This Week, Dec. 9 - 13, 2024

EDUCATION & EVENTS

Academy Hosts Successful P/C Opinion-Writing Seminar

Chuck Emma leads a reserve ranges P/C seminar session

The Academy hosted a successful, sold-out Seminar on Effective P/C Loss Reserve Opinions Monday and Tuesday in New Orleans, covering the entire opinion-writing process from becoming qualified to signing opinions, adherence to actuarial standards of practice, and how to write reports. Attendees gained significant hours of continuing education (CE) credit, including professionalism and bias CE under the U.S. Qualification Standards.

“The P/C Opinion Seminar is a highlight of the year, bringing an experienced faculty across consulting, insurance company, and regulator actuaries along with an engaged audience leading to fantastic sessions and discussions,” said Academy Member-Selected Director Stephen Koca, chairperson of the Committee on Property and Liability Financial Reporting and a seminar faculty member.

Webinars Cover Retirement, PBR Issues

The Academy held two webinars this week that provided valuable year-end continuing education (CE) credit:

• Thursday’s Surplus Considerations for Public Pension Plans examined a recent issue brief on the subject and discussed surplus management.

• Friday’s PBR Bootcamp: VM-31 as Seen by Regulators featured a panel of regulators addressing principle-based reserving (PBR) reports, variable annuities, and Valuation Manual (VM) updates.

Watch recordings of webinars, Envision Tomorrow sessions, and more on the Academy Learning portal, a member benefit.

OUTREACH & NEWS

Casualty Quarterly Covers ACI, ACRI

The Fall-Winter Casualty Quarterly includes a Q&A with ACI/ACRI Work Group Chairperson Peter Ott, who discusses the Actuaries Climate Index and Actuaries Climate Risk Index, the group’s plans going forward, and its call for volunteers. Also in the issue, the latest P/C legislative and regulatory activity.

Actuarially Sound Blog Covers NCOIL Meeting

The latest Actuarially Sound blog post on the National Council of Insurance Legislators’ (NCOIL) Annual Meeting covers NCOIL’s priorities including retirement and long-term care issues, life insurance and financial planning, and state and federal relations.

P/C, Life & Health Law Manuals Available for Order

The Academy’s P/C Loss Reserve Law Manual and Life and Health Valuation Law Manual are available for preorder, offering valuable information on statements of actuarial opinion and the NAIC Model Standard Valuation Law—with the latest requirements for all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Make sure you have these important resources at your fingertips—place your order today and be among the first to have these handy reference tools. Both will be available for delivery this winter.

IABA Accepting Scholarship Program Applications

The International Association of Black Actuaries (IABA) is accepting applications for its 2025–2026 Scholarship Program. Since its inception, the program has provided over $2 million to Black students pursuing actuarial careers. This year it awarded $200,000 to help shape the future of the profession. The deadline is March 31, 2025—for more information and to apply, see IABA’s announcement on The Actuarial Foundation’s website.

In the News

• Academy Senior Fellows Rich Gibson (casualty) and Cori Uccello (health) provided insights to Best’s Review for a story on the evolving risk landscape.

   

• The jointly sponsored Actuaries Longevity Illustrator was highlighted in a discussion of longevity risk during a Dec. 4 Motley Fool Money podcast.

   

PUBLIC POLICY

• The Long-Term Care (LTC) Committee submitted comments to the NAIC’s LTC (B) Task Force in response to the NAIC LTC Insurance (B) Task Force’s Nov. 20 request for comments on the exposure draft of the LTC Insurance Multistate Rate Review Framework.

   

Visit the Public Policy webpage to stay on top of the latest news and activity.

PROFESSIONALISM

COPE, ABCD Speakers Close Out 2024 Professionalism Outreach to Clubs

Speakers from the Council on Professionalism and Education (COPE) and the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD) delivered the final professionalism presentations of the year to close out 2024’s outreach to actuarial clubs as part of the Academy’s ongoing service to the profession. COPE VP Nancy Behrens delivered a virtual presentation to the Columbus (Ohio) Actuarial Club on Monday, exploring the role of, and critical supports provided by the Academy for, the actuarial profession’s self-regulation. She led an interactive discussion of case studies and offered a look at Academy professionalism resources.

“The presentation added real value to our professionalism education,” said club President Hannah Phillips. ABCD Professionalism Director Ed Lee delivered the final club presentation of the year virtually on Wednesday to the Actuaries Club of Iowa, with a focus on the ABCD’s role, activities, and valuable services such as responding to requests for guidance.

• Looking for a Speaker? The Academy’s Speakers Bureau provides qualified speakers on professionalism and public policy topics.

   

ICYMI—‘Professionalism Counts’ Q&A With Nancy Behrens

In case you missed it, the November “Professionalism Counts” column is an interview with Behrens, who talks about the importance of professionalism in a self-regulated profession.

• ‘Tales From the Dark Side’—If you missed last Friday’s Tales From the Dark Side 2024 professionalism webinar on ABCD case studies, catch a replay on Academy Learning, a member benefit.

   

2025 EVENTS CALENDAR

• April 2–4 [in-person events] Academy Hill visits; Washington, D.C.
• May 22–23 [in-person event] Insuring the Future: Insurance Investment Summit; New York City
• Nov. 17–20 [in-person event] Life and Health Qualifications Seminar; Arlington, Va.

   

• Dec. 8–9 [in-person event] Seminar on Effective P/C Loss Reserve Opinions; Salt Lake City

   

Visit the Events Calendar for a complete listing of Academy events, including links to post-webinar slides and recordings via Academy Learning. Look for more on 2025 events in the upcoming December Actuarial Update, including previews of a Future of Retirement Symposium planned for June and a Health Equity & Behavioral Health Symposium planned for September.