This Week, Nov. 18 - 22, 2024

Academy Closed for Thanksgiving; Actuarial Update Coming Next Week

The Academy will be closed Thursday and Friday, Nov. 28–29, for the Thanksgiving holiday. There will not be an issue of This Week, and the November Actuarial Update will be delivered prior to the holiday.

PUBLIC POLICY

Cross-Practice White Paper Examines Hedging & Risk Management

The Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council’s Financial Reporting Committee, ERM/ORSA Committee, and the Life Practice Council’s (LPC) Life GAAP Reporting Committee released a white paper, Hedging and Risk Management, examining how insurance companies—life, health, or property/casualty—employ similar techniques to manage insurance risk, and use hedging as a risk management tool.

Academy Wraps Up Presentations at NAIC Fall National Meeting

Volunteers and staff wrapped up presentations at the NAIC Fall National Meeting in Denver, covering key issues and interacting with regulators and other stakeholders. Academy policy analysts gave updates on recent Casualty Practice Council (CPC), Health Practice Council (HPC), and LPC activity; Director of Research Steve Jackson presented on a title insurance research project; and Senior Casualty Fellow Rich Gibson presented on insurance fraud and made comments during a discussion on trends in flood insurance during the Joint Meeting of the Property and Casualty Risk-based Capital (E) Working Group & Catastrophic Risk Subgroup.

Jackson, Annuity Reserves & Capital Subcommittee Chairperson Chris Conrad, and EY representatives presented an update on the VM-22 study, the Academy hosted a regulator-only luncheon on professionalism issues, and new Academy President Darrell Knapp gave an update on behalf of the Committee on Qualifications, along with Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) and Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD) representatives, who gave professionalism updates to the three NAIC actuarial task forces. The Academy also discussed the ongoing project of creating knowledge statements for life and health actuaries with NAIC’s life and health actuarial task forces.

• Blog post & recap—An Actuarially Sound blog post covers key NAIC meeting highlights. Look for an Academy video recap of the event, which will be available to watch on-demand in early December, and for more coverage in Update next week.

Academy at NCOIL Annual Meeting

The Academy is also attending the National Council of Insurance Legislators’ (NCOIL) annual meeting Thursday through Sunday in San Antonio. Stay tuned for a December blog highlighting sessions of interest and what to expect from NCOIL in 2025.

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

EDUCATION & EVENTS

Mark Your Calendar for December CE Opportunities

The Academy will hold several webinars next month offering valuable year-end continuing education (CE) credit:

• Dec. 3—Capital Markets—What Now? will give an update on current capital market conditions and trends, given recent inflation and the Federal Reserve’s response. Register today.

• Dec. 5—Overview of the NAIC Climate Risk Disclosure Survey will offer a deep dive into the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures recommendations. Register today.

• Dec. 6—Tales From the Dark Side 2024 continues the popular professionalism webinar series with a look at ABCD case studies. Register today.

• Dec. 12—Surplus Considerations for Public Pension Plans will examine a recent issue brief on the subject and discuss surplus management. Register today.

• Dec. 13—PBR Bootcamp: VM-31 as Seen by Regulators will feature a panel of regulators addressing principle-based reserving (PBR) reports, variable annuities, and Valuation Manual (VM) updates. Register today.

• Dec. 18—Non-Variable Annuity PBR Framework Update, offering more on PBR and VM-22, will feature Annuity Reserves and Capital Subcommittee Chairperson Chris Conrad and subcommittee members. Register today.

P/C Opinion Seminar—There’s still time to register for the annual Seminar on Effective P/C Loss Reserve Opinions, Dec. 9–10 in New Orleans. The seminar is designed for property/casualty actuaries who prepare NAIC statements of actuarial opinion. Register today.

OUTREACH & NEWS

Professionalism Outreach

The Academy’s busy fall professionalism outreach continued with the following presentations, which covered actuarial standards of practice (ASOPs) and more.

• Council on Professionalism and Education member David Driscoll and ABCD member Cande Olsen presented Tuesday on “The Code, the ASOPs, and the ABCD” to the Actuaries’ Club of Hartford (Conn.) and Springfield (Mass.), and the Northern New England Actuaries’ Club in Portland, Maine, respectively.

• ASB Life Committee Chairperson Matt Monson presented “The ASOP Edge” at Thursday’s Southeastern Actuaries Conference meeting in Atlanta.

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

Academy Attends NAWA Annual Meeting

Several Academy volunteers and staff attended Thursday’s 2024 Network of Actuarial Women and Allies (NAWA) annual meeting. The virtual event included an update from NAWA’s Board, a keynote with Laura Hay on “Building Confidence, Taking Risks and Conquering Impostor Syndrome,” an actuarial professionalism session, and a leadership & career advancement panel.

In the News

• A Forbes retirement column highlighted the revamped Actuaries Longevity Illustrator, developed jointly by the Academy and the Society of Actuaries.

• An MSN story on pension funding cited the Academy issue brief, The 80% Pension Funding Myth. 

• The Reason Foundation reported on the Academy’s issue brief on collective defined contribution plans.

• Florida-based Hometown News covered Darrell Knapp becoming the Academy’s 60th president last week.

PUBLIC NOTICE

Public Employment Opportunity—PBGC

• The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is seeking an actuary (multiemployer) within PBGC’s Policy, Research, and Analysis Department, which conducts and coordinates analysis and research related to policy, including pensions. The application deadline is Nov. 25. For more and to apply, visit USAJOBS.

• The Academy supports government employers who are seeking to hire qualified actuaries. For more, see our Public Employment Opportunity Posting Policy.

• Don’t forget to visit the Academy’s Career Center for more employment opportunities.

EVENTS CALENDAR

• Dec. 3 [Webinar] Capital Markets—What Now?

• Dec. 5 [Webinar] Overview of the NAIC Climate Risk Disclosure Survey

• Dec. 6 [Professionalism webinar] Tales From the Dark Side 2024

• Dec. 9–10 [Seminar] Seminar on Effective P/C Loss Reserve Opinions; New Orleans

• Dec. 12 [Webinar] Surplus Considerations for Public Pension Plans

• Dec. 13 [Webinar] PBR Bootcamp: VM-31 as Seen by Regulators

• Dec. 18 [Webinar] Non-Variable Annuity PBR Framework Update

Visit the Events Calendar for a complete listing of Academy events, including links to post-webinar slides and recordings via Academy Learning.