2026 Reserves Call Paper Program on Improved Methodologies and Technologies for Reserving
As technology has evolved over recent years, the option to enhance modeling has become more practical. The scope of the techniques available via open-source tools for segmentation work or to forecast future payments has expanded. Software support for the work needed to organize the data, display model results, and document the workflow has improved, which makes it increasingly practical to incorporate modeling in a production environment.
The Casualty Actuarial Society’s (CAS) Reserves Working Group is issuing a call for papers on technological applications for reserving. Our goal is to publish clear, practical, and accessible papers that include examples generated by code along with the code itself.
Proposals should be submitted by January 20, 2026.
The submissions should utilize open-source software. In addition to demonstrating the application of modeling techniques using open-source software, we welcome examples in the following areas: data gathering and manipulation, displaying and evaluating results, management and control of the modeling process, and the means to document work. Papers should offer solutions, share practical insights, and enhance the overall sophistication of reserving practices by using technology that has evolved in recent years. Examples of potential topics include:
- Examples of the application of modeling techniques for Reserving Actuaries:
- Segmentation of reserving data using tools like gradient boosting (XGBoost) or neural networks (PyTorch or Tensor Flow)
- Handling sparse data with Bayesian MCMC
- Application of the LASSO or Generalized Additive Models that utilize penalties to balance fitting the data and smoothing
- Case studies that demonstrate how the open-source tools that have some form of credibility weighing—LASSO, Generalized Additive Models, or Bayesian MCMC—can be used to evaluate and reflect the effect of changes in loss cost/inflation trends and/or changes in company operations for either underwriting or claims.
- Translating model results for management
- Reserving for emerging areas like cyber liability
- Developing catastrophe loss reserves estimates for wildfires, floods, and convective storms.
- Data utilization and manipulation, including very large data sets:
- Cloud computing and database design for actuaries
- Strategies for organizing large volumes of data into a usable format
- Efficient manipulation of data sets
- Data compilation strategies
- Managing the new modeling environment:
- Documentation tools like R Markdown or Quarto
- Managing the modeling process as a modeling pipeline rather than a series of one-off projects using a tool like GitHub
The Reserves Working Group will review papers for acceptance based on the following criteria:
- Idea originality.
- Clear concept presentation.
- Thoroughness of ideas.
- Timeliness, relevance, and applicability of research.
- Contribution to reserving literature.
Proposals related to any reserving-related matters are welcome. Both members and non-members of the CAS are invited to submit proposals.
Authors should focus on presenting ideas in a logical manner accessible to readers with experience in reserving. To aid research adoption, the CAS encourages researchers whose work product involves coding to place the final work product’s code and data in the CAS’s GitHub repository, https://github.com/casact, under the MPL2.0 license.
Authors should avoid promoting specific commercially available tools or products. Instead, authors should emphasize open-source solutions, tools, and techniques.
Accepted papers will be published in the CAS E-Forum, and authors of accepted papers may be invited to present at the 2026 Casualty Loss Reserve Seminar (CLRS) in early September. In addition, a prize fund of $15,000 has been established for papers that make a particularly strong contribution to reserving literature.
Review of Papers
Each author whose proposal is accepted will be assigned two or three members of the Reserves Working Group who will serve as reviewers. Reviewers will read drafts, give feedback, and assist authors who work toward producing a final draft. The review process helps authors submit final papers acceptable for publication in the E-Forum. If a paper presents interesting concepts but is not appropriate for the E-Forum, reviewers will help the author find a more suitable medium for publication.
Awards
All papers submitted and accepted in response to the call and meeting the minimum standards to be established by the Reserves Working Group will be eligible for a cash prize. Awards from the prize fund will be granted at the sole discretion of the Reserves Working Group.
Timetable
- Deadline for Proposals
By January 20, 2026, authors should submit a one- to two-page proposal including the paper title, a short description of the topic(s) to be addressed, the approach to be taken, and a survey of existing actuarial literature on the subject (title and abstract of a maximum of the five most relevant papers). Proposals should be emailed to Heather Davis, Research Manager, with “2026 Reserves Call Paper Program Proposal” in the subject line of the message.
- Acceptance of Proposals
The Reserves Working Group will decide whether to accept or reject each proposal. The number of accepted proposals may be limited. Authors will be contacted by February 9, 2026, regarding their proposals.
A review team will be assigned to work with each author whose proposal is accepted.
- Monitoring Progress
The author and review team will establish a mutually agreeable schedule to produce interim drafts. By March 30, 2026, a first draft of the completed paper (including an abstract of no more than 200 words) should be submitted to the review team.
A draft version of the companion practical tool, if any, should also be submitted at that time. Each paper will be screened by the review team to assure its quality of exposition, relevance to the call and to reserving research, and adherence to requirements described below. The review team may require rewriting of the paper to bring it to an acceptable standard.
Note: Authors are no longer required to format papers in a specific template, but submissions must include the following:
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- A final electronic file of the paper in Microsoft Word or LaTeX.
- An accompanying pdf of the final paper.
- Separate files for figures in JPEG or PNG format in at least 300 dpi.
- Supplementary attachments/datasets (R files, .xls, etc.).
- An executive summary of 1-2 pages that will help the CAS create a promotional brief or social media post. The summary should include a mention of the research gap being filled, the research question, a brief description of the methodology, the results, and—most importantly—the relevance of the results and the way forward.
Authors should be prepared to provide any supporting documentation granting permission for the use of any proprietary or copyrighted material used in the paper. Permissions documentation must also be included if the author is not the copyright holder of the paper (i.e., the author’s employer owns copyright to the work). See the E-Forum Submission Guidelines for complete information.
- Comments on First Draft
By April 20, 2026, the review team will send comments on the first draft to the author.
- Second Draft
By May 18, 2026, the Reserves Working Group must receive the second draft of the completed paper (and tools, if any) for review.
- Approving the Completed Paper
By June 3, 2026, all authors will be notified as to the acceptability of their second draft and will be asked to submit the final paper by June 15, 2026, to allow the Reserves Working Group to determine the prize-winning paper.
Once the respective Research Working Group approves the manuscript, authors must upload their paper electronically in the Scholar One system for publication in E-Forum. The E-Forum Working Group will review the manuscript, provide feedback for additional revision as necessary, and then accepted papers will be published in the CAS E-Forum electronic journal.
The Reserves Working Group may reject papers that are submitted late, do not align with the accepted proposal, do not incorporate material suggestions from the review team, or contain deficiencies in clarity, substance, style, or grammar.
- Presenting the Paper
Authors may be invited to present their papers at the 2026 Casualty Loss Reserves Seminar held September 14-16, 2026.
- Submission Guidelines
Papers should be no more than 10,000 words and should be prepared in accordance with the procedures in the E-Forum Submission Guidelines.
Authors will be required to upload an electronic copy of the paper and will be asked to sign the "Permission to Publish" form, which formally grants the CAS permission to publish the paper.
The Reserves Working Group looks forward to receiving proposals in response to the call and is happy to respond to inquiries from interested parties. Questions may be addressed to CAS Research Manager Heather Davis. Your participation will contribute to the written body of knowledge of the CAS and to the success of the 2026 Reserves Call Paper Program.
About the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS)
The CAS was organized in 1914 as a professional society for the promotion of actuarial and statistical science as applied to insurance other than life insurance, such as automobile, liability other than automobile, workers compensation, fire, homeowners, commercial multiple peril, and others. Such promotion is accomplished by communication with those affected by insurance, presentation and discussion of papers, attendance at seminars and workshops, collection of a library, research, and other means. The membership of the CAS includes over 11,000 actuaries worldwide, employed by insurance companies, industry advisory organizations, national brokers, accounting firms, educational institutions, state insurance departments, the federal government, and independent consultants.
About the CAS Reserves Working Group
The Reserves Working Group addresses actuarial issues related to property and casualty liability reserves. The group's charge includes furthering the development and dissemination of actuarial practice, theory, and principles of reserving; identifying topics for research and discussion; establishing liaisons with other organizations working in this area; and sponsoring panels, seminars, and other public forums on reserving issues.
