Unitised with Profits – Gamaliel's Advice

The paper deals with the development of unitised with-profits business in the United Kingdom. The authors trace the recent history of these products and comment on the main reasons for their development. They also deal with corporate issues, including implications for policyholders and shareholders of different fund structures and different types of life office. Pricing and product development issues are also covered. Reserving issues including the range of valuation methods, statutory requirements and policyholders' reasonable expectations are explored. Finally the paper considers the actuary's contribution to the management of unitised with-profits policyholders' expectations.

A note on Life Office Models

A brief description is given of some problems encountered in designing a model office program. The key to an effective and flexible model lies in the structure which the model imposes on the data. An example of a model used for research is described.

A Matter for Professional Judgement in the Matter of the Perfect Profits PLC Pension Scheme

In giving their advice, actuaries form part of a complex series of interlocking relationships – pensions advice must take account of the Trust Deed, the Faculty's and the Institute's Rules of Professional Conduct and the law.The law is paramount as interpreted by judges. Lawyers and judges have little difficulty in investigating transactions of many years ago – what was deemed normal and proper by actuaries then could well not be perceived by the court as reasonable – either then or now. The fact that everyone does it may be a defence against negligence – or it may not.

With Profits Maturity Payouts, Asset Shares and Smoothing

1.1.1 The Bonus and Valuation Research Group of the Faculty of Actuaries began the work which eventually led to this paper towards the end of 1991. About this time there was considerable speculation that levels of maturity payouts on with profits policies might be significantly in excess of the level that could be justified by the actual investment earnings underlying the policies. The initial aims of the research group were to:(a) examine this claim;(b) consider to what extent overpayment, if any, could be explained by the smoothing methods that might have been used by offices; and(c) examine the practical consequences of continuing to adopt those smoothing methods.

Spain: An Outsider's View from Within

We both started working in Spain at the end of 1991: one of us in a joint venture life company between a Spanish health insurer and a U.K. life office, and the other in an international actuarial consultancy.At the time of writing this paper we can only claim in the region of “4 man years” of experience of Spain. Therefore we do not pretend to offer an authoritative view of Spanish insurance or pensions, or of its actuarial profession. Clearly such a text would be better prepared by Spanish actuaries, or other long-standing practitioners of the Spanish market.