There has been a flurry of ACGA activity over the past couple of months. Perhaps most importantly, the New York General Assembly passed the gift annuity legislation that ACGA has been working diligently on for over 4 years, described in the article below. Additional items in this newsletter report on the latest rates update, our four new ACGA Board members, and a farewell to longtime board member, Kristen Jaarda.

Below, you can learn about ACGA’s new consulting actuary and an honor we have bestowed upon Conrad Teitell.

Actuarially Sound Rates

From its founding in 1927, the American Council on Gift Annuities has relied on actuaries to craft and refine our recommended maximum gift annuity rates. For the most part, ACGA has consistently had a Consulting Actuary as an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors.

To quote gift planning historian and former ACGA board member, Ron Brown, “George Huggins of Philadelphia produced a report at the first Conference on Annuities in 1927 that became the heart of the rate-setting process for ACGA entitled ‘Actuarial Basis of Rates.’ Huggins served as ACGA's actuary until 1959, providing essential advice at each of its first ten conferences.”

Three Huggins and Company actuaries have served as ex-officio members of the ACGA board as consulting actuaries from its founding in 1927 until 2019: George A. Huggins (1927–1959); Charles L. Burrall Jr. (1961–1984); and Michael Mudry (1978–2019). Mike Mudry is ACGA’s emeritus actuary today and also serves as an Honorary Director.

I am pleased to announce that the ACGA Board has named Professor Shane Leib of the University of Notre Dame as its new Consulting Actuary. Shane has been an actuary for over 25 years, and he joined the ACGA Board of Directors in 2020. In this new role, Shane can focus his significant talents on ACGA’s core function.

Please join me in welcoming Shane to this new role. He follows in distinguished footsteps.

The Inimitable Conrad Teitell

Conrad Teitell has been a constant force for good in the charitable gift planning community for over 60 years. Tens of thousands learned both the basics and the intricacies of planned giving instruments from his fast-moving and entertaining training seminars and speeches. Countless others learned from his textbooks and manuals, and his monthly newsletter Taxwise Giving continues to be a must-read for all charitable gift planners.

On a personal level, my first planned giving boss dropped Conrad’s three-volume treatise on planned giving on my desk during my first week of employment. He told me to read it and then gave me an exam the next week on what I had learned. Conrad’s publications and presentations taught me about charitable gift planning.

Conrad also served for decades as ACGA’s Counsel, providing sage advice and forward-looking thinking. The ACGA Board recently named Conrad as an Honorary Director in recognition of his service to both the ACGA and the gift planning community.

It is impossible to estimate the number of lives that have been touched by the philanthropic gifts that resulted from Conrad’s teachings and writings. And he’s not done yet!

Joe