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Maryellen Coggins (President-Elect) Leads Slate of Officer Nominations
 As announced in Actuarial Update, Maryellen Coggins—six-year member and former chairperson of the Actuarial Standards Board, as well as former vice president of the Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council—was nominated to serve as the Academy’s president-elect. Three Academy volunteers were also nominated to serve terms as vice presidents: Lauren Cavanaugh was nominated to be vice president, casualty; Al Schmitz was nominated as vice president, health; and Al Bingham was nominated to be vice president, professionalism.
The Nominating Committee is chaired by Immediate Past President Shawna Ackerman. For more on the excellent slate of nominations, see the May Update.
Breakout Sessions Announced for Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum
Breakout sessions at the Academy’s 2020 Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum will cover a wide range of topics, including the latest on COVID-19. Visit our website for full descriptions.
Casualty
Health
COVID-19 and the Future of Health Care Delivery and Payment A Tour of Health Care Funding Around the World Regulating the Health Insurance Markets—What’s New for 2021
Life
Implications of the SECURE Act Regulation Best Interest and Annuity Suitability Model Effects of COVID-19 on the Life Insurance Industry
Pension
For more complete descriptions or to register, visit the Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum webpage.
Register with confidence: The Academy now has cancellation policies in place to accommodate any necessary change to your in-person registration resulting from a continuation of the current pandemic situation.
Actuarial Update Released
 The May Actuarial Update was released today. In addition to highlighting the officer nominations and Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum session information, this issue features the Academy’s service and volunteer awards—and continues to seek nominations; Academy comments to NAIC on a Blanks proposal regarding property & casualty Statements of Actuarial Opinion; a new health issue brief on COVID-19 and risk mitigation; and a “Professionalism Counts” column on Precept 1.
Public Employment Opportunity
The Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Actuary is seeking an actuary to work in its Alexandria, Va., office. The DoD Office of the Actuary provides actuarial expertise on all matters relating to military compensation and benefits. Among other duties, this role will be responsible for:
Providing expert advice and assistance to the DoD chief actuary in support of the undersecretary of defense (personnel and readiness) on all actuarial matters bearing on the current, proposed, or alternative DoD military personnel benefit programs; and Applying professional actuarial principles and techniques in the analysis, evaluation, and projection of data with heavy emphasis on pension, survivor benefits, retiree health care, education benefits, and other employee benefit plans.
The position notice is open through June 8. For more information and to apply, see the job description at USAJobs.
The Academy has long supported government employers who are seeking to hire qualified actuaries. See our Public Employment Opportunity Posting Policy for more information.
Actuaries Climate Index Continues to Climb
The Actuaries Climate Index (ACI) has been updated with new quarterly data, revisions to initial data for previous periods, and annually updated values for the index’s drought and sea level components. The ACI is a measure of long-term changes across an array of observed weather extremes and sea level in Canada and the United States, expressed in units of difference (standard deviations) from the mean for a 30-year reference period from 1961 to 1990. This release also includes revised data for previous seasons that have slightly lowered the index values for recent periods; however, the ACI’s five-year moving average continues its long upward trend, standing at 1.16 as of fall 2019.
Academy’s Three-Part Retirement Series Concluded With a Look at Private Plans
The last installment of the Pension Practice Council’s three-part webinar series on “Retirement in America” was held Wednesday. “Part Three: Focus on Private-Sector Plans, State Initiatives, and Opportunities to Expand Coverage” focused on retirement plans sponsored by private-sector employers, the new state-mandated initiatives that are being implemented to increase access and enhance employees’ ability to save for retirement, and public policy opportunities that could further increase Americans’ retirement security. Slides and audio will be available soon for logged-in Academy members.
Public Policy Activity
The Tax Work Group submitted a comment letter to the IRS regarding a proposed regulation that provides guidance on the computation of life insurance reserves for income tax reporting. The Life Illustrations Work Group sent a comment letter to the NAIC Life Actuarial (A) Task Force on the “Independent Proposal” regarding IUL product illustrations under AG 49. The C-2 Longevity Risk Work Group sent a comment letter and supplemental materials to the NAIC Life Risk-Based Capital (E) Working Group on suggested edits to the RBC forms and instructions for C-2b longevity risk.
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