Older age mortality and SGUL

Learned yesterday that New York Life is reviewing pricing for it's newly released Custom SUL product ... turns out they may be more competitive than they wanted to be. It's easy to forget that actuaries are still essentially guessing when it comes to older age mortality, as this article on Milliman's website explains, ending with this conclusion:

All of this means that insurance companies have well-founded reasons for any differences in opinion with regard to mortality expectations at the older ages.

Time will tell how these differences in opinion will play out. It is clear that the death benefit protection focus of SGUL products will leave them most vulnerable to actual mortality experience as it unfolds. That is a major reason why many insurers are reviewing their pricing for this product. A few have pulled their product at older ages; others have raised rates; and some have tightened underwriting and other factors affecting pricing assumptions to be more competitive at the older ages.

The only certainty, then, is continued uncertainty and a continuing evolution of SGUL premium rates as knowledge of older age mortality continues to evolve.