From Our Desk Original analysis · L&R
All L&R insights →The Automated Life Underwriting Patent Swiss Re Built and Sold
US Patent 12,705,675, granted August 11, 2026, claims a chained machine learning pipeline that parses in-force life policies and trips an automated underwriting trigger. Swiss Re invented it; AccuQuote holds it.
By Sam · 5 min read · Aug 28
NAIC Aims Cross-Border Reinsurance RBC at a Charge That Nets to Zero
The NAIC's August 14 referral builds a recapture RBC factor on reserves ceded outside reciprocal jurisdictions, where life RBC's 0.78% counterparty charge offsets to zero, plus rating-based factors by 2027.
PensionsMultiemployer Pensions Hit Record 106% Funded at Midyear 2026
Milliman put multiemployer pensions at 106% funded at midyear 2026, a record, with a $55B surplus. Strip out $78B in ARPA rescue funding and the ratio falls to roughly 97%, splitting plans into two risk regimes.
UnderwritingHartford Patents an Outlier Engine for Underwriting and Fraud
Hartford's US Patent 12,700,040, granted August 4, 2026, flags outliers by their distance from typical groupings and routes them into underwriting, fraud, or claims decisions, a score no state requires insurers to file.
LifeNAIC Flags an RBC Formula That Undercharges $150B in Loans
The NAIC's RBC Model Governance Task Force exposed a gap list calling a 68 basis-point mortgage loan charge not empirically based, covering $150B in loans, a covariance fix, and $2.85T in reinsurance reserve credit.
AnnuitiesRGA's Record Quarter Rides a 106-bp New-Money Spread
RGA's record $761 million Q2 2026 operating income and $8.89 EPS ran on a 106 basis point spread, a 6.02% new-money rate against a 4.96% legacy book yield, leaning on private credit as much as favorable mortality.
Fixed Indexed AnnuityGoldman and Talcott's $1B West Grove Re Isn't More Affiliate Reinsurance
Talcott and Goldman Sachs closed $1 billion for West Grove Re, a Bermuda sidecar taking a quota share of Talcott's US annuities, capitalized by outside investors rather than a Talcott affiliate.
AnnuitiesUS Death Rate Hits a Record 689.2 in 2025, Outpacing the MP-2021 Scale
The CDC's provisional 2025 data puts the US age-adjusted death rate at a record-low 689.2 per 100,000, down 4.6% from 2024, a second straight drop the MP-2021 mortality scale has not caught up to (CDC/NCHS, July 2026).
UnderwritingMassMutual's Newly Granted Patent Turns Medical Claims Into a Mortality Score
US Patent 12,682,400, granted July 14, 2026, has MassMutual converting medical claim codes into GloVe embeddings and feeding 70 coordinates to a random forest that scores relative mortality risk for underwriting.
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Rate Monitor Treasury curve · Aug 28 close
Treasury →Constant-maturity yields from the U.S. Treasury daily curve, as of August 28, 2026. ▲ marks a rising yield, the favorable direction for new-money pricing.
Pension Funding IRS 417(e)(3) segment rates · May 2026 (released Aug 4)
IRS rates →IRS minimum present value segment rates under section 417(e)(3), May 2026, released August 4, 2026. ▲ marks a rising rate, which lowers lump-sum values and projected benefit obligations.