Description: This session will provide insights into current industry allocations to asset classes with a focus on emerging and growing allocations to complex assets. Additionally, participants will gain an understanding of the risks associated with complex assets and the associated regulatory discussions.

Description: Over a short span of two weeks, the financial system has observed the collapse of two mid-sized U.S. commercial banks, California-based Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) and New York-based Signature Bank, and a takeover of troubled Credit Suisse by a rival in Europe. Other banks that serve a similar demographic as SVB, such as First Republic Bank and PacWest Bancorp, have also experienced an elevated level of customer deposit withdrawals while their stock prices plummeted. The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) quickly stepped in and guaranteed all deposits from the failed banks to prevent a broader crisis in the banking system. The current turmoil in the financial system is a stark reminder of the importance of effective risk management and regulation.

Description: In honor of Bob Barker's 100th birthday (December 12, 2023), we will examine the emerging development in the opaque world of health care prices. 'Referenced Based Pricing' has been a cost-cutting strategy applied by some self-insured employers, but administration, employee dissatisfaction with balance billing, and litigation have been barriers to growth. The new transparency data has yielded research indicating that 'cash prices' are lower than commercially negotiated rates in some areas. Dive in with industry experts as they discuss emerging trends of how consumers, employers, and health insurers will pay for health care services.

Description: Financial planning and analysis (FP&A) has become increasingly important to the life insurance industry in recent years. Insurance companies must navigate complex changes in financial reporting and capital requirements to manage risk effectively. Furthermore, technological growth has changed the landscape of the theoretical capabilities of FP&A; however, many FP&A areas struggle to implement the sophisticated modeling techniques required to manage the long-term liabilities associated with life and annuity products.

Description: This session will consider how catastrophic gaps in risk management practices contributed to the failure of regional banks in the first half of 2023. Panelists will explore ERM practices and potential corrective actions, based on insurance industry and pension plan best practices, that could have mitigated against the failures.

Description: New web page that describes the new e-learning FSA module Scenario Modeling. It replaces Financial Reporting Module in the QFI track.

Description: In this video Eric Milner, ASA MAAA explores financial risk management and hedging strategies, catering to both seasoned professionals and newcomers. It covers essential topics such as hedging techniques to stabilize portfolios, determining optimal hedging rations, and assuring risks using metrics like Value at Risk (VaR). Additionally, it delves into various risk management categories including credit, interest rate, foreign exchange, equity, volatility, and liquidity, emphasizing the importance of understanding these strategies for maintaining financial stability in dynamic markets. Contributors: Eric Milner, ASA, MAAA ; Fiona Fan FSA, MAAA; Emelia Bruera, FSA; Jon Forster ASA, MAAA

Description: The Society of Actuaries Research Institute’s Catastrophe and Climate Strategic Research Program is pleased to release the following essay addressing current and potential uses for the Actuaries Climate Index.

Description: Global life insurance companies started to utilize both external and internal reinsurance for a holistic group-wide capital and risk management. This is more evident in increasing use of reinsurance affiliates in Bermuda and/or reinsuring business to Bermuda-based external reinsurers.Come explore how varying and often competing objectives of capital and risk management is balanced or optimized through the use of internal and external reinsurance from a view of global direct life insurance and annuity writers who will present cases and share their objectives, concerns, and experience in a relatively comparable structure. Presenters will have a brief panel discussion on a couple of hot topics such as on-going enhancement of Bermuda's capital and reserve regulatory framework and use of internal reinsurance.Get ready to learn practical and emerging views of insurers on the effective use of internal and external reinsurance for risk and capital management.

Description: As AI becomes more pervasive, we must consider the potential repercussions and risks associated with its widespread use. The SOA seeks essays that delve into the multifaceted risks posed by (AI) over both the short and long term.