ASSOCIATION NEWS

October 2017

Deutsche Aktuarvereinigung (DAV), Germany

European Actuarial Academy Autumn Training Programme Available
As the European knowledge centre for actuaries, the EAA – European Actuarial Academy will offer a broad variety of attractive actuarial-oriented training topics within the coming months:

EAA Forum: Business Simulation Game on Risk and Capital Management under Solvency II
November 13–14, Copenhagen, Denmark

For two days, participants will take the challenging role of an executive board, managing an insurance company under the new Solvency II regime. Through the game, based on an interactive management simulation, they will learn how to succeed in Europe’s insurance markets by understanding the impacts of risk and capital management under Solvency II.

Stochastic Modeling – Theory and Reality from an Actuarial Perspective
November 27–29, Athens, Greece

This seminar is based on the IAA book of the same name, which intends to provide actuaries with a comprehensive resource that details current stochastic methods and provides background information on them as well as their advantages and disadvantages. The seminar is suitable for actuaries, actuarial students and other professionals involved and interested in actuarial modelling in life and non-life.

Health Insurance: From the Actuarial Background to Product Development
November 16–17, Munich, Germany

In a broad sense, the expression “health insurance” denotes a large set of insurance products, including traditional ones like personal accident insurance or sickness insurance. More recently, new products have been proposed. The seminar aims to give participants a good understanding of the nature of health insurance products and related actuarial aspects, going into details on particular and critical features and outlining recent developments.

Validation of Technical Provisions under SII – An Actuarial Perspective
December 4–5, Budapest, Hungary

Solvency II requires that a validation of the Technical Provisions has to be performed and adequately documented by each legal entity. This validation activity has a linkage to Pillars I, II and III of the new solvency system. The seminar will provide a general overview on validation aspects. Starting with a summary of the existing regulatory framework, we will provide participants with helpful interpretations and practical examples on how to manage the validation tasks. All sessions will be a combination of lectures and interactive discussions.

Webinar: Equity Volatility Modelling and Forecasting
December 6, 10:00–12:00 CET

In recent times, we have been accustomed to equity volatility being comparatively low compared to historical levels. However, a number of factors indicate that we may expect to see a return of volatility in the near future. This webinar is aimed at providing participants with an understanding of how equity volatility behaves, and the predictive models that could be used to forecast volatility. It will help practitioners to be well placed to monitor, measure and manage the implications of volatile movements in equity volatility itself.

Additional information and registration forms are available online. To stay up to date regarding EAA activities, register for its newsletter. You may also like to connect with the EAA LinkedIn Group.

American Academy of Actuaries (AAA), U.S.

Academy Leaders Present at IAA Meeting
Many of the AAA’s leadership and active volunteers participated in the IAA Council and Committee meetings in Chicago. As at each IAA meeting, the Academy hosted a breakfast meeting for all representatives on IAA committees from each of the U.S.-based actuarial organizations, to discuss issues of importance to U.S. actuaries, including education, big data and changing international accounting and capital standards.

Working to bring the U.S. perspective to actuarial associations around the world, Academy President Bob Beuerlein helped lead a roundtable discussion among the IAA members interested in public policy, and assisted in generating discussion among the IAA members’ presidential leadership on how the IAA can better serve the needs of its Full Member associations. In addition, Al Beer, former chairperson of the Actuarial Standards Board and the Academy’s representative on the Education Committee, gave a presentation to that group about how qualification to practice is viewed and specified through the U.S. Qualification Standards, and former Academy President Cecil Bykerk gave a presentation to the Professionalism Committee on the counselling and discipline process in the United States.

Janet Barr, a member of the Academy’s Social Security Committee, presented to the Social Security Committee.

Webinar Highlights Retirement Issues in the U.S., UK and Australia
The Academy and the UK-based Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) co-hosted a free webinar on retirement readiness that focused on the U.S., UK and Australia. Attended by more than 400 registrants, it focused on a new report authored by the AAA, IFoA and Actuaries Institute of Australia, Retirement Readiness: A Comparative Analysis of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, which shows that people in the three countries struggle with planning for retirement because they often are not equipped to address complex questions related to longevity and asset decumulation.

The presenters—Ted Goldman, the Academy’s senior pension fellow; Past Academy President Ken Hohman; IFoA Policy Manager Rebecca Deegan; and Steve Jackson, the Academy’s Assistant Director for Research, Public Policy—outlined the report’s key findings based on a survey conducted in the three countries. The report follows up on key issues raised in the 2015 joint report The Challenge of Longevity Risk: Making Retirement Income Last a Lifetime. Mr. Goldman gave an overview of the U.S. retirement system, while Ms. Deegan highlighted the UK’s retirement system and challenges.

Mr. Hohman said: “Any solution can’t ignore the status quo, and we need to reflect the existing framework in each country’s retirement policies.” He added that recent changes in all three countries had improved retirement preparation. “The bottom line is that progress in retirement readiness is possible . . . and we hope this report is going to stir some action among policymakers in our three countries.”

Global Health Webinar Announced—End-of-Life Care in an Aging World
A new webinar, hosted by the Academy and the IAAHS, will explore the increased health care costs of global aging. Speakers will discuss quality of life during the end-of-life period, palliative versus curative care, and stakeholder strategies for addressing the unique health care challenges at the end of life. This webinar will be held on November 10 from 11:00 to noon Eastern Standard Time. Registration is free for Academy and IAAHS members. An Issue Brief on the topic is also pending.

Society of Actuaries, U.S.

Events in Latin America and Asia
Representatives from the Latin America Committee (LAC) attended the Sixth International Actuarial Symposium in Bogotá, Colombia, from October 26–27. The event, held by the Asociación Colombiana de Actuarios (Colombian Association of Actuaries), is the main actuarial event in the country and is attended by actuaries, statisticians, risk professionals and actuarial students. Among the agenda topics are predictive analytics, risk management and regulation.

The LAC was formed in late 2016 to promote the actuarial profession in Latin America and foster closer relationships in the area through joint projects.

The SOA is planning its signature events in Asia. Save the dates for the third Annual China Symposium, from May 28–29, 2018, in Beijing, China, and the eighth Annual Asia-Pacific Symposium,from May 24–25, 2018, in Seoul, South Korea. Working closely with its regional committee volunteers, the SOA plans to include technical and professional content focused on the local industry and actuarial practice.

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