Reviewing the USQS Requirements for Changing Practice Areas

• Academy President Tom Terry sent an email to Academy members on Oct. 3 reviewing the U.S. Qualification Standards requirements for actuaries who wish to change practice areas. The message seeks to dispel confusion for thousands of Academy members who may have received an email that stated one credential gives an actuary ease of movement from one practice area to another without replacing credentials. “As it applies to the U.S. Qualification Standards (USQS), we do not believe this statement to be correct. The requirements set forth in the USQS are fairly explicit about changing practice areas,” Terry wrote.

Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum, Nov. 13–14

• A diverse group of speakers, panelists and moderators will provide fresh perspectives on cross-practice and practice-specific issues to attendees of the Academy’s Annual Meeting and Public Policy Forum in Washington this fall. The meeting offers public policy and professionalism content relevant to all actuarial areas of practice as well as practice-specific content in breakout sessions on topical casualty, health, life, and pension practice issues. View the agenda updated with the latest speakers and register here.

More Opportunities to Learn

• A new analysis from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary for 2013 through 2023 projects that health care spending will increase at an average annual rate of 5.7 percent. Experts from CMS will provide an overview of the projections in the Academy webinar, “National Health Spending Projections from CMS,” on Oct. 16 from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern. Academy Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello will moderate the webinar. Learn more and register here.
• Actuaries who prepare or sign National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) annual statement actuarial opinions on P/C loss reserves, or those who assist in preparing them, are urged to register for the Academy’s 2014 Seminar on P/C Effective Loss Reserve Opinions: Tools for the Appointed Actuary, Dec. 2–3 at the Westin Baltimore Washington Airport. Attendees will earn valuable CE credit. Learn more and register here.

Public Policy Activities

• The P/C Risk-Based Capital Committee submitted comments to the NAIC on the Reinsurance Association of America’s updated proposal on reinsurance credit risk factors.
• The PBR Strategy Subgroup sent a comment letter to the NAIC’s Life Actuarial Task Force regarding an updated version of the Actuarial Guideline 48 exposure draft.

Reminders

• Oct. 6 is the deadline to submit comments on the Asset Adequacy Analysis Committee’s exposure draft practice note on current practices in asset adequacy analysis and testing. Comments should be sent to lifepolicyanalyst@actuary.org.
• The Academy invites all to review and give input on its draft voluntary attestation template that was presented to regulators at the NAIC 2014 Summer National Meeting. In addition to providing regulators with a concise way to demonstrate qualifications under the USQS, the template can be used by all actuaries to demonstrate relevant credentials and qualifications in a standardized, straightforward, and documentable manner. Comments will be considered through Oct. 17, 2014. Please submit your comments through the Academy website.

Newly Released

• September Actuarial Update: How does an actuary go about changing practice areas, ensuring that he or she is qualified to perform actuarial services in the new area? The chairperson of the Academy’s Council on Professionalism outlines what the USQS require. Read this story and a report on the “Climate Risk Forum: Bridging Climate Science and Actuarial Practice” that the Academy co-hosted on Sept. 18 with the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford Law School, Sandia National Labo­ratories, and the Risky Business Project.
• The Fall Enrolled Actuaries Report: Read about the Academy’s 2014 Summer Summit on “The Aging of America,” plus articles about changing age demographics and retirement policy around the world, actuaries’ role at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., new IRS hybrid retirement plan rules, and a request for feedback on actuarial standards of practice relating to public pensions.

Academy in the News

• A column in the Stamford, Conn., Advocate examining the sustainability of the state’s public pension system cited the Academy’s analysis of funding levels for pension obligations. The Academy’s “80% Pension Funding Standard Myth” notes that most plans should have the objective of accumulating assets equal to 100 percent of relevant pension obligations.

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