AZA provides appointed actuary services for life insurance companies to provide regular valuation of the reserves held to pay future policy benefits.
Our appointed actuary services report our clients have booked reserves satisfying the minimum requirements.
Our financial reports include assessment of:
- valuation of policy liabilities and capital
- the systems and processes used to calculate surrender values
- any investment performance guarantees
- the company’s internal capital adequacy assessment process
- the company’s risk management framework
Advantages of engaging AZA
Expert Staff :our staff includes four very seasoned actuaries with over 120 years of combined actuarial experience. We are all members in good standing with the American Academy of Actuaries. Our background and experience is broad covering such areas as insurance pricing and product design, financial projections, cash flow testing, developing and pricing new products, examining health experience and filing for rate increases, signing actuarial opinions for insurance companies, establishing reserves for insurance companies, auditing insurance companies, participating in and speaking at society of actuary and other actuarial conferences, and strategic consulting for insurance companies.
Prompt and responsive service :our clients have engaged us because they know we fully commit our resources to deliver prompt and responsive service. We pride ourselves in our ability to not only identify and communicate potential problems but to aid in their resolution.
Reasonable cost :we are a small but successful company with low overhead. Consequently, you can be assured of better quality product and service a very competitive rates.
WHAT DISTINGUISHES ALEX ZEID & ASSOCIATES
Five characteristics of AZA of particular importance are:
COMMITMENT : The consultants assigned to the Missouri projects each have over 30 years of experience devoted to supporting employee benefit or related insurance programs. Our experience includes the entire range of benefit plans, including medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, long-term disability, long-term care, Medicare, and specialty products such as critical illness. We have experience with evaluating HMO, PPO, and indemnity insured benefits.
SENSITIVITY : We recognize our client’s obligations to customers, regulators, and to their fiscal responsibilities. Our analyses and recommendations incorporate the client’s need to balance benefits and costs.
COMMUNICATION : We communicate our results and recommendations in clear, plain language.
TIMELINESS : We are sensitive to our clients’ needs for timely results and are attentive to their priorities.
VALUE : Our creative, value-added approach results in cost-effective service; our advice is sound, innovative and useful. We understand the difficult balance facing all employers when it comes to designing and financing benefit plans.
AZA has significant knowledge and experience with the insurance industry, the regulatory environment, and how insurance departments operate. We have extensive experience in health insurance related to reserving, financial projections, product development, rate filings, and financial solvency. Our understanding of both the regulators’ perspective when it comes to ensuring insurance company solvency and our client’s interests enables us to best present our clients’ story to obtain the most favorable outcome.
We provide services to clients nationally, acting in the capacity of appointed actuary for numerous companies as well as providing services to several insurance departments. Our clients include insurance companies, state insurance departments, self-insured trusts, multiple employer welfare associations, third party administrators, employers, HMOs, and charitable benefit organizations. We understand the unique concerns and issues of our clients.
The principal consultants on the health actuarial team for the state of Missouri each have over thirty (30) years of experience in the insurance industry:
Alex Zeid, ASA, MAAA was Midwest Director of Actuarial Services for Deloitte Haskins & Sells prior to their merger with Touche Ross and Chief Financial Actuary for United Insurance Company of America. Mr. Zeid has been providing actuarial services as an independent consulting actuary for over thirty years. He has served many diverse and loyal clients and has provided the actuarial support for numerous clients.
Alan Y Weiner, ASA, MAAA has considerable experience as a consulting actuary and a long career working and consulting to life and health insurance companies. Mr. Weiner has been the Chief Actuary for insurance companies and was a consultant for Price Waterhouse. He has been providing actuarial services as an independent consulting actuary for over thirty years. He has served many diverse and loyal clients and has provided the actuarial support for numerous clients.
Our health actuarial professionals have provided numerous actuarial opinions and consulted to over 100 insurance organizations, including Blue Cross-Blue Shield plans, third party administrators, health maintenance organizations, among others. We have performed numerous due diligence reviews related to acquisitions of companies and blocks of business. Our consultants are also experienced in providing expert testimony.
We are familiar with the actuarial standards of practice related to examinations of insurance companies. We regularly attend the quarterly Life and Health Task Force of the National Association of Life Insurance Companies at their meetings. In addition, we are active participants in the Life and Health Task Force committee as an interested party and are contributors in their conference calls as well as active on the Small Face Value committee. Mr. Zeid served as Chairman of the Actuarial Committee for the National Alliance of Life Companies from 2000 to 2004.
In particular, Mr. Zeid was also on the executive committee and was the actuary for the Small Policy Consortium. The Consortium’s objectives are to minimize the impact of regulatory and legislative actions affecting insurance companies selling small life insurance policies including pre-need policies and provide that insurers can successfully continue to enter this insurance marketplace. Mr. Zeid has recently authored a paper regarding small policies that has been published in the National Underwriter and reprinted in the newsletter of the Inter-Company Marketing Group. Over the past several years, Mr. Zeid has been involved in the development of the following regulations: