Tricia Matson, chairperson of the Academy’s Longevity Risk Task Force, presented an update on the RBC Longevity Risk Survey.
Chris Whitney, a member of the Academy’s Life Reserves Work Group, gave a presentation on deterministic reserve considerations for indexed universal life under VM-20.
Tom Campbell, chairperson of the Academy’s AG43/C-3 Phase II Work Group, presented comments to the NAIC’s Variable Annuities Issues (E) Working Group on the exposed changes to the statutory framework.
Past Academy President Mary D. Miller, Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) Chairperson Beth Fitzgerald, and Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD) member Jan Carstens provided updates on Academy activities in professionalism areas to LATF and the Health Actuarial Task Force (HATF).
The NAIC’s Casualty Actuarial and Statistical Task Force (CASTF) meeting will be held this weekend, and the Academy will host a regulator-only professionalism breakfast and discussion forum tomorrow, Saturday, March 24. A post-NAIC alert recapping the Academy’s activity at the meeting will be released soon; make sure you’re signed up to get alerts by checking your subscriptions via the member section of the website.
ABCD Annual Report Released
The ABCD released its 2017 Annual Report. The ABCD handled 145 cases, comprised of 104 requests for guidance (RFGs) and 41 inquiries last year. The board provided guidance in response to the 104 RFGs (down slightly from 108 in 2016) and closed 15 inquiry cases. A chart showing the number of cases handled by the ABCD since its inception in 1992—including RFGs and inquiry cases—is included in the report. “[W]e believe this level of activity demonstrates the desire of the actuarial community to seek greater understanding of the actuarial standards of practice and the Code of Professional Conduct,” ABCD Chairperson Richard A. Block wrote.
COI, CE Acknowledgments—Last Call
The Academy has sent out its final notice that it will drop those volunteers and interested parties who have not submitted annual conflict of interest and continuing education acknowledgments required by the Academy to continue to participate in their respective councils, committees, task forces, and work groups.
These acknowledgments are a vital element in the Academy’s culture of objectivity, and they remind volunteers of their responsibility to participate in Academy work in a manner that maintains our high standards in providing unbiased and independent actuarial input for informing policymakers considering a wide array of U.S. fiscal and societal challenges.
For more information about the Academy’s commitment to professional objectivity, please visit the Professional Objectivity at the Academy page. If you have any questions, please contact the Academy’s professionalism department at objectivity@actuary.org.
Public Employment Opportunities
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has a public employment opportunity for director of its policy, research, and analysis department (PRAD). PBGC position information is available via USAJOBS by clicking here (current U.S. government employees), or here (non-governmental employees).
The Teacher Retirement System of Texas has a job opening for a health care actuary. The position involves coordinating with system’s contract actuary, researching health care data and performing actuarial analysis, analyzing and reporting on financial information, and program administration activities. Full information is available here.
In the spring Casualty Quarterly, Edmund Douglas, chairperson of the Academy’s Cyber Risk Task Force, writes about cyber risk as a pre-eminent security concern—a wakeup call akin to the Great Fire of London in 1666. Also covered are two practice notes from the Committee on Property and Liability Financial Reporting; the Academy’s take on a “Qualified Actuary” proposal; and state and federal legislative, judicial, and regulatory activity.
Public Policy Activities
The Financial Reporting Committeesubmitted implementation questions for consideration by the IFRS Transitions Resource Group on IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts.
Alerts
Congress extended the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through July 31 as part of a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill to fund the federal government, which was approved by the Senate and signed into law by the president Friday. The legislation marks the sixth extension of the NFIP since Sept. 30, 2017.
The Senate confirmed Thomas Workman as the independent member with insurance expertise on the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). Workman, who was nominated to the position late last year and will serve a six-year term, is the second voting member with insurance expertise to serve on FSOC since the council was established under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Are You Receiving Your Academy Alerts? Academy members can subscribe to the alerts to receive a notification when a new alert is posted in their area(s) of interest. Alerts are available in five areas of focus: casualty, health, life, pension, and cross-practice issues. Academy members may subscribe to any or all of them free of charge as a member service after signing in to the member section of the website.
A Health Affairs Blog post providing an update on litigation surrounding a recent U.S. district court decision involving Actuarial Standard of Practice No. 49 includes comments from the Academy regarding the decision’s mischaracterization of the role and functions of the ASB.
In an Actuarial Review story, Rade Musulin, the Academy’s vice president, casualty, discussed sea level rise and how it will challenge traditional assumptions for underwriting property risk.
A Healthcare Financial Management Association story covering a March 20 House Education and the Workforce Committee Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pension hearing on association health plans (AHPs) noted recent Academy analyses of potential AHP risks.
An Academy blog post published on the website promoting the upcoming National Retirement Planning Week (April 9–13), “Plan for a Lifetime,” encourages retirees to account for longevity risk in their retirement planning using the Academy/Society of Actuaries jointly produced Actuaries Longevity Illustrator as a resource.
ThinkAdvisorreported on the Longevity Risk Task Force’s presentation to the NAIC Life Risk-Based Capital Working Group.
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