Description: Regulatory change and increased focus on internal risk management are driving a renewed interest in model efficiency. In this session, we will review several new and existing tools, that show significant promise for advanced modeling of equity linked products. These include: • Clustering • Use of unique--and potentially a different number of--scenarios for each policy • Semi Monte Carlo (SMC) – this is a proprietary technique that is similar to a combination of Monte Carlo and numeric integration • Using a neural network approach to optimize some of the more complex and manual aspects of clustering and improve the fit of the clustered model • Combining SMC with the use of unique scenarios per policy

Description: This literature guide concentrates on references that relate to U.S. annuities. Only a few sources pertain to Canadian annuities. Although similarities exist in product design between U.S. and Canadian annuities, regulation and taxation are different. This guide also focuses primarily on areas that are specific to the subject of annuities and touches upon related issues such as investments and pensions more lightly.

Description: Life and annuity markets around the world have seen increasingly complex investment-combined products, including universal life, fixed indexed annuities, variable annuities with a wide variety of guaranteed benefits, indexed variable annuities, etc. Insurance companies are facing unprecedented exposure to financial risks in addition to traditional mortality and longevity risks. The risk assessment and modeling for such complex designs by conventional methods often focus heavily on their market competitiveness and profitability. However, there seems to be a lack of quantifiable and systematic approach to assess investment risks associated with investment combined products. The objective of the proposed work is to develop a framework for quantifying and analyzing various forms of contractual designs and showcase different techniques to assess the trade-off between competitive contractual designs and their practical implications with regard to the difficulty of risk management.

Description: This 1977 panel discussion examined individual tax qualified products. Areas covered included: 1. Regulatory developments 2. Products being used 3. Effect of the current money market on product design 4. Assumptions 5. Results by market 6. Spousal IRA's

Description: This paper applies the research in Prospect Theory of Kahneman and Tversky to explain why sales of annuities lag sales of life insurance products. The author theorizes that life insurance is easier to sell because customers perceive themselves to be in the domain of losses, while potential annuity customers perceive themselves to be in the domain of gains. Kahneman and Tversky showed us that people are mostly risk averse in the domain of gains and risk seeking in the domain of losses. Purchase of an annuity or life product is a risky investment. Customers will find it easier to take the risk in the life insurance domain of losses than the annuity domain of gains. The author then proposes a hybrid life annuity product that might address both mortality and longevity risk in one product that would allow both products to be more competitive than stand-alone products.

Description: This session discussion: Product design, Risks and how to deal with them, Special features, Valuation considerations, Investment strategy, Regulatory developments.

Description: Letters to the national association of insurance commissioners life/health actuarial task force regarding the development of the new annuity non-forfeiture law. Letters are addressed to Mr. Howard Kayton, Mr. Allan Roby, and Mr. John Montgomery. Also included is a demonstration of the workings of a two tiered annuity.

Description: This session from the 1992 Valuation Actuary Symposium covers recoverability and loss recognition including using cash flow testing to determine loss recognition or recoverability, actuarial standard of practice 14, and valuation work by line of business or issue-year groups.

Description: This discussion at the 1968 Philadelphia Regional Meeting focuses on issues for smaller companies including expense analysis, adjusted earnings, variable annuities, agency operations, and interim financial statements.