Myers, Farley Award Recipients; Volunteers to Be Honored at Annual Meeting
The Academy announced two distinguished Academy members will receive its highest awards. Joan Weiss will receive the Robert J. Myers Public Service Award, which honors an actuary who has made an exceptional contribution to the common good in her career. Robert Meilander will receive 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.
Donna Claire, Barbara Klever, and Kathleen Odomirok will be presented with the Academy’s Outstanding Volunteerism Award for their exceptional contributions in the last year to the professional association and their efforts to advance its mission.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has an upcoming vacancy on the actuarial oversight board for the Civil Service Retirement System. The board is composed of three actuaries who are members of the Academy and who meet the qualification standards to provide advice and recommendations on matters relating to defined benefit retirement plans in the United States. The board generally meets on an annual basis in Washington. Interested candidates may email a description of their background and qualifications to actuary@opm.gov.
The Academy provides public service announcements to government employers seeking to hire qualified actuaries. See our Public Employment Opportunity Posting Policy for more information.
Professionalism Presentations
Academy President-Elect Bob Beuerlein spoke this past week to two actuarial clubs: the Tri-State Actuarial Club (Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio), and the Columbus (Ohio) Actuarial Club, about “Big Data and Actuarial Professionalism.” Beuerlein’s presentation on this hot topic delved into timely questions like “What is Big Data?” and “What is the role of the actuary?” while providing an overview of Big Data issues specific to the major practice areas. He highlighted sections of the Code of Professional Conduct, the U.S. Qualification Standards, and actuarial standards of practice (ASOPs) relevant to situations where Big Data may be a factor in actuarial work, and urged actuaries seeking guidance and advice to contact the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline.
Council on Professionalism member and former Academy President Cecil Bykerk co-presented a session Friday focused on actuarial professionalism at the 2016 DI & LTC Insurers’ Forum in New Orleans. The presentation offered an overview of professionalism, along with discussion of diverse case studies illustrating professionalism challenges that actuaries working in disability and long-term care practices might encounter.
Representing the U.S. Profession Globally
Academy representatives attended the Actuarial Association of Europe’s (AAE) meetings in Barcelona, Spain, this week. Jeffrey Schlinsog, vice president of the Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council, represented the Academy at AAE’s meetings, accompanied by Craig Hanna, the Academy’s director of public policy.
Take the Professionalism Quiz on the Academy’s Social Media
Test your knowledge of actuarial professionalism with a short quiz posted on the Academy’s Twitter and Facebook pages.
Fall StateScan Quarterly Released
The fall issue of StateScan Quarterly highlights recent state legislative and regulatory activity, including actions on principle-based reserving (PBR), risk-based capital, and workers’ compensation insurance. StateScan, the legislative/regulatory portal for Academy members, provides state legislative and regulatory reports on key topics in all actuary practice areas.
Academy Hosts Second PBR Boot Camp
The Academy held its second PBR Boot Camp in Orlando, Fla., this week, a three-day seminar that featured 23 dynamic, interactive sessions. The limited-attendance and sold-out audience of 140 attendees received targeted instruction and participated in intensive, focused work groups providing insight and practice in advance of PBR implementation expected in January 2017.
CLRS Sessions Feature Academy Presentations
More than 500 people attended this week’s Casualty Loss Reserve Seminar (CLRS) in Chicago, co-hosted by the Academy and the Casualty Actuarial Society. A number of Academy volunteers were on the faculty for this program. Kathy Odomirok and Alejandra Nobilis gave a presentation about the Academy’s P/C Loss Reserve Practice Note and discussed changes coming to the 2016 edition, and Lisa Slotznick spoke on workers’ compensation large deductible plans and regulatory changes that have been proposed.
Public Policy Activities
The Health Practice Councilsent a letter to the U.S. House and Senate on potential adverse consequences of legislation to weaken the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate.
The Intersector Groupprovided a report on its meeting this month with the Treasury Department and IRS.
The SVL Interest Rate Modernization Work Group submitted comments to the NAIC’s VM-22 (A) Subgroup on non-jumbo and jumbo sample calculations on valuation interest rates.
Upcoming Events
Registration Closing Next Week for Global Health Webinar: Registration is open through next Friday, Sept. 30, for the next webinar in the global health care webinar series being presented jointly by the Academy’s Health Practice International Committee and the International Actuarial Association Health Section (IAAHS). “Exploring Global Health Care Cost Drivers: France and the U.K.” will take place Wednesday, Oct. 5, from 10:30 a.m. to noon EDT. Registration is free for Academy and IAAHS members. Register today.
20 Seats Left for LHQ Seminar: The 2016 Life and Health Qualifications Seminar will be held Nov. 13-17 in Arlington, Va. (Washington, D.C., metro region). This annual seminar is the primary source of instruction for actuaries who wish to be qualified to issue actuarial opinions for either the NAIC Life and A&H Annual Statement or the NAIC Health Annual Statement. Only 20 seats remain for this limited-attendance event; register today to reserve your space for this highly regarded seminar.
P/C Loss Seminar Coming in December: Registration is open for the 2016 Seminar on Effective P/C Loss Reserve Opinions, to be held in Chicago Dec. 6-7. The two-day seminar will enhance your expertise on the latest regulations and standards with reviews of actuarial qualification standards and interactive case studies. Register today.
See our website for a listing of all Academy events.
Alerts
The Department of the Treasury and the IRS issued a notice seeking comments on devising new ways for retirement plan sponsors to satisfy qualified plan document requirements.
The IRS issued notice 2016-57 extending through 2017 the temporary nondiscrimination relief for closed defined benefit plans provided in Notice 2014-5, 2014-2 I.R.B. 276.
The House Ways and Means Committee’s Social Security subcommittee held a hearing focusing on the differences between the estimates of Social Security’s finances produced by the Congressional Budget Office and those produced by the Social Security trustees.
In the News
A Time story on retirement-income strategies for 401(k) participants cites the widely praised Actuaries Longevity Illustrator, developed jointly by the Academy and the Society of Actuaries, as a useful tool to help people understand longevity risk.
A Bloomberg View op-ed that discusses differing outcomes resulting from different methods for measuring public-employee pension plan obligations cites the Academy’s issue brief on that topic. The story was also published by Newsmax and The Oregonian.
A LifeHealthPro story reports findings published in the Cancer Claims Cost Tables Work Group’s recently released report on proposed 2016 cancer claim cost valuation tables.
A California Broker article on projected health premium increases announced by Covered California, the state’s official ACA marketplace, cites the Academy’s issue brief on 2017 health insurance premium drivers. The Sierra Sun Times (Calif.) also cites the issue brief in its reporting of the announcement.
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