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RECENT ACADEMY ACTIVITY | | |
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Only have a minute? Catch up on this 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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Renew Your Academy Membership for 2027 | | |
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It’s time to renew your Academy membership for 2027 if you haven’t already done so. Your continued membership unlocks benefits that fulfill your CE needs and offer cost-effective resources, opportunities to volunteer, and a professionalism and public policy framework that reinforce credibility, serve the public, and strengthen the entire U.S. actuarial profession. Email [email protected] with questions about renewing or related member inquiries. To conveniently pay your dues by Jan. 1, 2027, log in to your member account. Know Someone Who’s Considering Joining the Academy?—Let them know that now is the time. Members who join in November receive 14 months of membership for the price of 12 (a $127.50 savings). And if they are newly credentialed in the past three years, they’ll receive a special join rate at 50% off (a $382.50 savings). Help spread the word about the benefits of joining the Academy.
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Public Policy Interacting With Global Actuarial Leaders—Academy Attends IAA Meetings, Presents at ICA 2026 | | |
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(L–R) Terry, Matson, and Todisco present on professionalism at ICA | | | |
Academy leadership and volunteers discussed and presented on the global nature of many actuarial issues at ICA 2026, the 33rd International Congress of Actuaries meeting held in Tokyo. Following an International Actuarial Association (IAA) meeting, the meeting’s theme of “Tradition, Diversity, Innovation,” offered actuaries the opportunity to engage with colleagues from around the world on critical topics impacting the profession, including longevity, natural disasters, technology, and more. President Tricia Matson, President-Elect Frank Todisco, and Past President Tom Terry presented a session on professionalism; and Director of Research Steve Jackson presented on Academy research related to insurance capital standards. Former Academy Board member Dorothy Andrews gave a keynote address and served as a panelist on an Academy-sponsored session on AI and professionalism, along with Academy member Kathleen Wong and Roberto Perez Santiago of the NAIC. Matson and Todisco also attended IAA meetings earlier in the week as observers and participated in several bilateral meetings with various country organizations to learn from and share insights on common issues and trends in the profession worldwide.
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Volunteers Present Expertise on Casualty Topics at CAS Meeting | | |
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Fischer (left) with CAS Staff Actuary Ken Williams at the Academy booth | | | |
Academy staff and Casualty Practice Council (CPC) volunteers attended and presented at the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) annual meeting in Honolulu, giving insight into topical casualty issues including cyber risk and extreme events. Academy Executive Director & CEO Bill Michalisin attended on behalf of the Academy, and Casualty Policy Project Manager Rob Fischer moderated and presented in a session highlighting regulatory and public policy priorities from an NAIC and federal government perspective, which included a representative from the Hawaii Department of Insurance and CPC Committee on Cyber Risk Chairperson Sam Tashima. A separate cyber-risk session featured Tashima and committee Vice Chairperson Isabelle McCullough. Academy Workers’ Compensation Committee Chairperson Krystal Ross led a workers’ compensation session, and a session on wildfires featured discussion of an Academy issue paper with CPC volunteer Howard Kunst moderating a panel discussion featuring P/C Extreme Events and Property Lines Committee incoming Chairperson Minchong Mao and committee member and Academy Past President Shawna Ackerman. The Academy also had a booth to engage with attendees as well as encourage newly credentialed ACAS and FCAS to join and become MAAAs.
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Academy Presenting at NAIC Fall Meeting | | |
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Academy volunteer and staff leadership are attending the NAIC Fall National Meeting, kicking off this weekend in Dallas. Practice-area councils will present updates on their activity, and the Academy will also give professionalism presentations to NAIC practice-area task forces, including from chairpersons of the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) and Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD). The Academy will also host a Nov. 14 reception and dinner for NAIC stakeholders and attendees reinforcing the relationships and connections to reinforce the Academy’s mission and the value of an independent, objective and balanced actual perspective on policy issues. | | |
Next Week—Webinar to Offer SAO Tips to P/C Opinion Writers | | |
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Pick up some year-end CE at next week’s casualty webinar, The New Opinion Writer’s Guide to the SAO, which will offer insights into writing property/casualty (P/C) statements of actuarial opinion (SAOs). Opinion Seminar Committee Chairperson Kayla Robertson and Vice Chairperson Jennifer Leach will present; committee member Jim Leonard will moderate. The webinar will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 17. Register today. ▶ Academy Learning—If you missed Thursday’s retirement webinar on actuaries’ role in public pension ALM, you can watch a free replay, a member benefit, on Academy Learning. | | |
- The Annuity Products Subcommittee offered high-level comments to the NAIC Life Insurance and Annuity Illustration Working Group as a response to its request for comment, with the shared goal of helping provide appropriate and helpful information to consumers.
- The Life GAAP Reporting Committee and the Financial Reporting Committee commented on the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) exposure draft proposing amendments to IFRS 9 and IFRS 7 on risk mitigation accounting.
- The Annuity Products Subcommittee gave comments and redline edits on the Annuity Buyer’s Guide to the NAIC’s Annuity Buyer’s Guide (A) Working Group.
- In comments to LATF’s VM-22 (A) Subgroup, the Annuity Reserves and Capital Subcommittee suggested a structured, optional path for retrospective adoption of VM-22 for certain in-force non-variable annuity business.
- The cross-practice Risk-Based Capital (RBC) Task Force sent a comment letter to the NAIC’s RBC Model Governance (EX) Task Force on the Aspirational Model Governance Exposure, offering additional material for consideration.
- The Life Investment Analysis Subcommittee submitted comments to LATF regarding the Exposure Draft of SSAP No. 109—Asset Liability Management (ALM) Derivatives and the related draft Statutory Issue Paper 1XX.
Resource Center—Visit the Resource Center to stay up to date with the latest Academy news and activity. | | |
How the Election Results Impact the Academy’s Public Policy Efforts | | |
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A new Actuarially Sound blog post sheds light on last week’s midterm election results and how they relate to the Academy’s public policy work. It notes that with a change in political power, committee staffs often change too—changes that matter for the Academy because congressional staff are key partners in our outreach. In the months leading up to the Academy’s annual Hill visits (which will be held in March 2027), Academy staff work closely with congressional committees to identify key contacts for discussions on high-priority issues. Maintaining these relationships, and building new ones, help ensure that the Academy remains a trusted, nonpartisan resource to lawmakers and regulators.
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Speakers Bureau Outreach Spans the Nation With many actuarial clubs and employers holding end-of-year educational meetings in November, presenters from the Academy Speakers Bureau spoke to actuarial audiences across the country. ▶ Maggie Ruzicka, co-chairperson of the AI, Data Science, and Analytics Committee (ADAC), delivered a virtual presentation, “Takeaways from the Academy’s Work on Algorithmic Bias,” to the Middle Atlantic Actuarial Club on Monday. ▶ ADAC member Mario DiCaro presented “Keeping Up With AI: Practical and Professionalism Considerations” at the Actuaries’ Club of the Southwest meeting near Houston on Friday. ▶ Mark Dungan, co-chairperson of the ASB’s Actuarial Standard of Practice (ASOP) No. 1 Task Force, delivered a presentation on select topics on the Code of Professional Conduct, ASOP No. 1, and ASOP No. 41 to the Actuaries Club of Philadelphia in King of Prussia, Pa., on Wednesday. ▶ Academy Director and Health Actuary Julia Lerche and Medicare Committee Chairperson Derek Skoog joined a livestream of the North Valley (Calif.) EA Study Group, delivering two presentations on Thursday. Lerche provided a lens on Affordable Care Act (ACA) developments via the Academy’s analysis of 2027 premium drivers, while Skoog discussed takeaways from the 2026 Medicare Trustees Report. ▶ Also on Thursday, former Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD) Chairperson and Actuarial Standards Board 2027 appointee David Driscoll provided an overview of the Code of Professional Conduct and an overview of ABCD processes to Excellus actuaries in Rochester, N.Y. | | |
- In a story on Social Security’s financial challenges, Yahoo!Finance cited the Academy’s analysis of the annual Social Security Trustees Report and linked to the Academy’s Social Security Challenge. A separate story in The Patch (Princeton, N.J.) also cited the Academy on this issue, linking to an infographic developed by the Social Security Committee.
- Automobile Insurance Committee member Norman Niami was quoted in a Nerdwallet story on how consumer credit can affect auto insurance premiums.
- The Academy’s Social Security Challenge was used to illustrate reform approaches in a Fortune story warning of potential future Social Security benefit cuts.
- Academy analysis of longevity risk was featured in a CNBC program on retirement saving.
- A Seeking Alpha investor advice column discussing investment-grade collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) published an Academy chart explaining aspects of different CLO note types.
- A widely published article on retirement issues from The Street, including in the Wichita Eagle (Kan.), featured Academy analysis of the dimensions of Social Security’s projected future shortfall. Another The Street article on corporate debt ratings and institutional buyers notes previous Academy work on risk-based capital charges.
- An American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries article on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s (PBGC) insurance programs cited the Academy issue brief, PBGC Single-Employer Premiums and Their Impact on Plan Sponsorship.
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