Description: International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans research shows that financial education programs succeed when customized to and convenient for the audience.

Description: Behavioral economics is the alternative to the traditional ways (surveys and focus groups) we've been using to try to understand the drivers of customer behavior in the insurance industry. It merges psychology with traditional economic theory, offering insights into individual decision making behavior that go beyond the purely rational model. Within the sphere of health insurance, there are countless behaviors, not just of customers, but of underwriters, medical professionals and claims specialists which may be better explained by behavioral economics. Applying concepts from behavioral economics in live trials it is possible to bring about benefits such as increasing sales and retention rates, improving claims processing and encouraging more accurate disclosure. Swiss Re's global research team partners with its reinsurance clients to incorporate behavioral economics concepts into their letters, websites, forms and scripts by running A/B tests to understand what is driving customer behavior. The team currently has over 100 tests in progress with more than 40 clients, including many in the United States. The partnerships are producing clear business benefits, increasing sales, renewals, health disclosure and turnaround speed for claims payments. These changes are driven by small, inexpensive changes in communications with customers, and we'd like to share some of our insights with you. We've increased upsell rates, disclosure and email open rates, and reduced lapses, turnaround times and appointment no-show rates, to name just a few examples. Behavioral economics is the topic on everyone's lips with insurers and reinsurers all beginning to talk about it in earnest. Our team has been working hard for nearly 4 years and in that time instead of talking, we've been doing, and now we can share with you what a difference behavioral economics can actually make for insurance.

Description: The August/September 2013 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: How you can use your motivation and persistence to become an optimist.

Description: Interview with Darryl Button on leadership topics.

Description: A compilation of reader responses is presented to a real life situation posed involving a management, leadership, or other business decision. This issue’s case study involved whether or not to extend an offer to a strong candidate, after a comment from the CEO.

Description: Professional Development tips in the area of business networking and relationship development. Increase your industry knowledge, expand your network by learning to comfortably engage with others in purposeful relevant conversations at business events.

Description: This article contains best practices on actuarial modeling based on the author's personal experiences and provides useful advice for actuaries to consider in their daily work.

Description: podcast update of the reinsurance section

Description: Distribution’s Bird’s-Eye View of the Life Combo Marketplace