1990s - Actuarial - Snippets

  • I think we need to focus more on building a knowledge base.
  • It seems to me our knowledge base is what we live or die on.

--   Anna Rappaport, (2023 - The Actuarial Foundation, Emeritus Trustee)

1990 06 - SOA - The Actuary Magazine, Society of Actuaries - 5p

  • William Carroll, ACLI: Cathy Waldhauser will present the IDS paper, and then Reed Miller will provide a critical response.
    • Cathy H. Waldhauser: <WishList> "Will the U.S. life industry keep its promises?" That was the title of a position paper that IDS issued in March 1990. 
    • ...
    • Reed P. Miller: I happened to be watching a "Saturday Night Live" anniversary show.
      • The skit of Dan Akryod and Jane Curtin doing their "Point/Counterpoint" really stuck out as being a prime example of how we might liven up what are oftentimes rather dull discussion sessions.
      • But, given that I had never met Cathy before, I had a real difficult time starting by labeling her in the way that Dan Akroyd labeled Jane Curtin.  So I elected to not do that. 
      • [Bonk: My Best Guess. 1979 - Saturday Night Life -Weekend Update: Jane, You Ignorant Slut - SNL - [VIDEO-YouTube]
    • [Bonk: Connect: 1990 1210 - GOV (Senate) - Insurance Company Solvency: Insurance Company Solvency and Reporting Methods, Howard Metzenbaum (D-OH)  ---  [BonkNote]

1990 - SOA - Emerging Issues, Society of Actuaries - 38p

  • The Academy Life Committee has a task force that's chaired by Helen Gaff.
    • This committee was set up, at the request of the NAIC's Actuarial Task Force, to address misleading illustrations, specifically to address the pattern of values on illustrations.

--  Douglas C. Doll

1991 - SOA - Product Update - Individual Life, Society of Actuaries - 18p

  • The educational task is huge, and it's not just with the customers; it's with our agents also. 
  • I would say to all of you that if you think that you don't have any customers or any agents who fail to understand what a nonguaranteed illustration really means, you're kidding yourself.

--  Walter Miller, Prudential

1991 - SOA - Illustrations, Society of Actuaries - 20p

  • I believe that one of the most useful things actuaries can do to help with the insurance industry's current image difficulties is to become increasingly active in the public discussion of the challenges it faces.
  • As Daphne Bartlett suggests in a recent special message published in The Actuary, this is particularly true of the solvency issue.

--  Robert S. Fillingham

1991 - SOA - The Image Crisis and the Actuary: Understanding Pubic Misunderstanding, Society of Actuaries - 32p

  • A life insurance policy illustration is a mathematical calculation of benefits and values over time under specific, simplified, and generally static assumptions. (p141)
    • ⇒  Appendix II - Illustration Examples

1991-1992 - SOA - Final Report* of the Task Force for Research on Life Insurance Sales Illustrations, Society of Actuaries  ---  [BonkNote]  ---  142p

  • [Bonk: Connect:]
    • 2020 0303 - NAIC Proc. - IULWG - Fred Andersen, Chair - NAIC, IULWG, Indexed Universal Life Working Group
      • Thanks for doing the research. 
      • A lot of people don't understand why the illustration model regulation is the way it is.
        • [Bonk: Thanks to [Donna Megregian - AAA, American Academy of Actuaries]
  • As Chris indicated earlier, pricing actuaries are in a unique position relative to valuation actuaries since valuation actuaries spend their time monitoring reality.
    • Pricing actuaries, along with actuaries who work in the asset/liability modeling (ALM) area, can influence reality.
    • Their actions are highly leveraged in that if they incorrectly price a product, it can have enormous consequences for their company.
    • [Bonk: Chris = Christian J. Desrochers]

--  Mark A. Tullis

1992 - SOA - Strategic Product Development, Society of Actuaries - 36p

  • ... could we use some of the Society of Actuaries resources to do some educational pieces, such as a videotape?
    • I'm not sure a booklet does it.
    • But a videotape that talks about the Society of Actuaries, utilizing Society of Actuaries resources.
    • We are a research body and an education body to help educate the public on why these are not guarantees, and how they should be looking at these in terms of flexibility.
    • I'm not talking about numbers now.
    • I'm talking about perceptions and concepts regarding the nonguaranteed elements of a contract.

--  Barbara J. Lautzenheiser

1992 - SOA - Life Insurance Sales Illustrations, Society of Actuaries - 16p

  • Actuaries can do lots of things.
    • We can provide the field with a clear description of the policy and how it works.

--  Bruce E. Booker, Life of Virginia, a member of the American Council of Life Insurance (ACLI) Task Force on Cost Disclosure and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Advisory Group on Illustrations

1993 - SOA - Sales Illustrations - We Can't Life With Them, But We Can't Live Without Them!, Society of Actuaries - 20p

  • Barbara Lautzenheiser (Lautzenheiser & Associates) .... pointed out that mutual funds do not have to say in big print that it is possible that the investor will not get any money back, and compared that to the requirements on illustrations.

1994-1, NAIC Proceedings

  • Judy Faucett responded that people spend more time buying a microwave than they do an insurance policy.
    • [Bonk: --  Judy Faucett, Actuarial Consultant to the NAIC and former chairperson of the Society Task Force on Illustrations and chair of the Academy Task Force on Illustrations]

1994-1, NAIC Proceedings

  • Judy Faucett ...suggested that a note be added to the illustration that said if you have any questions the agent cannot answer, call the compliance officer of the company.
    • [Bonk: --  Judy Faucett, Actuarial Consultant to the NAIC and former chairperson of the Society Task Force on Illustrations and chair of the Academy Task Force on Illustrations]

1994-4, NAIC Proceedings

  • I have worked for other insurance companies dealing with illustrations and this phenomena of being involved is very new.
    • At my prior company I was in charge of looking at other companies' illustrations.
    • I called the company and their actuaries didn't know what was in the illustrations.
    • It was the marketing department.
    • This is new that the actuaries are involved.

--  Laura M. Mockridge

1995 - SOA - Current Developments Surrounding Regulations and Standards of Life and Annuity Products, Society of Actuaries - 18p

  • I'm a member of the NAIC working group that developed this regulation and I am terribly disappointed.
    • I have been interested in the illustration issue for probably 15 or 20 years, and some of you may know that when I became President of the SOA, the first thing I did was establish the task force that developed the report on sales illustrations.
  • Tragically, what's come out of this process doesn't do the job.

--  Daphne D. Bartlett

1995 - SOA - Sales Illustrations, Society of Actuaries - 14p

  • Michael MATEJA: I'd like to make two points.
    • First, I'm going to use the words actuarial science and say I think your charge is to provide SOP with regard to the implementation of actuarial science by the members of the profession. If I'm wrong in that regard, then maybe what I have to say would not be appropriate.
      • When regulators, in their wisdom, find ways to implement public policy and they, in effect, put down something that is not actuarial science, then I don't think it's your job to implement it by promoting standards.
      • What I see embedded in this sales illustration regulation is nothing like actuarial science. I would tell you to steer clear of it. We have no reason to have a standard for it.
      • You have great leverage, by virtue of your position. You can say, "No, we're not going to tell actuaries to practice in such a way because it really doesn't make sense." I think you need to use that leverage at appropriate times and, in effect, could influence the conduct of the regulators.

1995 - SOA - Actuarial Standards Board (ASB): Current Hot Topics, Society of Actuaries - 18p

  • I’ll talk about the complications.
    • The typical policy that runs into this issue is a policy with a 3% interest guarantee where the guideline level premium requires a 4% interest guarantee.
    • Therefore, under the policy guarantees, and by paying the guideline level premium year by year, the policy will expire at age 68 without value. It’ll be term to 68.
    • Your guideline level premium is less than the premium [Guaranteed Maturity Premium] that would be theoretically required to mature the policy at age 100 or 95.  --  Therein lies the problem.

--  Edward L. Robbins

1999 - SOA - Valuation Actuary Symposium - Session 44, Edward L. Robbins, Society of Actuaries - 28p

  • A regulator had told them that in that case they should not treat their universal life as though it was a whole life policy matured by paying the GMP [Guaranteed Maturity Premium].
  • Rather, you should assume that people will pay the guideline level premium, and that will give you a policy that provides guaranteed coverage for something less than the whole of life.

--  Daniel J. McCarthy

1999 - SOA - Valuation Actuary Symposium, Society of Actuaries - 28p