Actuaries and Affordable Housing in Africa

This webinar explores how Behavioral Economics can bridge the gap between complex financial products and actual consumer decisions within the pension and insurance industries. By shifting the focus from purely technical designs to the cognitive reality of "System 1" and "System 2" thinking, we will analyze why even the most robust actuarial models often face inertia and low uptake. The presentation moves beyond theory to examine proven strategies from leading global markets who have successfully maximized participation and savings rates. We will discuss how to apply Choice Architecture to overcome deep-seated biases that hinder effective risk protection across both retirement and insurance sector. Ultimately, this talk redefines the actuary's role as a "Decision Architect," capable of building scalable infrastructure that is both mathematically sound and humanly effective in a modern regulatory landscape.


Speaker: Diego Valero Carreras
Session moderator: Abraham Hernández Pacheco

Climate data is everywhere. Accessible climate data for actuarial modeling, not so much.
Building on the American Academy of Actuaries’ paper "Climate Data: Actuarial Perspectives on Quality, Challenges, and Effective Risk Quantification", this webinar explores the current landscape of climate data through the lens of various actuarial practice areas. The presentation highlights significant issues regarding data quality and availability, specifically addressing blind spots such as the reporting lag bias in Property & Casualty loss data and the complexity of attributing Life and Health experience to climate changes or weather events. By identifying these cross-practice data gaps, the discussion focuses on potential approaches for improving data accessibility, integration, and usability to support future pricing, reserving, and effective risk quantification.

Speaker: Peter Ott
After a brief stint as a high school math teacher, Peter Ott has been in the insurance and reinsurance industry since 2012. Over his career he has worked on admitted lines, excess and surplus products, and reinsurance. His background includes traditional pricing, catastrophe modeling, data management, stochastic reserving, and actuarial research. In his current role, he serves as Director at Howden Re.  Peter is the current Vice-Chairperson for the Climate Change Joint Committee and Chairperson of the Actuaries Climate Index Work Group (ACI/ACRI) of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Speaker: Daniel Pribe
Daniel Pribe is a seasoned actuary and industry leader with expertise in balancing risk and reward, particularly within the healthcare sector. He founded Iris-Edge as a boutique consultancy dedicated to delivering focused, data driven insights that provide clients with a competitive edge. He has over 35 years of experience working in the health care field with extensive experience and expertise in strategic planning and forecasting, Value-Based-Care contracting, contracting, experience and ROI analyses, and medical plan design and pricing for MA, Commercial, and Medicaid lines of business.  Dan has written or co-written several articles for the SOA and the American Academy of Actuaries and has spoken on various healthcare related topics such as healthcare reform, climate change, and end of life care in an aging world. He is currently a member of the Society of Actuaries Board of Directors. Dan received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematical Statistics from The Ohio State University. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Moderator: Marc Slutzky
Marc Slutzky an actuary with more than 50 years of experience. At the present he is a Board Member of IACA and is a Member of the Board of Trustees of The Montclair Foundation. During his career he was involved in advising insurers on capital management, mergers and acquisitions and on regulatory and tax issues. He has worked at the Equitable Life Insurance Company, the Home Life Insurance Company and most recently spent 23 years as a Principal of Milliman, Inc. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst.

Introducing AI in Pension Planning: A Comparative Study of Deep Learning and Fuzzy Mamdani Inference Systems for Estimating Replacement Rates
Funded pensions have gained considerable attention as a strategy for securing supplementary income in retirement. This presentation aims to provide a comparative analysis of two methods for estimating the replacement rate: a deep learning model and a Fuzzy Mamdani Inference System (FIS). Since AI has gained considerable ground in the actuarial universe, an obvious step would be to investigate AI techniques, such as neural networks and fuzzy logic, in the realm of pension planning. Initial results indicate that these methods provide accurate estimations, warranting further analysis.
Speaker: Georgios Symeonidis
Moderator: Jennifer Alonso Garcia

This webinar will explore new practice areas for actuaries in the context of climate change. It aims to provide a broad overview of areas where actuaries can apply their skills and expertise to assist with climate change risks and opportunities, and thereby support the transition to a low-carbon economy, whilst also helping to manage the risks associated with such a transition (including not transitioning). The session will draw on current literature, case studies, industry practice and stakeholder interviews. The session covers current and potential areas of practice relating to climate risk management, risk and emissions modelling, insurance, finance and investments, strategy setting, governance, reporting and regulation, government, and other areas of corporate support. The webinar also addresses, at a high level, areas in which actuaries will be required to enhance their technical climate knowledge to enable actuarial practice.


Speakers: Atiyya Ally and Kelvin Massingham
Session Moderator: Georgios Symeonidis

Join us for a rousing, informative presentation on a controversial and timely topic that delves into whether actuaries should engage in the political discourse on Climate Change—and whether doing so strengthens or undermines the profession.

This webinar explores the following key questions:
💠Should the actuarial profession be making pronouncements about Climate Change when it manifestly lacks the necessary expertise on the topic?
💠Should actuaries stay out of the political debate on Climate Change?
💠Does it help the profession to comment on topics not covered in the syllabus?


Speaker: Ira Robbin
Session moderator: Michael Clark

Aligning finance with climate policy goals is crucial for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing resilience to climate change. Policymaking and investment decisions aimed at such alignment must be informed by robust assessments.

This webinar will present the best available evidence on three core questions:
How is the climate alignment of finance assessed?
What do we know about current financial flows and stocks?
What evidence exists on the role of financial sector policies and actions?

Speaker: Jolien Noels
Session Moderator: Georgios Symeonidis