consumer need and development considerations of adding benefits for autism Spectrum Disorder, Mental health disorders, Specified Disease Coverage, and enhance Cancer Coverage to a critical illness contract.

Description: This article provides an update, as of September 2019, on the Reinsurance Section’s sponsored research in process and studies recently completed.

Description: The most recent demographic data published in Mexico allows us to analyse in detail the profound demographic transition that has been taking place in the country for more than four decades. It is possible to develop forecasts for the future on the basis of this historic experience. The purpose of this article is not only to illustrate the profound demographic change in Mexico – and what it is expected to experience over the coming decades – but to highlight the challenges for the insurance industry posed by the various demographic trends. Wherever challenges are found, however, opportunities also exist, provided the industry succeeds in adequately transforming its own processes and meeting the needs of a changing market.

Description: The traditional defined-benefit (DB) plan is a type of plan structured to provide the greatest degree of retirement income security, designed to pay out a guaranteed retirement income for the life of the retiree (and, when applicable, a beneficiary). However, over the last several decades, the number of private-sector employees covered under these traditional plans has decreased dramatically and been replaced by defined contribution (DC) plans. In contrast, public-sector retirement plans, which are exempt from ERISA, have seen a much smaller decline in DB plans. There are many differences in the private and public sector that likely contributed to this phenomenon, but ERISA and the many amendments to it has been a major factor.

Description: Overview of the diverse Asia markets and four key themes:Rapid pace of product development, innovative underwriting solutions, Wellness, the rise of insurtech.

Description: Complete issue of the August 2014 Risk Management newsletter.