Dale Hall, FSA, MAAA, CERA, CFA

With technology constantly driving forward, what should actuaries and insurance companies be monitoring to assess how autonomous vehicles will impact personal and commercial coverages?  This session will review the history and current events surrounding autonomous vehicles, the potential impacts on the insurance industry, a framework for actuaries to understand the potential future evolution, and key indicators on how the insurance industry may evolve.

R. Dale Hall, FSA, MAAA, CERA, CFA is Managing Director of Research for the Society of Actuaries (SOA). In his role, Dale coordinates the SOA’s strategic research partnerships, oversees SOA experience studies, coordinates research across the SOA’s wide variety of actuarial practice areas and markets, and directs the SOA’s data-driven in-house research initiatives. He is a frequent speaker at insurance and retirement industry meetings to highlight SOA research, including presentations to the actuarial task forces of the NAIC and congressional committee testimony on pension plan mortality rates. He has appeared on behalf of the SOA in a variety of media outlets including coverage on C-SPAN and National Geographic’s BREAKTHROUGH television series, and hosts the weekly Society of Actuaries Research Insights Podcast.

Prior to joining the SOA in 2013, Dale spent over 20 years in the US insurance industry, primarily as Chief Actuary for the Life/Health companies of COUNTRY Financial. While at COUNTRY, he was active in industry as a member of the ACLI Actuarial Committee, and was an adjunct professor in the actuarial science program at Illinois State University.

Dale is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst and a CFA charterholder.  Dale earned his MBA in Finance from Capital University and his BS in Mathematics from John Carroll University.

Margaret Resce Milkint

The actuarial field and the insurance industry as a whole stand amid a rapidly evolving marketplace. The industry is face-to-face with ground-breaking changes, forcing shifts and overhauls of its traditional business models. Technology continues to sweep across the industry impacting the way we work and lead. In this age of disruption and innovation, navigating the career journey can prove challenging. This session will take a three-step approach to help actuaries embrace the changes and stay ahead of the curve for their rapid advancement and success.

Trends and Shifts: Understand the changes in the insurance industry’s landscape and their impact on actuarial talent.

Actuarial Impacts: Gain insights into the top skills employers are looking for in their actuaries, including soft skills and innovative thinking.

Best Practices Toolkit: Develop best practices and strategies for managing your career, including networking, development and personal branding.

Margaret Resce Milkint is a talent strategist and a diversity and inclusion catalyst.

As Managing Partner of The Jacobson Group and a member of the firm’s Executive Management Team, Margaret is a key ambassador in establishing strategic client relationships and broadening the firm’s breadth of insurance talent solutions. Her passion lies in counseling clients on leadership selection and she has successfully managed countless executive searches during her more than 30 years with the firm.

Margaret’s executive search career spans domestic and global C-suite, executive management and Board of Director roles with depth in the property and casualty, life, health and reinsurance sectors. She has successfully conducted searches in disciplines such as actuarial, analytics, underwriting, claims, operations, risk, finance, legal, technology, sales and marketing.

Margaret is a Trustee for The Actuarial Foundation and a Board Member for the Illinois Technology Foundation. Additionally, she serves as a member of the Society of Actuaries Employers Council and is a member of the Chicago Finance Exchange. Her expertise on career and recruiting issues is widely-recognized; and as such, she is an active industry speaker and thought leader.

Margaret is a champion for diversity, inclusion and intersectionality in the insurance industry. She co-founded the Women’s Insurance Networking Group (WING), a platform for networking and career development among female and enlightened male insurance professionals. Margaret is also U.S. Chair of The Insurance Supper Club, a global forum for senior industry leaders; Chair of the Million Women Mentors Women in Insurance Initiative; and North American Dive In Champion.

Margaret received her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Natalia S. Gavrilova, Ph.D.
Dr. Leonid A. Gavrilov

This session outlines results and conclusions for a new project “Mortality of 1898-1902 Birth Cohort” sponsored by the Society of Actuaries. Project describes mortality after age 85 years by gender and geography based on data from the Social Security Administration Death Master File. Effects of errors in age reporting on late-life mortality are also presented. Project report is now available at https://www.soa.org/research-reports/2018/birth-cohort/.  Mortality modeling, analyses of late-life mortality trajectories and historical changes of mortality at extreme ages are discussed. New follow-up study of late-life mortality recently published in peer-reviewed journal: (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000148) will also be presented.

Dr. Natalia S. Gavrilova, Ph.D., is an expert in demographic methods, biomarkers of aging and health and early-life effects on longevity and a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.  She received her Ph.D. in anthropology and population science at the Moscow State University in Russia and her master degree in computer science at the University of Chicago.  Her research projects were funded by international funding agencies, including the International Science Foundation, the European Union, and the National Institute on Aging (USA). She is a Principle Investigator of NIH-funded project “Biodemography of Old-age Mortality.”  She is an Editorial Board Member for international journal “Demografie” and grant reviewer for the National Institute on Aging and the Maurice Falk Institute for Economic Research in Israel. Dr. Natalia Gavrilova is currently working at the University of Chicago and the NORC at the University of Chicago.  She is a frequent speaker at the Society of Actuaries Living to 100 symposia and other actuarial meetings. Read more at:

http://longevity-science.org/CV-gavrilova.htm

Dr. Leonid A. Gavrilov is an expert in biodemographic studies of human aging, mortality and longevity and a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.  Dr. Gavrilov has over 30 years of professional experience in this area of research and related topics in collaboration with Dr. Natalia S. Gavrilova.  Their book ‘The Biology of Life Span: A Quantitative approach’ is cited as a recommended reference by Encyclopedia Britannica.

Dr. Gavrilov was a Principal Investigator of several award-winning research projects, funded by the Society of Actuaries, National Institute on Aging, European Union (INTAS program) and the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF). He was a Principal Investigator of the NIA-funded research project “Biodemography of Exceptional Longevity in the United States” and currently is a Co-Investigator of the project “Biodemography of Old-Age Mortality.” He was an invited speaker at the Annual meetings of the Chicago Actuarial Association and Living to 100 symposia organized by the Society of Actuaries. Dr. Gavrilov is an Editorial Board Member of the scientific peer-reviewed journals Journal of Gerontology Biological Sciences, Journal of Demographic Economics, Gerontology, Rejuvenation Research and others. Dr. Gavrilov is currently working at the University of Chicago. Read more at: http://longevity-science.org/CV-gavrilov.htm

Thomas Q. Chamberlain, ASA, MAAA
Ryan Kiefer, ASA, MAAA

This session will walk through some common interpretations applied to the recent tax reform laws. While IRS technical guidance has been limited, there is a series of common interpretations and assertions.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Creation legislation significantly changes the tax reserves for insurance companies. The changes to the law were replaced with less clear guidance that has resulted in several questions and misunderstandings. We will discuss some of the more common interpretations and feedback within the industry related to interpretations and recent technical guidance form the IRS. This session will cover:
• Summary of the changes to tax reserve guidance and interpretations of the IRS 807 code for various product groups
• Industry perspective as to best practices and interpretations where guidance is unclear
• Changes in the calculation process and tax reserve ownership due to TCJA
• Operational considerations for items beyond reserves (e.g. 807 (f) 10 year spreads, cash flow testing, RBC)
• Control considerations under the new tax regime

Tom Chamberlain is a Managing Director in Deloitte’s Actuarial & Insurance Solutions practice with over 20 years of experience working in the life insurance industry and life insurance consulting. He specializes in Financial Reporting related issues that impact US GAAP, Statutory and Tax Actuarial Valuation.

Recently, Tom has been working with Deloitte Tax to interpret and evaluate the industries response to the tax reform included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Creation Act (“Tax Reform”) and the new financial reporting requirements included in the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) long duration targeted improvements changes (“LDTI”) included in ASU 2018-12.

Tom co-leads the Deloitte Technical Excellence group which evaluates, interprets and analyzes how new regulatory requirements across various capital and financial reporting paradigms impact the insurance industry. This group provides on-site LDTI and TCJA training. He is also responsible for preparing Actuarial training and Actuarial audit procedures for Deloitte’s life insurance attest and consulting clients. As such, Tom also works in the area of Actuarial Governance (Data, Assumptions, Model) and Controls. Tom is the co-author of the SOA Actuarial Model Governance, A Survey of Actuarial Model Governance and the Industry Evolution.

Ryan Kiefer is a manager at Deloitte Consulting and has 11 years of experience serving as a consultant to the life insurance industry. His primary focus is financial reporting where he manages several of the firm’s largest external audits of GAAP, statutory, and tax reserves and intangible assets. Ryan has also led Deloitte’s life actuarial center of excellence which is focused on efficiently executing detailed tests of policyholder reserves in support of external audits.

He also assists advisory clients seeking to enhance or improve their financial reporting processes, analysis and financial controls.

Thomas Q. Chamberlain, ASA, MAAA
Charles Deak, FSA, CERA, MAAA

This session will walk through simplified term life and payout annuity examples of actuarial balances and GAAP book profits under FASB TI and practical considerations during implementation.

With FASB’s Long Duration Targeted Improvements coming down the pike, this session will cover detailed examples for simplified term life and payout annuity products. Examples will cover GAAP reserves and DAC at issue and transition under the new guidance.

The session will also cover challenges and practical considerations that have been identified and discussed within the industry.

Tom Chamberlain is a Managing Director in Deloitte’s Actuarial & Insurance Solutions practice with over 20 years of experience working in the life insurance industry and life insurance consulting. He specializes in Financial Reporting related issues that impact US GAAP, Statutory and Tax Actuarial Valuation.

Recently, Tom has been working with Deloitte Tax to interpret and evaluate the industries response to the tax reform included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Creation Act (“Tax Reform”) and the new financial reporting requirements included in the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) long duration targeted improvements changes (“LDTI”) included in ASU 2018-12.

Tom co-leads the Deloitte Technical Excellence group which evaluates, interprets and analyzes how new regulatory requirements across various capital and financial reporting paradigms impact the insurance industry. This group provides on-site LDTI and TCJA training. He is also responsible for preparing Actuarial training and Actuarial audit procedures for Deloitte’s life insurance attest and consulting clients.  As such, Tom also works in the area of Actuarial Governance (Data, Assumptions, Model) and Controls. Tom is the co-author of the SOA Actuarial Model Governance, A Survey of Actuarial Model Governance and the Industry Evolution.

Charles Deak is a Manager in Deloitte’s Actuarial & Insurance Solutions practice with over 10 years of experience working in the life insurance industry. He specializes in Actuarial Modernization with an emphasis on modeling and financial reporting for life insurance and reinsurance companies. He currently leads internal FASB LDTI model and training development.

Charles provides modeling solutions and assists insurance companies with improving their systems and processes. He has served on various teams as a lead builder and tester for Prophet Conversion projects. Charles has also been a strategic advisor across broader modernization programs by developing roadmaps, assessing system architecture, and implementing model governance. Charles has experience with Prophet, AXIS, and other vendor systems.

Charles also serves Deloitte’s audit clients and has relevant knowledge of audit expectations and controls. He co-authored the Society of Actuaries’ report on Actuarial Model Governance.

Charles is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst, and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Carl Luft, Ph. D.

Cryptocurrencies are defined by the Bank of International Settlement, BIS, as a currency that is electronic, functions like cash in peer to peer transactions, and are not the liability of a financial institution. They are created by individuals, not governments or central banks. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency. I will discuss both the Bitcoin cash market and the Bitcoin futures contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Dr. Carl Luft earned his Ph.D. in Finance in from Georgia State University in 1983 and is an Associate Professor of Finance at DePaul University. Since 1982 he has taught courses in: Risk Management, Derivatives Pricing, International Finance, Investments, and Financial Statement Analysis at DePaul University. In October of 2011 Dr. Luft became the Academic Director of the Arditti Center for Risk Management at DePaul University. Dr. Luft was associated with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange from 1987 through 2008 where he has taught courses in: Money Markets and Futures Pricing, Interest Rate Hedging, and Foreign Exchange Trading. Between 1990 and 2000 Dr. Luft was the DePaul University program administrator for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange/DePaul University Futures and Options Certificate Program. From 2012 through 2014 Dr. Luft was the program administrator for the DePaul/Chinese Financial Futures Exchange Program which provided extensive instruction in applied derivatives for Chinese Financial Futures Exchange, CFFEX, executives. In 2016 Dr. Luft accepted an appointment to the National Introducing Broker’s Association, NIBA, Advisory Board.

He also has consulted with various Chicago trading firms in matters regarding derivative pricing. Dr. Luft has published books and articles on derivative instruments, hedging, and alternative investments.

Jordan Givan, FSA, CERA, MAAA

With the rollout of Principle-Based Reserving (PBR) comes important considerations of mortality credibility for a company’s valuation. This presentation will cover 1) credibility considerations which impact the decision to implement PBR, 2) how various levels of credibility affect reserving, 3) ways reinsurance influences credibility, and 4) sources for potentially enhancing credibility.

Jordan Givan is a Vice President and Actuary on the US Life and Health Products team at Swiss Re. His areas of focus encompass pricing, terms of trade, innovation, and Principle-Based Reserving. He has been with the company since 2010. Jordan earned his B.S. degree in Actuarial Science and Mathematical Economics from Ball State University. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Lamont Black, Ph.D.

Blockchain is an emerging technology that has the potential to transform financial services. In this session, we will discuss the basic features of blockchain technology and how it works.  This will cover aspects such as the distributed ledger and the consensus mechanism.  The focus will then shift to potential applications of blockchain in financial services.  There are numerous opportunities being explored by financial markets and institutions, including applications in insurance.

Lamont Black is an Assistant Professor of Finance in the Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University in Chicago and the Academic Director for DePaul’s Center for Financial Services. He has taken an active role in the development of fintech and blockchain initiatives at DePaul.

Dr. Black teaches graduate courses on commercial banking and capital markets in the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul.  He also teaches money and banking at the undergraduate level. His main research interests are in the areas of financial institutions and small business finance.    His research has been published in several journals, including Journal of Financial Intermediation and Journal of Banking and Finance.  He is also a co-organizer of the annual Chicago Financial Institutions Conference.  Prior to joining the faculty of DePaul, Dr. Black was an economist at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. from 2005 to 2013.  Dr. Black received a Ph.D. in Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, as well as a Ph.D. in Economics.

Kevin Wolf, FSA, MAAA

Kevin Wolf will go behind and beyond the article that he wrote for Contingencies magazine in Jul/Aug 2018 entitled, A Long Stroll through Avoca Cemetery: An actuarial study … and a few meditations and meanderings. He’ll discuss the publication process, problems he had, research he did then and since, his results, and the usefulness of such results.

Kevin Wolf is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and has over 35 years’ experience in the health care field. His specialty is prescription drug modeling. He has done minimum value actuarial attestation under the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act of 2010, helped clients receive the retiree drug subsidy (RDS) under the 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, and done state rate filing for pharmacy capitations. He formed his own consulting firm, Kevin Wolf & Associates, LLC in 2012. He was a partner at Larimer & Wolf Consulting Actuaries from 2007 to 2012. From 1979 to 2007 he worked for health insurance companies (including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, and CNA in Chicago) and consulting firms (including Bob Gold & Associates and Ernst & Young). He’s worked on managed care products for commercial, Medicare and Medicaid coverage. He’s consulted for employers, municipalities, school districts, and union plan sponsors, small insurers, auditors and pharmacy benefit managers.

From 2008 to 2014 he served on The Actuarial Foundation’s Diversity Scholarship Committee. From 2000 to 2012 he was a member of the Society of Actuaries/Casualty Actuarial Society Joint Committee on Actuarial Diversity, including chairing the Outreach Subcommittee. He has done many presentations at Chicago area high schools to students explaining how to become an actuary and the benefits of being an actuary. He has mentored many college students who study actuarial science.

He had a paper accepted for the 2009 Society of Actuaries’ Visions for the Future of the U.S. Health Care System entitled U.S. Health Care System Proposal: Private and Public Choice. He collaborated with his sister, a medical history professor, on the paper The Lake Wobegon Effect: Are All Cancer Patients above Average? published in The Milbank Quarterly (Vol 91, #4) December 2013 covering lung cancer treatments, doctor/patient communications, and end-of-life issues. He has done several presentations on the latter paper, including to actuaries, hospice/palliative care providers, and family practice doctors. Contingencies magazine published his article A Long Stroll through Avoca Cemetery: An actuarial study … and a few meditations and meanderings in Jul/Aug 2018.