Regulators tweak 2025 life and annuity priorities to reflect new challenges

State insurance regulators advanced 2025 life insurance and annuity priorities Monday with additions to reflect new efforts in reinsurance and annuity illustrations.

The Life Actuarial Task Force 2025 charges include a new charge: "Coordinate with the Reinsurance (E) Task Force on actuarial items related to reinsurance."

LATF spent much of this year working on an Asset Adequacy Testing Actuarial Guideline for offshore reinsurance deals. A so-called "straw man draft" was introduced by Fred Andersen of the Minnesota Department of Commerce and exposed for public comment in August.

Regulators are concerned about the strength of assets backing billion-dollar blocks of life insurance and annuities in offshore reinsurance transactions.

Adding the charge is merely a formality to what is already happening, said Rachel Hemphill, chief actuary at the Texas Department of Insurance and chair of LATF.

"I want to stress that LATF has been actively coordinating with the Reinsurance Task Force on reinsurance-related work streams up to this point," she said. "But given the importance of that coordination, it is being added explicitly to our charges."

Annuity illustrations added

In a second change to the 2025 charge list, LATF renamed the Indexed Universal Life Illustration Subgroup. It will be known as the Life and Annuity Illustration Subgroup and will "Consider any guidance, actions, or recommendations that may be necessary to regulate annuity illustration practices."

Broadening the illustrations subgroup will help it to "assist LATF in addressing questions or concerns that may arise regarding annuity illustrations," Hemphill explained.

In language that did not change, the subgroup remains tasked with providing "recommendations for the consideration of changes to the Life Insurance Illustrations Model Regulation (#582) to the [Life Actuarial] Task Force, as needed."

That wording is exactly the same as the 2024 charge for illustrations. The list of charges passed with no comment.

LATF met to approve and advance the 2025 charges, which now go up the chain to the Life Insurance and Annuities Committee. After that, the Executive Committee and Plenary has final approval of all charges before the end of the year.

LATF approved a list of 2025 charges for all six subgroups it oversees.

© Entire contents copyright 2023 by InsuranceNewsNet.com Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted without the expressed written consent from InsuranceNewsNet.com.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at john.hilton@innfeedback.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.