Keeping you in the know—the latest news from the Academy
RECENT ACADEMY ACTIVITY | May 15–19, 2023
This Week … In a Minute
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CPC, RMFRC Hold Hill Visits
The Casualty Practice Council (CPC) and the Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council (RMFRC) held their annual joint “Hill visits” with lawmakers, regulators, and policymakers from Capitol Hill offices and federal agencies in the nation’s capital. CPC and RMFRC volunteers met virtually with the White House Council of Economic Advisers and Council on Environmental Quality; the Government Accountability Office; the Congressional Budget Office; the Federal Insurance Office; and the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. Discussion topics included climate change, data science and bias, cyber risk, affordability and unfair discrimination, extreme events, pandemic risk insurance, and asset adequacy and solvency.
As the public policy voice for the U.S. actuarial profession, the Academy undertakes “Hill visits” each spring with federal lawmakers and policymakers to develop relationships with and serve as a resource for public stakeholders. More meetings are planned next week; see the forthcoming May Actuarial Update for a more detailed report. For more on CPC’s and RMFRC’s public policy work, visit the Public Policy webpage.
Webinars Cover Multiple Topics in Professionalism, Practice Areas
Senior Director of Professionalism Brian Jackson (top left)
opens the professionalism webinar
The Academy hosted a full week of webinars on timely topics across multiple practice areas, with two health webinars covering Medicare and the Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters final rule, respectively, and a pension webinar looking at fixed rate pension funding. (Click here for an in-depth recap of the Medicare webinar.) The latest installment in the PBR Bootcamp series was held, as was the third in the climate-modeling webinar series.
The week wrapped up with a professionalism webinar—“FAQs on the U.S. Qualification Standards”—that featured Committee on Qualifications (COQ) Chairperson Katie Campbell and COQ members Ken Hohman and Laurel Kastrup, who gave a deep dive into the USQS. They discussed how the USQS fits into the web of professionalism and took questions on statements of actuarial opinion, including who must comply with the USQS and under what circumstances. They also covered basic education and experience, and continuing education requirements.
Slides and on-demand recordings will be available soon as a member benefit, via the webinars page.
Pension Volunteers Meet With PBGC Advisory Committee
The Academy met with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) Advisory Committee, at the PBGC’s invitation. At the meeting, attended by Director Gordon Hartogensis and other PBGC leaders, Pension Practice Council (PPC) volunteers and Academy staff provided insights into the current and future state of defined benefit plans, including expected pension risk transfer activity. The PPC was also asked to provide observations on the PBGC’s annual projections report. The PBGC Advisory Committee—appointed by the president of the United States—represents the interests of labor, employers, and the public. For more on the PPC’s public policy work, visit the pension section of the Public Policy webpage.
Professionalism Outreach
The Academy continues to fulfill its strategic goal of advancing professionalism and practice via numerous speaking opportunities and engagement where Academy leaders provide insights on actuarial professionalism. Two recent events include:
Committee on Professional Responsibility (COPR) member Shawn Parks led the Middle Atlantic Actuarial Club’s virtual professionalism session on Thursday, taking attendees on a tour of recent discussion papers produced by the COPR. Topics explored included the profession’s self-regulation, explaining professionalism to principals, areas of developing practice, and solo actuary practice.
Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD) Professionalism Director Ed Lee presented Thursday on ABCD topics to Markel Corp. actuaries outside of Richmond, Va.
Professionalism Speakers Bureau—The Academy provides qualified speakers to actuarial clubs and organizations to help members fulfill their professionalism continuing education requirements. For more information and to request a speaker, visit the Academy website.
Nominations Reminder—Deadlines Approaching for Academy Awards & Board Directors
A reminder that nominations for Academy member-selected directors, who will serve three-year terms on the Academy’s Board of Directors, are due May 31—please review the criteria and how to submit nominations in the Board Selection Center, or visit the Nominations Page.
Also, don’t forget to nominate a deserving colleague for an Academy service award, presented annually to recognize members for their commitment to the profession. Nominations are due June 15—more information can be found here.
The Life Reserves Work Group submitted a comment letter to the NAIC’s Life Actuarial (A) Task Force (LATF) on the April 20 exposure of APF 2023-06.
Visit the Public Policy page to stay on top of the latest news and activities.
In the News
AARP spotlighted the Academy’s Social Security Challenge with a feature story on its website that introduced the app to visitors and cited favorable reviews of the app by outside experts on Social Security financing.
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