Editor’s note: Due to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, the Academy will not publish This Week next week. The next issue will be published on Friday, Dec. 4.
Academy Presents at NAIC
Academy volunteers gave several presentations at the NAIC’s Fall 2015 National Meeting near Washington, D.C., this week, interacting with state regulators on a wide variety of specific insurance-related topics as well as overall professionalism aspects of actuarial practice. The meeting continues through Sunday.
Highlights included:
Academy Senior Property/Casualty Fellow Jim MacGinnitie testified at the NAIC’s public hearing Thursday on “The Pricing of Automobile Insurance.”
MacGinnitie also spoke at the P/C Risk-Based Capital (RBC) Working Group, the Investment Risk-Based Capital Working Group, and the Capital Adequacy Task Force meetings about the P/C RBC Committee’s ongoing examination of bond risk factors used in the P/C risk-based capital formula.
The Joint American Academy of Actuaries Life Experience Committee and Society of Actuaries Preferred Mortality Oversight Group provided an update on guaranteed issue, simplified issue, and preneed to the Life Actuarial Task Force (LATF).
The Annuity Reserves Work Group (AWRG) provided a non-variable annuity principle-based reserving (PBR) update to the LATF’s VM-22 Subgroup.
The Nonforfeiture Modernization Working Group made a presentation on the gross premium nonforfeiture method to the LATF.
The Deposit Fund Subgroup of the AWRG submitted comments to the LATF on rules for separate accounts that fund guaranteed minimum benefits under group contracts related to the synthetic GIC model regulation.
Join the Academy at noon EST on Dec. 7 for a follow-up post-NAIC webinar hosted by the Life Practice Council. The webinar will include an account of the LATF meeting, updates on variable annuity and life RBC issues, and other major topics. Register nowfor the webinar!
Professionalism Outreach at NAIC
Academy professionalism representatives provided updates at each of the actuarial task force meetings this week at the NAIC to brief regulators on Actuarial Standards Board (ASB), Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD), and qualification issues. They also provided opportunity for candid conversations with regulators at a breakfast meeting on Thursday. Immediate Past President Mary D. Miller, ASB Chairperson Tricia Matson, ABCD member John Purple, and Committee on Qualifications member Tom Campbell presented. Miller highlighted the progress on the Academy’s development of an attestation form, which regulators have supported and provided feedback on, that will allow actuaries submitting statements of actuarial opinion to document their qualifications under the U.S. Qualification Standards. The Academy expects a working version of the form to be available by the end of the year.
ASB Approves Exposure Draft of ASOP No. 23 Revision
The Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) approved an exposure draft of a revision of Actuarial Standard of Practice (ASOP) No. 23, Data Quality. ASOP No. 23 was revised in 2004 and 2011 to reflect current, generally accepted practice with respect to data quality and to reflect new deviation language, respectively. In 2014, the ASB decided further review was needed to reflect changes in practice, which resulted in the drafting of the proposed revision. The exposure draft, which has a comment deadline of Feb. 29, 2016, can be viewed here.
Upcoming Events
P/C Opinion Seminar Set for Next Week: Space is limited for this property and casualty seminar, which will be held Dec. 1-2 in Philadelphia. Actuaries who prepare or sign NAIC annual statement actuarial opinions on P/C loss reserves, or those who assist in preparing them, should plan to attend. Click here for seminar information, here to see the speakers list, and here to register.
Professionalism ABCD Webinar Set for Dec. 9: The Council on Professionalism webinar “Facing a Dilemma? The ABCD Can Help,” will be held on Dec. 9. Expert panelists—Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD) Chairperson Janet Fagan and ABCD member Kathy Riley—will review the process for requesting guidance, discuss several case studies based on common requests for guidance received by the ABCD, and provide a forum for attendees to submit questions and receive answers. Click here for more information and to register.
Public Policy
The ERM/ORSA Committee submitted comments to the International Actuarial Association on its white paper Actuarial Aspects of ERM for Insurance Companies.
Alerts
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) released its Annual Report on Tuesday, which shows that the multiemployer program’s deficit rose 23 percent to $52.3 billion, from $42.4 billion in FY 2014. Similarly, the single-employer deficit increased by 25 percent to $24.1 billion from $19.3 billion in the prior year. Read the full alert here, or in the member section of the website under “Pension Alerts.”
Alert subscriptions: Alerts subscribers are notified by email when a new alert is posted in their area(s) of interest. The alerts focus on five areas: casualty, health, life, pension, and cross-practice issues. Academy members may subscribe to any or all of them after signing in to the member section of the website.
Academy Dues Renewal
Academy Immediate Past President Mary D. Miller announced this month that membership dues will remain the same for a fifth consecutive year. Payment is due Jan. 1, 2016. Please click here to conveniently pay your dues without logging in. Or, if you prefer, you may log in to pay and make changes to your account. Coinciding with the dues renewal, the Academy released The Record, which highlights the Academy’s 2015 achievements and publications. If you have questions about your membership dues, please contact the Academy’s Membership Department at 202-223-8196, or membership@actuary.org.
In the News
A piece by The Center for Financial Stability analyzed the keynote speech by Richard Berner, director of the Office of Financial Research, at the Academy’s 2015 Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum last week. Links to Berner’s full remarks, as well as other highlights and photos from the meeting, are available here; slides from many sessions are available here to members who attended the meeting.
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