High, persistent inflation and a surprisingly resilient US consumer have led the Federal Reserve to increase interest rate to their highest since the GFC. Market optimism about a soft landing took hold over the summer, but loan delinquencies for high yield companies have risen and consumer credit balances are deteriorating even before student debt repayments have resumed. Higher interest rates are gradually starting to bite. The labor market remains resilient and the unemployment rate is low. But cracks in the labor market are likely to appear as company margins get squeezed further by rising borrowing costs and slower demand. The deterioration in the labor market will be the ultimate test to the soft-landing narrative.
Speaker: 
Blerina Uruci
Chief U.S. Economist, T. Rowe Price

The pressure is on. As organizations start scaling up their use of AI to capture business benefits, they need to be mindful of new and pending regulations and the steps they must take to make sure their organizations are compliant. That’s where Responsible AI comes in. Most companies (69%) have started implementing Responsible AI practices, but only 6% have operationalized their capabilities to be responsible by design. Learn how leading organizations are addressing AI regulation and what it can do for your business.
Speaker:
Arnab Chakraborty Senior Managing Director, Accenture
Ozlem Celik-TinmazData Scientist Principal Director, Accenture

Regulators and plaintiffs’ counsel have increasingly focused on the marketing and development of indexed life insurance and annuities. This panel will examine recent criticisms of those products, discuss recent litigation developments, and explore risk management strategies.
Moderator:
Dawn Williams Partner, Faegre Drinker
Speaker:
Jim Nelson Vice President, Deputy General Counsel Corporate & Product, Allianz
Jacqueline VenezianiSenior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary, Symetra Life Insurance Company

Join for a medical update on Addiction and the Mental Health crisis. Dr. Steve Wabnitz will give an insightful presentation with a focus on opioids and overdose, alcohol abuse, mental health and how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the crisis.
Speaker:
Steve Wabnitz M.D., Vice President & Medical Director, AuguStar Life

For insurers, accurately measuring asset manager performance has been an ongoing challenge. Their portfolio income objectives can render traditional ‘total return’ success metrics impractical. While bits and pieces of a solution have been offered in the past, no one has offered a comprehensive solution. During this session Erik Troutman, Senior Insurance Strategist at Loomis Sayles, and Kyle Whitehead, Vice President of Portfolio Strategies at Mutual of Omaha, will discuss the benefits of and technique of this unique performance measurement framework.

Speakers: 
Erik TroutmanSenior Insurance Strategist, Loomis, Sayles & Company
Kyle WhiteheadVice President, Portfolio Strategies, Mutual of Omaha

Mortality trends across the U.S. population and the U.S. life industry are settling into more normal patterns over recent times, but the industry is still paying attention to the variety of lingering effects from the COVID era. This session will highlight how population and insured mortality trends have evolved to the current point in time, and how some causes of death are being encountered in both claims and overall industry underwriting processes. Discussion will also turn to what future trends may be on the horizon as we move out of the COVID era.
Speakers:
Andrea CarusoExecutive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, MIB Solutions, Inc.
Dale HallManaging Director of Research, Society of Actuaries
Dr. Daniel ZimmermanSenior Vice President, Chief Science Advisor, RGA Reinsurance Company

This session will focus on key issues companies are seeing in regard to account takeover including AI's growing role and an insight into "deep fakes".
Moderator:
Cara St. MartinVice President, Ladder Life Insurance Company 
Speakers:
Justin HerringPartner, Mayer Brown 
Irma SolaresShareholder, Carlton Fields
Robert WatermanHead of Fraud Operations, Controls & Business Intelligence, MassMutual

Financial services journalists based in Washington, D.C. from The Wall Street Journal, Politico and Bloomberg Law will discuss the news stories from the nation's capital they are covering today and expect to be covering in the coming weeks and months. This session is sponsored by the ACLI’s Public Relations Council.
Moderator:
Tennyson OylerSenior Vice President, Brand Management & Corporate Affairs, Pacific Life 
Speakers:
Andrew AckermanReporter, The Wall Street Journal
Austin RamseyLabor & Benefits Reporter, Bloomberg Law
Zach WarmbrodtFinancial Services Editor, Politico

Join us for an engaging discussion with FIO Director Steven Seitz where he will discuss priorities and issues at the Federal Insurance Office.
Moderator:
Paul KangasVice President, Financial Services & Principal Deputy, American Council of Life Insurers
Speaker:
Steven SeitzDirector, Federal Insurance Office, U.S. Department of the Treasury

After a decade of relative macro-economic stability, low interest rates and stable asset price growth, we are entering into a period of unprecedented volatility and uncertainty. As a result, the life insurance industry is facing an inflection point. A fundamental reimagination will usher in significant change – insurers will increasingly “unbundle” their business model where they focus on segments/products/capabilities where they have true sources of distinctiveness while leaving the rest to others who are better positioned to deliver value.
Speakers:
Jason RalphPartner, McKinsey & Company
Holger WilmsPartner, McKinsey & Company

Regulators, consumers, and other stakeholders are demanding greater transparency and accountability with respect to the use of AI and predictive models. Regulators in the US and Europe have expressed concerns about the potential for these tools to generate biased and unfairly discriminatory outcomes. Most recently in the US, Colorado law now requires insurers to demonstrate that procedures have been implemented to assess “unfair discrimination” resulting from use of external consumer data and information sources and to share the results with the insurance regulator. The law extends to marketing, utilization management, reimbursement methodologies and claims management in addition to underwriting and pricing. Most insurers will likely need to conduct some form of unfair bias analysis once the related regulations are implemented. In addition, draft regulations make clear that accountability rises to the board level. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), along with state departments of insurance, are expected to develop their own guidance; these issues are also the subject of federal scrutiny and activity. This session will explore requirements and strategies for enterprise-wide approaches to accountability, including a review of appropriate confidentiality protections and sound methodologies to equip insurers for the increasingly robust AI regulatory environment. In view of the actuarial and data analytics issues implicated, AI and governance experts from Eversheds will present collaboratively with FTI Consulting—established experts in the global insurance industry, technology innovation and data science modeling.
Moderator:
Rachel ReidPartner, Eversheds Sutherland
Speaker:
Christie CoradoGeneral Counsel, Secretary and Chief Privacy Officer, MIB Solutions
Joe KnightSenior Managing Director, FTI Consulting

This session will explore the outlook for the sector and discuss where insurance companies can capitalize on opportunities across the debt and equity sides of the real estate market. 
Moderator:
John Waldeck
Vice President, Real Estate Underwriting & Construction Services, Pacific Life
Speakers:
Greg Eudicone
Head of U.S. Real Estate Client Portfolio Management, BaringsDavid Solotov
Head of Originations- CRED, AllianceBerstein 
Andrew White
Co-Head of US Real Estate Credit, Goldman Sachs Asset Management

Panel discussion on how to build teams that embody inclusivity. What practices have yielded the best results and what are the challenges faced along the way. Hear from diversity specialists and ACLI member companies on how they removed barriers, increased odds, and achieved successes in building an inclusive and modern workforce.

Moderators:
Wade A. Hinton, Esq.
Founder & CEO, Hinton & Company
Ngozi Nnaji
Founder, AKO Brokerage Services

Speakers:
Bridget Dunn Head of Government Affairs, Talcott Resolution
Melvyn Smith, Jr., MBA, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Genworth

A panel of experts from the American Council of Life Insurers will provide a review of the most pressing legislative and regulatory challenges facing the industry today.
Speakers:
Kathleen CoulombeSenior Vice President, Federal Relations, American Council of Life Insurers
Doug SosnikFormer Clinton White House Adviser
Leah WaltersSenior Vice President, State Relations, American Council of Life Insurers