Description: The Society of Actuaries Research Institute's Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program has conducted the Risks and Process of Retirement Survey biennially since 2001. The purpose of the survey is to evaluate Americans' awareness of potential financial risks in retirement, how this awareness impacts the management of their finances with respect to retirement, and how Americans are managing the process of leaving the workforce. Overall, the results of the survey provide a broad perspective of what survey respondents say are the risks faced by retirees and those nearing retirement across a wide range of retirement issues. This session will present the results of the 2024 survey, which include an in-depth exploration of specific topics, such as the role of family, issues in caregiving, impact of recent technology advancement, and inflation.

Description: The US market sees hundreds of pension risk transfer (PRT) transactions close each year, with both publicly traded and private equity-backed insurance companies active in the space. This session would cover several topics involved in pricing a PRT deal, including assumption setting, reserve considerations, and the use of Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) in PRT. The session would also include discussion of technologies, including SAA techniques, that can support rapid and timely pricing for these deals. Participants will gain insight into the PRT pricing framework, as well as a better understanding of the competitive and dynamic PRT market.

Description: This session will discuss: • What is social insurance and advantages of financing LTSS that way • Design decision points for an LTSS program • Existing examples of programs in the US and Abroad • Challenges and differences in pricing state-based LTSS financial reform.

Description: "COVID-19 and excess mortality: an actuarial study – Camille Delbrouck, Aon Benfield, Belgium, Jennifer Alonso-García, Department of Mathematics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR), UNSW Sydney, Australia Netspar, The Netherlands How did COVID-19 change the dependence structure across major causes of death – Han Li, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Centre for Actuarial Studies | Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"

Description: Navigate a perspective on the process of developing estimates and projections of mortality rates, based on a Living to 100 paper by the teacher. Discover the approach and considerations an actuary (or others) can take to develop a mortality rate assumption for five time periods. It will describe techniques to estimate historical mortality rates from which to project future mortality rates.

Description: Getting people to think beyond retirement about future care needs and how they will be paid for is critical for a healthy aging plan. However, most people avoid the topic and make rushed decisions when finding long-term care services. Hear from experts in this advisory field explain what a successful plan looks like and what it takes to get people to plan ahead.

Description: Are you interested in alternative investments and their role in professionally managed institutional portfolios? Join us for an engaging discussion that delves into the nature of alternative investments, the reasons behind their increased utilization, and the benefits and considerations of their use. Our speakers, representing both the insurance and pension sectors, will cover various asset classes and provide valuable insights.

Description: The session will address the potential benefits of (re)opening corporate defined benefit plans for plans for plan sponsors and participants alike. Despite a shift from DB to DC trend over the last 20 years, this topic is particularly relevant as many US plan sponsors are enjoying overfunded DB plan funded status, struggling with retirement income solutions in DC plans, and navigating workforce management and recruiting considerations. This session will discuss how innovative plan designs, such as market-return cash balance plans and variable-annuity plans, reduce plan sponsor risks associated with traditional DB designs. We will also discuss investment, balance sheet, retirement readiness, and implementation considerations.

Description: "Issues surrounding end-of-life and palliative care are not well understood and there is little research in the actuarial literature. From an actuarial perspective, however, end-of-life is important because of the significant cost to the healthcare system. Ian Duncan will discuss some of his research on the financial implications of end-of-life care, as well as the outcomes of a palliative care program. Dr. Matzo is an engaging personality with decades of experience in gerontology and palliative nursing, including training and teaching professionals in the field. Dr. Matzo focuses on educating the public on the importance and benefits of palliative care and hospice (care given in the final six months of life). In this session on “Palliative Care Public Education,” Dr. Matzo will give us an overview of the benefits of palliative care and how this knowledge empowers the individual to make important decisions about their healthcare options. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss the role that the actuarial profession may play in this area."

Description: "Weighted compositional data analysis for modeling and forecasting life-table death counts – Han Lin Shang, Ph.D., Professor of Business Analytics and Director of Research at the Department of Actuarial Studies and Business Analytics at Macquarie Business School, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, Steven Haberman, PhD, Bayes Business School, City University of London, UK Compensation Effect of Mortality as a Challenge to Life Extension – Natalia S. Gavrilova, Ph.D., Leonid A. Gavrilov, Ph.D. Academic Research Centers, NORC at the University of Chicago"