Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee
Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee Page
Joint Executive (EX) / Plenary Committee Summary Report
Fall 2009 Meeting Summaries Index

The Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee met Sept. 22, 2009.

During this meeting, the Committee:

• Adopted its July 28 joint conference call minutes with the Principle-Based Reserving (EX) Working Group and the Solvency Modernization Initiative (EX) Task Force.

• Adopted its July 28 and Sept. 9 conference call minutes.

• Heard a legislative update of federal bills of interest to the Committee.

• Adopted the Annuity Disclosure Working Group report, which included adopting its Aug. 14 and Sept. 11 conference call minutes. The Working Group agreed to recommend that the Life Insurance and Annuities Committee send two versions of the Sept. 16 draft Guaranty Association Disclosure document—one that includes a paragraph regarding the free-look period and one without the paragraph—to the Receivership and Insolvency (E) Task Force for their consideration.  The Working Group also agreed to distribute the three buyer’s guides for comment: 30 days for comments on the Fixed Indexed Annuities Guide; 45 days for comments on the Fixed Deferred Annuities Guide; and 60 days for comments on the Variable Annuities Guide.  The Working Group plans to distribute the American Academy of Actuaries’ (AAA) revised draft of the American Council of Life Insurers’ (ACLI) proposed draft Annuity Illustration Guidelines for comment within the next 45 days. The Working Group hopes to have an interim conference call at the beginning of November to discuss a new draft Annuity Illustration Guidelines.

• Adopted the Suitability of Annuity Sales Working Group report, which included approving a request by the Working Group for a one-year extension to complete its work on the revisions to the Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (#275). The Working Group voted to replace its July 2 exposure draft with the subgroup’s Sept. 4 draft. This draft will be open for additional comments until Oct. 15. The Working Group also voted, consistent with its charge, to affirmatively pursue revising the Suitability in Annuity Sales Transactions Model Regulation rather than continuing to discuss the issue of developing a model bulletin.

• Adopted the Life and Health Actuarial Task Force report, which included continuing the Task Force’s 2009 charges for 2010 and adding a new charge to review some aspects of the Standard Nonforfeiture Law for Individual Deferred Annuities (#805). The Task Force discussed the appropriate experience mortality tables and the margins on those mortality tables for the principle-based reserving system and for a net premium reserve system. It also discussed several issues related to the development of a new valuation mortality table for payout annuities. The Task Force heard a presentation by the ACLI regarding an additional net premium reserve methodology for VM-20, the section of the Valuation Manual for life insurance products.  The Task Force received reports from subgroups on various portions of the Valuation Manual. VM-00 was amended and released for comment. The Task Force adopted amendments to Actuarial Guideline XXXIII—Determining CARVM Reserves for Annuity Contracts with Elective Benefits.