WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 30, 2010) — The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has released a request for proposal (RFP) for a consulting actuary to assist in a possible study of the impact of principles-based reserving (PBR) on the life insurance industry.

"As we near completion of the NAIC Valuation Manual, it seems prudent to consider studying its impact on all major lines of life insurance to avoid different sets of rules among insurers writing different lines of products," said Adam Hamm, Chair of the NAIC Principles-Based Reserving Working Group and North Dakota Insurance Commissioner. "Regulators believe that principles-based reserving will foster a more competitive playing field with better insurance products and prices for consumers."

The NAIC Executive Committee is expected to make a final decision on whether to conduct the study either at the Summer National Meeting (August 12-17) or soon thereafter. The selected consultant would work with a subgroup of the NAIC Life and Health Actuarial Task Force to address the scope of the study; how the study should be conducted; product lines to be reviewed; and the number and type of insurers to be involved. At the conclusion of the study, the consultant would analyze the results from the insurers participating in the project and produce a summary report.

The PBR methodology identifies the obligations created by every insurance policy written by an insurer. It provides regulators new information about how much insurers must hold in reserve. In particular, PBR is intended to better identify tail risks, which are rare and extreme events that are not accounted for with current methods.

ClickHERE to view the RFP.

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