Description: This report provides an educational background on the process of building predictive models, as well as a detailed presentation of the model results. Predictive models provide a method to capture variation by multiple variables and understand the relationship between these variables. This allows for a deeper understanding of key variables than is possible under a traditional approach.

Description: Dealing with more known unknowns? More scary knowns? Or unknown unknowns? What is the next unthinkable? What future events should actuaries actively be modelling and keep us up at night? The Catastrophe & Climate Strategic Research Program of the Society of Actuaries Research Institute (SOA) put forth a call for essays exploring these risks. The Program Steering Committee selected these essays submitted by Sam Gutterman and Max Rudolph to publish, and are awarding them each a prize of $500. The Catastrophe & Climate Strategic Research Program Steering Committee congratulates the authors and is happy to publish the winning essays on the SOA website.

Description: The Mortality and Longevity Strategic Research Program Steering Committee (MLPSC) released this report, which examined the latest trends in obesity and developed an estimate of the impact of obesity on mortality and morbidity costs in the U.S. and Canada.

Description: An update of selected key graphs from the Key Statistics section of previous COVID-19 briefs.

Description: The Mortality Improvement subgroup of the American Academy of Actuaries’ Life Experience Committee and the Society of Actuaries’ Preferred Mortality Oversight Group Valuation Basic Table Team has released a recommendation for the methodology to use to develop the set of improvement factors to be used in conjunction with the 2008 Valuation Basic table or the 2015 Valuation Basic table for AG-38 purposes for year-end 2020.

Description: Report summarizing the results of the 2015 PBITT UL with Secondary Guarantees Survey.

Description: The SOA is pleased to make available the first report in a series highlighting the SOA's extensive boy of research on post-retirement risks and issues.

Description: Hardly a day goes by without a feature story about the latest reverberation from the expanding use of Artificial Intelligence/Large Language Models (tools) in a variety of settings. The pace of use (and misuse) of these tools, such as ChatGPT and Bard, has been explosive and shows no sign of abating. Many experts would argue we are on the cusp of a permanent paradigm shift in teaching/academics and overall application of technology.

Description: This report introduces a framework for assessing the impact of retirement plans on organizational success. It highlights the direct and indirect benefits of well-designed retirement plans and includes 10 key considerations, metrics, and measures of workforce dynamics. The framework helps companies prioritize necessary changes, with examples and case studies illustrating successful applications and potential risks.

Description: This report presents Phase 2 of the 2024 IDEC Study, analyzing individual disability income (IDI) claim recovery and mortality rates from 2006-2014. It expands Phase 1's scope—previously limited to 90-day elimination and To Age 65-70 benefit periods—to include additional elimination and benefit periods, examining variations by diagnosis, occupation class, claim year, and gender.