SOA Outreach in Asia

A roundup of news from the global community

February/March 2018

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.

General Insurance Outreach in Asia

The Society of Actuaries (SOA) organized a General Insurance Outreach Presentation program that took place in November 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Jakarta, Indonesia, and Bangkok, Thailand. This program provided a high-quality professional development experience in an interactive and informational format. A variety of stakeholders attended the events, including junior to mid-level actuaries from major actuarial employers and senior management executives from these companies.

The SOA received valuable support from SOA Greater Asia Committee members to develop and present the programs, and also from local leaders of key organizations in the region, including the Actuarial Society of Malaysia; Asosiasi Asuransi Umum Indonesia; the Risk Management, Economic Sustainability and Actuarial Sciences Development in Indonesia (READI); the Society of Actuaries of Thailand, and Viriyah Insurance Public Co. Ltd.

SOA staff fellows Anthony Cappelletti, FSA, FCAS, FCIA, and Scott Lennox, FSA, FCAS, FCIA, delivered an overview of the SOA General Insurance track education, and several industry experts and SOA members gave presentations on technical topics that included analyzing underwriting and general insurance claims data through predictive modeling, IFRS 17 update (for long-term general insurance), pricing techniques for general insurance products, and the basic functions and value of actuarial work in general insurance. Presenters included Xiang Shi, CEO assistant and chief actuary for Huahai Property & Casualty Insurance; George Kau, former senior VP/head of Actuarial Services of Takaful Ikhlas Berhad; Nurul Syuhada Nurazmi, partner, Actuarial Partners; Tatcha Ayana, VP/head of actuarial at Allianz General Insurance Thailand, and Chayana Siripirom, CFO of AXA Insurance.

SOA staff and students at a recent university visit.

The SOA Visits UIBE

On Nov. 14, 2017, Shu-yen Liu, FSA, CERA, MAAA, retired partner of PwC and chair of the SOA 2017 China Committee, and Jessie Li, SOA lead China representative, visited the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing.

During the event, UIBE professor Yuantao Xie indicated the university is working to strengthen the relationship with the industry to promote more collaboration among students and employers.

Close to 80 undergraduate students majoring in statistics and actuarial science attended the student presentation sessions. UIBE offers majors in actuarial science, risk management and social security programs.

SOA staff and SOA China Committee members visited six universities in China in 2017 and met with more than 450 students.