From the President

I hope to see as many ACOPA members as possible at the Actuarial Symposium in Chicago on August 9 and 10. Chicago is a great location for an event in summer time – any free time can be spent outside! For the past several years, attendance has been increasing and we are hoping to improve over last year’s attendance. The hotel is along the Magnificent Mile and so many other activities await.

For the first time in Symposium history, we have sponsors who can explain their services first-hand. Also, we will have a lunch time presentation by Lauren Bloom, J.D., who is helping ACOPA respond to the actions of the Academy. She will be speaking on the topic of ethics. You can learn more and register for this year’s event online, here. 

PBGC Determination Process

In a separate article in this ACOPA Monthly, you can read about progress made on a challenging topic: determining whether a plan is covered by the PBGC. Soon, employers will be able to request a coverage determination in advance of establishing a plan. The revised determination process is part of an ever-improving relationship with the PBGC, as PBGC representative(s) have presented at ACOPA and ASPPA events.

Volunteer!

There are always many volunteer opportunities available through ACOPA. For example, we have been asked to provide a volunteer for the Actuarial Standards Board Pension Committee to represent the perspective of small plans. The Plan Consultant magazine committee also needs a volunteer to coordinate actuarial articles and recruit authors to write them. This is a great opportunity to get your name out there!

Representing ACOPA

We have an active Executive Director! Marty Pippins recently attended an International Actuarial Association (IAA) meeting in Washington, DC and a Council of Professionalism meeting. This is one of the many ways that we maintain our presence as an actuarial organization. 

Modeling ASOP

Through ARA, ACOPA recently submitted a comment letter on the fourth draft of a proposed Actuarial Standard of Practice (ASOP) on modeling. Our intent in providing a comment letter is to communicate the interests of ACOPA members. From the first draft of the ASOP to the fourth, the definition of “model” has continued to expand. The ASOP should apply only to complex modeling projects, not to the majority of work completed by ACOPA actuaries and that viewpoint was expressed.

I hope that you find the activity of ACOPA over the past few months to be of interest. Until next month!

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