COLLOQUIA AND CONGRESSES
IAA Life Section Colloquium 2016—Hong Kong
The International Actuarial Association Life Section (IAALS) Colloquium 2016 took place in April at Hong Kong’s Conrad Hotel, marking the Colloquium’s first occurrence in Asia. Hosted by the Actuarial Society of Hong Kong (ASHK), it attracted more than 230 attendees, including senior insurance executives and actuarial professionals, representing 21 regions.
The ASHK was honoured to work with the IAALS in hosting this opportunity to showcase both Hong Kong’s importance as a global insurance centre and the ASHK among the business community and international actuarial profession.
 Following a welcome reception, the program was opened jointly by IAA Immediate Past President Fred Rowley and ASHK President Ka Man Wong. The event’s theme was Insurance Evolution: Change is the Only Constant, which was highlighted by keynote speakers Professor K. C. Chan, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, and John Leung, Commissioner of Insurance, both from the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. They covered the need for insurance product innovation, changing the regulatory environment to address fair treatment of customers, and the advancement in digital technology leading to changes in customer expectations.
 Panel discussions focused on trends in solvency supervision—where topics like risk-based capital and the China Risk-Oriented Solvency System were considered—and the development of behavioural economics and its potential contributions to the insurance industry. Parallel sessions were delivered by industry professionals and academics, and the first day ended with a gala dinner and traditional Chinese lion dance.
The second day featured a panel discussion on actuarial insight and business management, with particular emphasis on the importance of communication, risk management, and doing the right thing with the right people. Parallel sessions covered numerous topics, including managing longevity risks from an academia perspective, where Singapore and China were used as examples. The colloquium was closed by IAALS Chair Marc Slutzky.
AFIR-ERM Colloquium—Scotland
The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) hosted the AFIR-ERM Colloquium in Edinburgh, in conjunction with its Pensions, Risk and Investment conference. It featured a broad selection of parallel and plenary sessions. The AFIR-ERM scientific program covered a wide range of topics, and although numbers of AFIR-ERM Section members in attendance were lower than at previous meetings, the scientific sessions were successful. The IAA was represented by President Malcolm Campbell. Thanks go to the IFoA for hosting the event.
The next colloquium (joint with ASTIN) will be held in Panama City, Panama, from August 20–24, 2017, and will include scientific contributions and educational workshops with the proposed AFIR-ERM topics covering enterprise risk management, derivatives pricing, interest rate models, and longevity risk. More details can be found on the website.
ASTIN Colloquium—Portugal
 The 2016 ASTIN Colloquium was hosted by the Institute of Actuaries of Portugal from May 31–June 3, and featured the following keynote speakers who addressed a variety of topics:
- Prof. Paul Embrechts, director of RiskLab at ETH Zurich—the concept of range value at risk and its potential applications
- Dr. Michel Dacorogna, scientific advisor to the president of Scor—how to improve the validation of internal models
- Eberhard Müller of riskmueller consulting—how operational risk can be handled in a (re)insurance company
- Prof. Stéphane Loisel, ISFA, Université de Lyon—introduction of a model to monitor actuarial assumptions on a continuous basis
- Gabriel Bernardino, chairman of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority—future challenges for the actuarial profession and how they relate to Solvency II
 Immediate Past President Fred Rowley represented the IAA and chaired several sessions. Concurrent sessions touched on the latest developments in non-life actuarial science, and the results of the Working Party on Non-Life Insurance Reserving Practices were presented. The first version of ASTIN’s report on this subject is now available, with contributions from 535 insurance companies in 42 countries. Papers from the event are available for download.
The ASTIN Committee and delegates thanked the organizers, particularly José Mendinhos, President of the Instituto dos Actuários Portugueses (Portugal), and Alfredo Egídio dos Reis of the scientific committee, for having hosted such a successful colloquium.
11th Actuarial Italian Congress—Italy
The Italian Actuarial Profession held the 11th congress of Italian Actuaries in Bologna. The congress was a huge success with almost 900 participants. IAA President Malcolm Campbell gave an address, which focused on the changing role of the actuary and how the profession in general and the IAA specifically, can support actuaries who are facing new challenges.
MEETINGS
Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage (WIM)—Germany
Sam Gutterman, Co-Vice Chair of the Resource and Environment Working Group, attended the third meeting of the Executive Committee of the WIM in Bonn in April. Details of the documents discussed are available online.
One of the WIM’s aims is to enhance the knowledge and understanding of comprehensive risk management approaches and to address loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change. The Mechanism reports to the Conference of Parties, which is part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Presentations and discussions covered such topics as typologies of loss and damage, overall risk assessment, ocean acidification, non-economic losses covering human mobility, territory, indigenous knowledge, and cultural heritage. Sam presented on comprehensive risk management and uncertainty, which led to follow-up questions.
The WIM’s current and proposed initiatives include expert technical panels on risk management programs and non-economic losses, key messages relating to insurance, a clearing house on risk transfer information, and surveys on human displacement.
The IAA is considering the development of a paper on vulnerable populations, which could be a joint project between the Microinsurance and Resource and Environment working groups, and risk management tools that should be used in anticipation of climate change. A mini working party is being formed with the Microinsurance Working Group to draft a paper on uses and limitations of insurance in this context.
World Bank—U.S.
In collaboration with the World Bank, a task force has been created to review and update selected training modules of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors’ (IAIS) Core Curriculum. These learning tools are jointly produced by the IAIS and the World Bank (WB). Bob Conger is the IAA/WB relationship manager and Eduardo Melinsky is the chairperson of the task force. The task force has six other members, including Jules Gribble, Principal Administrator at the IAIS. The task force has selected some authors and work has begun on the initial review.
In order to coordinate activities with the WB, Eduardo met with Craig Thorburn, Lead Insurance Specialist at the WB. Discussion took place on the progress made and the future steps required.
International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB)—Canada
In May, representatives from the Pensions and Employee Benefits and the Social Security committees met with the IPSASB’s technical director John Stanford and technical manager Paul Mason at the IAA offices in Ottawa.
Their discussion included the IPSASB Conceptual Framework, which spells out the main principles underlying the board’s standards; the discount rate to be used for financial accounting; IPSAS 25 (which involves accounting for pension and employee benefits); and the International Federation of Accountants’ “Accountability. Now.” project.
A key part of the discussion involved the issue of accounting for social security benefits. The IAA has commented on a recent IPSASB consultation paper on this topic, highlighting the need to provide a full picture regarding long-term sustainability and the use of the open-group approach. Participants agreed that financial statements do not provide a complete picture of social security benefits. While the proposed closed-group approach is in accordance with the IPSASB Conceptual Framework, the requirement to disclose information on the long-term sustainability in the notes to financial statements was discussed.
The Social Security Committee is due to comment by mid-2017 on the upcoming IPSASB consultation paper on disclosure requirements for social security programs’ financial statements.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)—France
In June, Tom Terry, President-elect; Esko Kivisaari, IAA relationship manager to the OECD and delegate to the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors (IOPS), and Christelle Dieudonné, member of the Health Committee attended the OECD annual networking meeting in Paris. The meeting was held in connection with the meetings of the OECD’s Working Party on Private Pensions and its Insurance and Private Pensions Committee (IPPC). The OECD representatives in attendance were Pablo Antolin, Jessica Mosher and Mamiko Yokoi-Arai.
The OECD expressed its interest in receiving help in establishing an actuarial profession in some developing countries. Co-operation on the funding monograph being prepared by the Pensions and Employee Benefits Committee and on risk management in annuities was discussed and agreed. Regarding the IPPC, the OECD expects the IAA to engage in projects addressing applications of new technology (for example, big data analytics), financing of disaster risk—especially involving climate change—and developing patterns in reinsurance.
International Organisation of Pension Supervisors—France
While in Paris, the above IAA delegates also attended the IOPS annual networking meeting held in connection with the IOPS Technical Committee meeting. Dariusz Stanko represented IOPS. The joint paper The Role of Actuarial Calculations and Reviews in Pension Supervision was noted and IOPS expressed its interest in providing input to the funding monograph. The IOPS is keen to continue this co-operation and is open to proposals for its program of work before the meetings in Hong Kong later this year. Discussion also took place on possible supervisory needs for an international standard of actuarial practice addressing pension supervision.
International Financial Reporting Standards Advisory Council (IFRS AC)—UK
Micheline Dionne, the IAA Relationship Manager to, and a member of, the International Financial Reporting Standards Advisory Council (IFRS AC), attended a meeting of the AC in June.
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) reported that a first IFRS draft on insurance contracts had just been presented to the IASB for comments. It is expected that the proposed draft text will be tested and that the fatal flaw review will start in early July. The related Effect Analysis and Basis for Conclusion documents are progressing and will be available later.
The IFRS discount rate project is expected to be finalized this year with a decision to be taken by that time on any future steps.
The pension plan research project is in the project pipeline for 2017–2021 but not on the active research list. However, the IASB chair indicated his desire to accelerate that work.
The agenda also covered topics such as the feedback received on the IFRS agenda consultation, the IFRS strategy implementation, the impact of technology, the use of social media to promote IFRS, and the leases standard.
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