Modeling Policyholder Behavior for Life Assurance and Annuity Products

The Financial Reporting Section and Committee on Life Insurance Research announce the release of a new report examining current practice around the development of policyholder behavior assumptions for life insurance and annuity products. Authored by Jason Campbell, Michael Chan, Kate Li, Anand Rao, and Louis Lombardi of PwC and Lucian Lombardi and Marianne Purushotham of LIMRA, the report provides an overview of the current state of the life insurance and annuity industry with respect to: (1) available policyholder behavior experience data sources, (2) credibility of current experience data, (3) assumption structure and modeling, including modeling tools, validation processes, and governance, and (4) current challenges in the area of policyholder behavior modeling. In addition, the research examines developments in other industries and disciplines that could help actuaries better understand policyholder behavior. Finally, the report includes a discussion of current practice around the modeling of potential buyer behavior to support the development of more effective life insurance and retirement product marketing and education campaigns.