Policyholder Behavior in the Tail: Variable Annuity Guaranteed Benefits - 2011 Survey Results

The Joint Risk Management Section is trying to develop better estimates of policyholder behavior in the tail (PBITT). The mission of the PBITT working group is to examine and ultimately give guidance to actuaries on how to set policyholder assumptions in extreme scenarios.

As part of its work, the PBITT working group issued its sixth survey to gather the range of assumptions actuaries use in pricing, reserving, and risk management of minimum guarantees on Variable Annuity products, such as death benefits, income benefits, withdrawal benefits and maturity benefits. The results of the survey can be accessed by clicking on the link to the right.

The PBITT Working Group encourages and welcomes comments, questions, and suggestions. Please send them to either Jim Reiskytl, jimreiskytl@wi.rr.com, or Steven Siegel, ssiegel@soa.org.

Thanks to the members of the PBITT Working Group for their help in issuing and reviewing the survey:

• Jim Reiskytl, Chair
• Stephen Hodges
• Dale Hagstrom
• Peter Bondy
• Cliff Angstman
• Richard Tucker
• Josh Windsor
• Steven Siegel, SOA Research Actuary
• Barbara Scott, SOA Research Administrator

Report

Thank You

Special thanks to Stephen Hodges and Mark Bergstrom for their analysis and drafting the report. The working group gratefully acknowledges all of the companies that participated in the survey.

Questions

Questions about research reports? Contact research@soa.org