International Cooperation

A roundup of news from the global community

October/November 2016

Whether you travel the world or never leave your home country, you are affected by global organizations, international requirements and the increasingly international nature of the actuarial profession itself. Here is some news from around the world.

New SOA Staff Fellow in Canada

The Society of Actuaries (SOA) welcomes Ben Marshall, FSA, CERA, FCIA, MAAA, as the new staff fellow, Canadian Membership. Marshall also holds the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) credentials, has a Doctor of Jurisprudence, and is a member of the Canadian and Ontario Bar Associations.

Marshall served as chief financial officer for FaithLife Financial in Waterloo, Ontario, before joining the SOA, and he has experience as a senior executive in risk management and capital management for the Royal Bank of Canada.

Marshall always has been interested in volunteer work. An active SOA volunteer for years, he has served as the chair of the International Section, where he initiated and structured a partnership between the International Section and other key section councils.

His volunteer work extends to involvement in a variety of international charitable organizations, including World Vision and Actuaries Without Borders (AWB). Marshall is a past committee member of AWB, a special interest section of the International Actuarial Association (IAA) that facilitates the provision of temporary actuarial services in areas lacking such resources. He and his wife also have spent time in Cambodia, bringing poverty relief to orphanages.

Marshall is looking forward to continuing close collaboration between the SOA and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA), connecting SOA members in Canada to the global community of actuaries, and exploring more opportunities for actuaries in a variety of fields. “I want to help employers identify the value proposition that the SOA and actuaries in general can provide,” he notes. “For example, in Canada, we can identify and define opportunities within the banking industry.”

Marshall can be reached at bmarshall@soa.org or (519) 616-3749.

2016 China International Conference on Insurance and Risk Management

The China International Conference on Insurance and Risk Management (CICIRM) was held July 27–30, in Xi’an, China. The conference, in its seventh year, was jointly organized by Tsinghua University’s China Center for Insurance and Risk Management and the Cass Business School of City University, London, and hosted by the School of Economics of Xi’an University of Finance and Economics.

CICIRM serves as a platform for international communication and cooperation in the insurance industry, risk management and actuarial science. The SOA’s lead China representative, Jessie Li, FSA, presented the topic “SOA—China Partnerships and Tailored Services.”

Insurance China 2016 International Summit

SOA President Craig Reynolds, FSA, MAAA, attended the Insurance China 2016 International Summit that took place Sept. 22–23, in Shanghai, China. The conference was organized by Shine Consultant and hosted by Fudan Insurance Research Institute.

The summit focused on “Practice New Development Concept. Build International Insurance Center.” Discussions were based on the latest market developments in a variety of areas in the insurance industry in China. Reynolds participated in the panel discussion titled “How to Promote Insurance System to Realize Further Healthy Development” at the Senior Dialogue.