The Academy’s Enduring Legacy

1958

Henry Rood, first Academy president, begins to raise publicly the new challenges actuaries face in the public sphere, stressing the need for licensing, certifying, or otherwise accrediting qualified actuaries.

1958

A joint committee of existing U.S.-based actuarial organizations to investigate the possible certification or licensing of actuaries is formed.

1961

Future Academy president John Miller proposes a long-range plan to establish a new organization encompassing, but not replacing, all of the existing actuarial organizations.

December 1963

A meeting is held in New York to review a proposed charter and bylaws for the organization that would become the Academy, and to discuss mechanics of determining eligibility for membership.

1964

By May 19 of this year, all U.S.-based actuarial organizations had adopted resolutions to support the creation of the Academy.

1965

The Medicare and Medicaid programs are created by the Social Security Amendments of 1965.

1965

In December, immediately after its formation, the Academy issues its own Guides to Professional Conduct (a precursor to today’s Code of Professional Conduct), which covered the topics of: professional duty, nature of the member’s responsibility to the principal, relationship with the principal, impartiality, independence, advertising and publicity and relations with other members, remuneration and use of titles.

1966

The first annual dues are set at $10.

April 27, 1966

Formal articles of incorporation for establishing the American Academy of Actuaries as a not-for-profit corporation are filed in Illinois.

October 31, 1966

The first Annual Meeting of the members of the Academy is held.

December 1966

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) supports recognized standards of actuarial competence and conduct and urges commissioners to support the Academy’s efforts to gain official recognition. Today, every state has structures in place that recognize Academy membership as the qualification for signing NAIC insurance company annual statements actuarial opinions.

1969

The Accounting Principles Board (precursor to the Financial Accounting Standards Board) issues Opinion 8, “Accounting for the Cost of Pension Plans,” which states that membership in the Academy is evidence of professional qualifications.

1969

The Academy’s Guides to Professional Conduct are revised and expanded by adding an Interpretative Opinion on Relations with Other Actuaries. Other changes and additional Interpretative Opinions follow on an ad-hoc basis.

1972

The Academy begins a state-by-state effort to further accreditation efforts; two volunteers work in each state, one on insurance regulations and one dealing with pension issues.

1972

The Academy begins publishing a quarterly newsletter, sent to all members, to keep them apprised of public policy and professionalism developments.

1972

In an attempt to facilitate the development of uniform standards of conduct within the actuarial profession, a Joint Committee on Professional Conduct is created to coordinate activities among the professional conduct committees of the Academy and the four other U.S.-based actuarial organizations and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. This effort yielded a uniform format of Guides among the organizations but differences still remained.

1973

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is formed.

1973

The Academy Board establishes procedures for appointing Academy disciplinary boards, requiring they be composed of members who are not serving on the Investigating Committee, Prosecuting Committee, or the Board of Directors, and that they be named by the president. Disciplinary boards were empowered to hear evidence relating to charges and to make findings with respect to such evidence. Said findings shall be reported to the Board for appropriate action.

1973

In response to a request from U.S. Rep. John H. Dent, the Academy provides comments relating to the definition and role of the actuary on pension plan certifications in discussion on H.R.2, which would become law as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in 1974.

1973

The Academy opens its first Washington D.C. office, at 1775 K Street.

1970s

Since the mid-1970s, NAIC blanks and instructions have referenced membership in the Academy as a qualification for signing statutory statements of opinion.

1975

The Board establishes a standing Committee on Actuarial Standards, charged with maintaining a continuous review of professional standards in the actuarial profession.

1975

The first Enrolled Actuaries meeting takes place, meetings that are jointly sponsored by the Academy and the Conference of Consulting Actuaries.

1979

The Academy establishes two committees, one for Life Qualifications and the other for Property and Liability Qualifications, to recommend standards for signing Actuarial Opinions for NAIC annual statements.

1980

An Antitrust Guide is created to ensure that the Academy abides by and be aware of antitrust law and prohibited activity.

1981

The Board adopts Qualification Standards to Sign Statements of Actuarial Opinion on NAIC Annual Statement Blanks (USQS).

1982

The Academy consolidates its various qualification committees into a newly charged Committee on Qualifications in an effort to consider qualifications across practices.

1983

The Social Security Reform Amendments of 1983 is signed into law which, among other changes, extends Social Security’s retirement age to age 66 in 2009 and age 67 in 2027

1985

The Interim Actuarial Standards Board is created as an entity within the Academy.

July 1, 1988

After three years of successful operation, the permanent Actuarial Standards Board is formally established as an entity within the Academy by vote of its members and through its bylaws, charged with creating and reviewing actuarial standards of practice (ASOPs).

1989

The Academy begins process of creating a central disciplinary body within the Academy—the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline—to serve the entire profession by conducting disciplinary investigations and providing confidential guidance to actuaries with respect to actuaries’ Code obligations.

June 1989

The first issue of Contingencies magazine is printed.

1991

Continuing education requirements are added to the newly restructured U.S. Qualifications Standards for those actuaries who sign NAIC Life, Health, and Casualty annual statements.

1991

The Board establishes the Committee on Actuarial Public Service to promote the contributions of actuaries working in the public sector, to develop statements and policies on issues affecting public sector actuaries, and to encourage actuarial employment and other participation in public service areas.

1991

The Jarvis Farley Service Award is created to recognize an Academy volunteer whose efforts have made significant contributions to the advancement of the profession. The first recipient is Mary Hardiman Adams (1992).

January 1, 1992

The Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline is formally established as an entity within the Academy by vote of its members and through its bylaws.

1992

The Board formally establishes the Council on Professionalism, charged with coordinating Academy activities in the field of professionalism.

1992

The NAIC adopts a risk-based capital (RBC) formula and model law for life and health insurers, to be effective for 1993 Annual Statements.

1992-1994

The efforts to try to develop a single uniform Code of Professional Conduct result in two more versions (the 1992 Code and the 1994 Code), but each still had or developed variations by organization. (The Canadian Institute of Actuaries did not adopt these Codes due to the differences in laws and customs in Canada and the responsibilities imposed upon it as the result of its federal charter.)

1993

The NAIC adopts a risk-based capital (RBC) formula and model law for property/casualty insurers, to be effective for 1994 Annual Statements.

1994

The Academy establishes the Robert J. Myers Public Service Award to honor actuaries who have made an exceptional contribution to the common good. The inaugural recipient, John O. Montgomery, is awarded the following year.

1994

The Board adopts the Guidelines for Developing Practice Notes, emphasizing the importance of sharing information in an objective, peer-reviewed process.

1996

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is signed into law.

1997

To address the continuing differences among the U.S.-based organizations’ codes of conduct and the issues created by the differences, the Joint Committee on the Code of Professional Conduct is established by the Academy with the charge to update and redraft the 1994 Code so that it could be adopted as the same, identical document by each of the U.S.-based actuarial organizations. This effort took four more years to achieve.

1999

The Academy forms the Pension Assistance List (PAL), a program that serves the public in providing professional services to consumers who have questions about their pension plans.

2000

The first annual Life and Health Qualifications Seminar is held in Washington to address the removal of nation-specific material by the Society of Actuaries from its syllabus.

2000

The Board adopts a formal written Conflict of Interest policy applicable to all Academy members who provide volunteer services to the Academy.

2001

After significant restructuring and revision and two exposure drafts, the Joint Committee on the Code develops a single Code of Professional Conduct (2001 Code) that was adopted, without variations, by the boards of each of the U.S.-based actuarial organizations, effective January 1, 2001. The committee also assumed the responsibility of monitoring the current Code on an ongoing basis and, when needed, to propose revisions that could be adopted in identical form and become effective concurrently by each of the organizations.

2001

Globalization of actuarial practice leads to inclusion for the first time in the 2001 Code of language to alert actuaries to the fact that when they practice in jurisdictions outside of the United States, they are also subject to any recognized actuarial standards of conduct promulgated for those jurisdictions, identifying the need for actuaries to be aware of the requirements of law and the primacy of the law when it conflicts with the Code.

2002

The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) is signed into law by President George W. Bush.

2003

The Medicare Modernization Act (MMA), establishing the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (Medicare Part D) and individual Health Savings Accounts, is signed into law.

2003

The Actuarial Foundation (TAF) is formed through a merger of the Actuarial Education and Research Fund (AERF, founded 1976) and the Actuarial Foundation (founded 1994). All five U.S.-based actuarial organizations support the administration and operation of TAF so that all contributions from other donors can go directly to program activities.

2003

The Academy unveils The Social Security Game, intended to illustrate options for Social Security financial solvency.

2006

Schedule 16 of NAFTA recognizes actuaries among those professionals allowed temporary entry for business purposes into NAFTA signatory countries.

2006

Academy membership becomes a legal requirement for actuaries filing actuarial equivalence attestations for retiree prescription drug plans seeking a Medicare Part D subsidy.

2006

The Academy Board issues guidelines for making public statements, which required that the statements be consistent with the mission and purpose of the Academy and grounded in actuarial science. Statements may go beyond the narrow areas where the actuary’s knowledge is unique if that statement will contribute to discourse on an issue that is of interest to the Academy, its members, and the public.

2006

The Pension Protection Act (PPA) is signed into law.

2006

An “Up to Code” column debuts in Contingencies to offer important information about the issues and workings of the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline.

2007

To encourage recruitment for the growing number of Academy volunteer opportunities, the Volunteer Resource Committee is formed, charged with developing and annual survey to describe volunteer activities.

2007

The Academy begins to create a library of professionalism webinars—available for members at no cost—that numbers 29 today.

January 1, 2008

The Qualification Standards are revised, by action of the Academy Board, increasing continuing education requirements, and, for the first time, becoming effective for all credentialed actuaries providing Statements of Actuarial Opinion (SAOs) in the United States. Before this time, the USQS were only applicable to actuaries issuing statutory SAOs.

2008

The Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries formally approves the Academy as a qualified sponsor of JBEA continuing education.

2008

The Academy creates its Public Interest Committee, and upon its recommendation, the Board approves the issuance of a public interest advocacy statement to raise Social Security’s retirement age.

2008

The Academy’s Public Interest Committee organizes a public forum to hear stakeholder views on the disclosure of the market value of assets and liabilities for public pension plans. Panelists including plan administrators, public officials, regulators, investment advisers, and actuaries discuss the relationship between financial disclosures and good public plan decision-making.

2009

The NAIC’s adoption of the new Model Standard Valuation Law sets into motion state adoptions of Principle-Based Reserving (PBR) for life insurance products, which the Academy’s Life Practice Council was instrumental in developing.

2009

In order to provide a service to enhance professionalism documentation to the entire U.S. actuarial profession, the Academy develops TRACE—“Tracking Your CE”—offered to all actuaries regardless of their membership affiliations and without charge. TRACE was developed to reflect the terminology and references from the continuing education requirements established by the U.S. Qualification Standards.

2010

The Academy’s Public Pension Plan Task Force releases a comprehensive report, Risk Management and Public Plan Retirement Systems, which examines the criteria for disclosure from a risk management perspective.

2010

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is signed into law by President Obama.

2011

The Board adopts a policy that all Academy members who are members of any Academy board, committee, subcommittee, work group, task force, etc. annually comply with and attest to their compliance with the continuing education requirements of the U.S. Qualification Standards to serve as members of such committees.

2011

The Academy files an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on the question of whether the individual health insurance mandate included in the Affordable Care Act could be severed from the act’s other provisions. The brief does not take a position on the law itself. Of hundreds of briefs submitted, the Academy’s is one of only a handful cited by both sides.

2012

The Academy begins hosting a breakfast at national NAIC meetings to allow regulators to discuss candidly professionalism issues of concern to regulators with Academy professionalism volunteers knowledgeable about qualifications, practice standards, and discipline procedures.

2013

The Academy unveils a major initiative on Lifetime Income, kicked off with a discussion paper titled “Risky Business: Living Longer Without Income for Life.”

July 2013

A “Professionalism Counts” column debuts in the monthly Actuarial Update to highlight matters of professionalism.

2014

The Academy executes a public policy research partnership with the Health Care Cost Institute to complement the Academy’s intensive examination of health care costs and quality of care in the United States.

2014

The Academy introduces Essential Elements, a series of concise and informative papers designed to provide a quick and easy-to-understand overview of key public policy issues of interest to Academy members, policymakers and the general public. By mid-2015, the Academy had published 11 Essential Elements papers.

2014

A major initiative, Retirement for the AGES, is unveiled with a public policy monograph and plans to assess plans around four key principles: Alignment, Governance, Efficiency, and Sustainability, assigning letter grades to pension plans to foster public discussion of merits and drawbacks of various systems.

November 2014

The Academy holds a stand-alone signature Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum, including presentations from prominent policymakers and educational sessions on issues relevant to each practice area, with participation from actuarial experts, White House and congressional staff, and academics.

2015

The Academy assists the

U. S. Department of Labor in gathering occupational information about actuaries for a national database that provides information about the skills, abilities, and activities for about 900 occupations nationwide.

2015

The Academy premieres the Actuarial Standards Board’s enhanced website, which features a clean, contemporary look; interactive features to access the actuarial standards of practice (ASOPs), exposure drafts, and discussion drafts; and is designed to be accessible on mobile devices.

2015

The Council on Professionalism releases the results of an ethics survey that was sent to all members. More than 3,300 members respond to questions about key perceptions of potential ethical issues facing the profession.

2015

The Actuarial eLearning Center is unveiled, giving Academy members an opportunity to earn USQS continuing education credits in an online module through a thought-provoking interactive course on the Code, with an assessment and certificate to demonstrate achievement.

2015

In order to objectively consider viewpoints from all stakeholders, the Actuarial Standards Board holds a rare public hearing on proposed actuarial standards of practice (ASOPs) on public pension issues.