Reminder: Regular Director Elections Close on Monday, Sept. 15

• Don’t miss the deadline to vote: The elections for three regular director positions on the Academy board of directors closes at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 15. Read about the candidates on the Academy Board Election Center, and vote at the Intelliscan website. 

Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum, Nov. 13–14—New Information

• Register now and join your Academy peers in Washington on Nov. 13 in honoring six distinguished actuaries who will be recognized with awards during the American Academy of Actuaries’ Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum:
• Ronald V. Gresch will be honored at dinner with the Robert J. Myers Public Service Award, which honors an actuary who made an exceptional contribution to the common good, specifically through a single noteworthy public service achievement or a career devoted to public service.
• Stephen Kellison will be honored at the opening session with the Jarvis Farley Service Award, which honors an actuary whose volunteer efforts on behalf of the Academy have made significant contributions to the advancement of the profession through a lifetime of service.
• David Neve, Donna Novak, Robert J. Rietz, and Stephen Strommen will be honored at lunch with Outstanding Volunteerism Awards, which honor Academy volunteers who have made a single, noteworthy volunteerism contribution in the previous year that is above and beyond what is reasonably expected of an Academy volunteer.

More Opportunities to Learn

• The early, discounted registration fee for the 2014 Life and Health Qualifications Seminar ends today, Sept. 12. Make the seminar, which will take place Nov. 10–13 in Arlington, Va., part of your plan to assist you to become qualified to sign the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) annual statement actuarial opinions by meeting the basic education requirements set forth in Section 3.1.1 of the U.S. Qualification Standards. Learn more and register now.
• If you missed the NAIC Summer 2014 National Meeting in Louisville, Ky., then register now to join the Life Practice Council’s Post-NAIC Update/PBA webinar on Sept. 24. Moderator Dave Neve, chairperson of the Life Financial Soundness/Risk Management Committee, will lead discussions on the Academy’s activities at the meeting, the latest developments on principle-based reserving implementation, upcoming Life Actuarial Task Force (LATF) initiatives, and more. Register using coupon code academy to receive the member registration rate.
• Learn about the Congressional Research Service’s (CRS) latest projects, and the role that the CRS plays in public policy development, on Sept. 25 in this month’s Academy “Capitol Forum: Meet the Experts” webinar. Often referred to as Congress’ think tank, CRS is an objective, nonpartisan agency providing public policy research and legal analysis exclusively to members of Congress. Speakers from the CRS will discuss the agency’s projects on key public policy issues, including health policy, income/retirement security, and federal insurance issues. Learn more and register now.
• Actuaries who prepare or sign NAIC annual statement actuarial opinions on P/C loss reserves, or those who assist in preparing them, are urged to register for the Academy’s 2014 Seminar on P/C Effective Loss Reserve Opinions: Tools for the Appointed Actuary, Dec. 2–3 at the Westin Baltimore Washington Airport. Attendees will earn valuable CE credit. Learn more and register now.

Alerts

• IRS Guidance on Funding Stabilization Rules: The Internal Revenue Service has released guidance on the changes to the funding stabilization rules for single-employer pension plans under the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) that were made by section 2003 of the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014 (HATFA). To view the full alert, log in to the members-only page and visit “Pension Alerts.”
• LATF Exposes 2014 VBT Tables: NAIC’s Life Actuarial Task Force has exposed for comment the 2014 VBT Primary Tables on an aggressive development timeframe; the comment deadline is Oct. 15, 2014. Comments on the primary tables are needed so that any recommendations can be incorporated in the development of the relative risk tables. To view the full alert, log in to the members-only page and visit “Life Alerts.”

Public Policy Activities

• The Contingent Annuity Work Group submitted comments to the NAIC’s Contingent Deferred Annuity (CDA) Work Group regarding its exposure draft, “Guidelines for the Financial Solvency and Market Conduct Regulation of Insurers Who Offer Contingent Deferred Annuities.”

Academy In the News

• A Newsmax column examining how systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs) are classified under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law quoted the Solvency Committee’s June 5 letter to Congress supporting passage of the Insurance Capital Standards Clarification Act of 2014. The legislation would clarify that the Federal Reserve has the authority to differentiate between banks and insurers in terms of capital requirements.
• The Bond Buyer newspaper cited the Academy’s work in debunking “The 80% Pension Funding Standard Myth” in a story on local public pension plan funding issues. The article notes the Academy’s analysis that no single level of funding should be identified as a defining line between a “healthy” and an “unhealthy” pension plan.

Newly Released

• September HealthCheck: Read about the Academy’s long-term care work groups’ updates on various projects during the NAIC’s summer meeting, a letter from the Academy’s Joint Committee on Retiree Health to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, amendments to the Long-Term Care Insurance Model Regulation adopted by the NAIC Joint Executive Committee and Plenary, and much more.

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