Academy Presents to NAIC on Health Equity, Life Issues, Climate Risk
Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello presented Wednesday on behalf of the Academy’s Health Equity Work Group to the NAIC’s Special (EX) Committee on Race and Insurance. Annette James, the work group’s chairperson, submitted comments to the special committee highlighting their efforts to address health disparities.
Life Vice President Laura Hanson presented Thursday to the Life Actuarial Task Force during the NAIC’s Fall National Meeting, which was held in a virtual format. She briefed the task force on the Life Practice Council’s recent activities and 2021 priorities.
Michelle Young, chairperson of the ERM/ORSA Committee’s Climate Risk Disclosures Work Group, and Steve Jackson, the Academy’s assistant director for research (public policy), presented Friday to the Climate and Resiliency (EX) Task Force during the NAIC’s Fall National Meeting on their findings from the NAIC Climate Risk Disclosure Survey.
2021 Dues Reminder
If you are receiving this version of This Week, the Academy does not yet have a record of receiving your 2021 membership dues. “The Meaning of Your Membership” highlights the Academy’s ongoing and important work in a challenging 2020. Please take a moment to renew your membership now by clicking here to pay your dues, or you may log in and make changes to your account, including changing your mailing address to receive Contingencies magazine at your home address, for those members continuing to work from home. For questions about dues renewal, partial dues waivers, or updating your membership profile, please contact the Academy’s membership services department at 202-785-6925 or membership@actuary.org.
Remembrance—Arnold Dicke
Arnold Dicke, the recipient of this year’s Jarvis Farley Service Award, died Wednesday. Dicke was highly regarded by his peers as a mentor of actuaries and as a longtime, active, and dedicated Academy volunteer. He also helped support the Academy’s mission to serve the public and the actuarial profession throughout the years by encouraging other actuaries to volunteer on specific Academy groups. Dicke was a resource for many actuaries, including NAIC regulators. He made a significant contribution to many Academy life work projects, including assisting with developing the Academy’s recommendations regarding principle-based reserving (PBR) for life insurance products.
Dicke received the Farley award at last month’s Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum for his nearly three decades of volunteer service in more than 35 roles that included vice president, life; a member of the Board of Directors and the Council on Professionalism; and chairperson or member of many other Academy committees and work groups. His family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the ALS Association, Greater Philadelphia Chapter, and notes that they will hold a memorial service when it is safe to do so—hopefully sometime next year.
Two Social Security Issue Briefs Examine Immigration, Assumptions
The Social Security Committee recently published two issue briefs:
Immigration and Social Security discusses the effects of immigration on the finances of the program. An increase in immigration would have the effect of stabilizing the size of a country’s working population in an environment where birth rates are declining.
Actuaries Climate Index Updated With Spring 2020 Data
The Actuaries Climate Index has been updated with data for spring 2020, with its key five-year moving average reaching a new high of 1.19. The index—sponsored by the Academy, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, the Casualty Actuarial Society, and the Society of Actuaries—is designed to provide actuaries, public policymakers, and the public with objective data about changes in the frequency of extreme climate conditions over recent decades. Read the news release.
P/C Loss Reserve Law Manual Available for Preorder
The Academy’s P/C Loss Reserve Law Manual—updated for 2020—is now available for preorder. Designed to help appointed actuaries know the requirements for statements of actuarial opinion, the manual contains a compilation of insurance laws relating to P/C loss and loss expense reserves for all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The manual will be available for delivery this winter—place your order today.
Professionalism Outreach
Academy Past President Tom Terry delivered professionalism presentations at the Actuarial Society of Greater New York’s Nov. 23 virtual meeting and at Prudential’s virtual Actuarial Days of Learning on Dec. 2. Terry discussed practice and conduct standards, professional responsibilities, and professional guidance and disciplinary processes as they operate within and as integral to the self-regulating U.S. actuarial profession. Drawing on the June discussion paper on self-regulation developed by the Committee on Professional Responsibility, Terry emphasized that exemplifying professionalism, participating in standards development, and monitoring other actuaries are essential to the continued success of actuarial self-regulation in the United States.
Pension Webinar Next Week—‘Setting Investment Return Expectations in an Evolving Capital Market Environment’
Appropriate for pension actuaries with an interest in return forecasts, next week’s webinar—“Setting Investment Return Expectations in an Evolving Capital Market Environment”—will present a variety of viewpoints and methodologies to raise your level of familiarity with developing and assessing investment return expectations. Academy volunteer Evan Inglis will moderate, and presenters will be Phil Kivarkis, Aon; Shaum Shrinivas, Mercer; and Academy volunteer Jerry Mingione. Continuing education (CE) and continuing professional education credit under Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries (JBEA) rules will be available. The webinar will be held on Thursday, Dec. 10, at noon EST. Register today.
Upcoming CE Opportunities—Register Today
Two upcoming webinars will offer more CE opportunities:
“The Impact of COVID-19 on Retirement Plans,” will look at COVID-19’s impact on private, public, and multiemployer retirement plans. This webinar will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 15, at noon EST.
Seminar on Effective P/C Loss Reserve Opinions Begins Next Week
The Academy’s Seminar on Effective P/C Loss Reserve Opinions, offered this year as a virtual event, will kick off next week with an agenda that will cover the latest requirements, including regulatory guidance and actuarial qualification standards. Seminar sessions—to be held on Dec. 9–10 and 14–15—will begin at 1 p.m. EST each of the four days and run through the afternoon. Prefer to focus on a particular aspect? Daily rates are available so you can attend the day or days with content most relevant to you. Registration will close on Tuesday, Dec. 8—register today.
Recently Released
The November Actuarial Update covers the Academy’s successful Annual Meeting and Policy Forum, held as a virtual event near the end of a momentous year. Stories include Tom Campbell becoming the Academy’s new president; plenary sessions that covered topics of race and insurance, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, political and historical analysis of this year’s elections, and the importance of professionalism in a time of uncertainty; and practice-area breakout sessions. Also in the issue, the Academy bestowed its annual service awards at the meeting and forum, hosted a successful Life and Health Qualifications Seminar as a virtual event, and the “Professionalism Counts” column is “Winter Is Coming … Have You Completed Your CE?”
ASB Approves Exposure Draft of ASOP No. 3 Proposed Revision
The Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) approved an exposure draft of a proposed revision of Actuarial Standard of Practice (ASOP) No. 3, now titled Continuing Care Retirement Communities and At Home Programs. The standard was last revised in 2008. The comment deadline for the exposure draft is Feb. 1, 2021. Information on how to submit comments using the new comment template can be found in the exposure drafts.
Public Policy Activity
Health Practice Council and Life Practice Council task forces commented to the ASB on the second exposure draft of the proposed revision of ASOP No. 22, Statements of Actuarial Opinion Based on Asset Adequacy Analysis for Life Insurance, Annuity, or Health Insurance Reserves and Other Liabilities. Click here for the health comments and click here for the life comments.
Casualty Vice President Lauren Cavanaugh submitted written testimony for the record to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance on its hearing “Insuring Against a Pandemic: Challenges and Solutions for Policyholders and Insurers,” which looked at ways to address provision of business interruption insurance in the event of future pandemics.
The Financial Reporting Committee and Life Financial Reporting Committee recently submitted comments to the Financial Accounting Standards Board regarding equity indexing and modified coinsurance embedded derivatives.
The Asset Adequacy Testing Task Force published a discussion paper, Asset Adequacy Testing Considerations for Year-End 2020, to raise awareness and summarize actuarial practices for life financial reporting actuaries involved with asset adequacy testing and related activities in 2020’s extreme economic environment.
Andy Ferris, a member of the Data Science and Analytics Committee, offered observations on the changing role of the actuary due to technology for a story in the subscriber-only publication, Life Annuity Specialist.
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