This study was sponsored by the International Actuarial Association Mortality Working Group.  The study captures and compares information about the underwriting tools and techniques used in 16 countries. The goals of the study were to:

• Provide a central source of information on medical and non-medical individual life underwriting practices used around the globe to hopefully encourage countries to use underwriting methods they had previously considered,
• Provide a centralized source of underwriting terminology to enhance communication between practitioners in different regions and between actuaries and underwriters,
• Enable actuaries to better understand and assess the life insurance underwriting risk evaluation tools available as they relate to mortality

The paper describes the similarities and differences between countries and general issues related to:

• Underwriting types
• Underwriting tools
• Market limits
• Regulatory issues
• Potential new approaches to life underwriting
• Measuring the impact of underwriting on mortality experience
• Underwriting as a profession
• Terminology