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RECENT ACADEMY ACTIVITY | | |
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Only have a minute? Catch up on the week’s top stories with the latest “This Week … In a Minute” video. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive alerts as they are released. | |
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Retirement Issue Brief Examines Spousal Protections The Retirement Policy and Design Evaluation Committee published an issue brief, Improving Spousal Retirement Plan Protections—Gaps and Policy Proposals, examining employer-sponsored retirement plans protections for spouses, in cases such as a divorce or a plan participant’s death, and potential gaps in protection. It also identifies proposals to address gaps in spousal benefits protections within retirement plans for policymakers and plan sponsors to consider. An accompanying infographic summarizes the key points. “Challenges and gaps in spousal benefit protections vary by plan type but range from the transparency and consent requirements regarding the disposition of retirement assets, to different coverage and administrative hurdles,” said committee Vice Chairperson Connie Rydberg. Read the news release.
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Deadline Extended—Submit Your Academy Award Nominations Academy award nominations are due Friday, June 20. Nominations are open for the Robert J. Myers Public Service Award, Jarvis Farley Service Award, Outstanding Volunteerism Awards, and Rising Actuary Awards. Be sure to read more and nominate yourself, peers and members of your teams to be recognized at actuary.org/awards. Coming Soon—2025 Membership Survey The Academy is preparing to launch the 2025 Membership Value Survey, developed in collaboration with McKinley Advisors. This survey is an important opportunity for members to provide feedback and insights that will help the Academy better understand and respond to the evolving needs of actuaries, their employers, clients, and other stakeholders we serve. Your input will help inform how we continue to enhance member value, support professional relevance, and address key issues facing the profession. Stay tuned for your opportunity to contribute to this important effort and help ensure the Academy remains responsive to the needs of the U.S. actuarial profession and the broader audiences it impacts. | | |
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Contingencies Web Exclusive: Building Insurance Literacy The latest Contingencies web exclusive, “Building Insurance Literacy,” by Academy retirement volunteer Sam Gutterman, explores the drivers and consequences of insurance illiteracy and highlights the vital role actuaries, and the Academy, can play in closing the gap through better product design, targeted education, and informed policy solutions.
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Actuary Voices Features NAWA’s Sandy Lowe |
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The latest Actuary Voices features a conversation with Sandy Lowe, the president of the Network of Actuarial Women and Allies. Listen and subscribe to Actuary Voices wherever you get your favorite podcasts. | | |
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Actuarially Sound Covers Insurance Investment Summit |
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The most recent Actuarially Sound blog post covers the Academy’s inaugural Insuring the Future: Insurance Investment Summit, including the opening session with Canada Pension Plan’s Tom Kalvik, insights from Investment Analysis Subcommittee Chairperson Marc Altschull, and session high points. | | |
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ICYMI—Frank Todisco Nominated as Academy President-Elect In case you missed it, the May Actuarial Update covers the nomination of longtime retirement volunteer and past Senior Pension Fellow Frank Todisco to be the Academy’s next president-elect. Todisco, chief actuary with the U.S. Government Accountability Office, received the Academy’s Robert J. Myers Award in 2023.
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Academy Continues Professionalism Outreach |
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Academy staff and volunteers presented on professionalism at several events this week: - Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD) Director of Professionalism Ed Lee delivered a professionalism session Tuesday at the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) Course on Professionalism in Boston.
- “You Are the Fulcrum of Self-Regulation!” was Senior Director of Professionalism Brian Jackson’s professionalism presentation on Monday in a session of the same name for KPMG actuaries in Orlando, Fla. Jackson utilized the “Web of Professionalism” to explore what it means to be an actuary and fulfill the profession’s responsibility to the public.
- Vice President of Professionalism and Education Nancy Behrens delivered a virtual presentation, “Understanding Self-Regulation: Living Professionalism in Your Everyday,” to the Actuaries’ Club of the Southwest on Wednesday. She reviewed the foundational concepts, competencies, and responsibilities behind the professionalism framework housed in the Academy, including the critical role and value of self-regulation, updated attendees on recent professionalism developments, and discussed requirements for new members that take effect next year.
- Immediate Past President Lisa Slotznick gave an overview of professionalism considerations in the context of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), in “Professionalism: Keeping up in the Age of GenAI” at the Casualty Actuarial Society’s (CAS) Seminar on Reinsurance in National Harbor, Md., on Friday. Slotznick discussed the Code of Professional Conduct, actuarial standards of practice, and qualification issues for actuaries to consider in this rapidly evolving space, drawing on the Committee on Professional Responsibility’s discussion paper, Actuarial Professionalism Considerations for Generative AI.
Looking for a speaker? The Academy Speakers Bureau provides qualified speakers on professionalism and public policy topics. | | |
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- Life Annuity Specialist (subscriber-only) covered the offshore insurance session from the Academy’s Insurance Investment Summit in New York.
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Councils Comment to NOAA on Climate Database |
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The Casualty Practice Council, Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council, and Research Committee sent a comment letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), strongly urging the reversal of the planned retirement of NOAA’s Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disaster Database. The joint comments, in consultation with CAS, emphasize the continued need for large, public datasets that influence public policy and the day-to-day responsibilities of actuaries, academics, and insurance companies that directly impact consumers and communities. | | |
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- The Individual and Small Group Markets Committee submitted comments to Senate Leadership as they develop their budget reconciliation legislation. The comments focus on provisions within H.R. 1, The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed the House on May 22 and would make changes to the individual health insurance market. It follows the May 19 comment letter the committee sent to the House Budget Committee when the bill was under consideration.
- The Economic Scenario Generator Subcommittee sent a comment letter to the NAIC’s Life Actuarial (A) Task Force on the recent exposure of APF 2025-04, discussing the update to the Valuation Manual regarding the adoption of the Conning-maintained economic scenario generator.
- The Casualty Practice Council submitted comments on the exposure draft of ASOP No. 39, Treatment of Catastrophe or Extreme Event Losses in Future Cost Estimates for Property/Casualty Risk Transfer and Risk Retention.
- The Pension Committee sent a comment letter to the IRS on the agency’s 2025–2026 Priority Guidance Plan, offering their suggestions on how to prioritize proposed issues within topic areas, including closed plan guidance, SECURE 2.0 cash balance guidance, and funding method changes.
- The Life Underwriting and Risk Classification Subcommittee sent comments to the Colorado Division of Insurance on the draft Proposed Amended Regulation Governance and Risk Management Framework Requirements for Life Insurers’, Private Passenger Automobile Insurers’, and Health Benefit Plan Insurers’ Use of External Consumer Data and Information Sources, Algorithms, and Predictive Models.
Resource Center—Visit the online Resource Center to stay on top of the latest Academy news and activity. | | |
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