The SOA in India

Highlights of the SOA’s March 2019 trip to India June/July 2019

Photographs: Courtesy of Andy Peterson

Dave Sandberg, FSA, CERA, FCA, MAAA; Ann Henstrand; and Andy Peterson, FSA, EA, FCA, MAAA; visited the palace at Agra Fort (left) and the Taj Mahal (right) during their time in India.

The Society of Actuaries (SOA) sent a delegation to India in March to explore and learn more about the Indian actuarial community. The SOA delegation included Dave Sandberg, FSA, CERA, FCA, MAAA, SOA Board and International Committee member; Andy Peterson, FSA, EA, FCA, MAAA, SOA senior director, International; and Ann Henstrand, SOA senior global strategy advisor.

During the first part of their trip, the SOA delegation attended the Institute of Actuaries of India’s (IAI’s) 20th Global Conference of Actuaries (GCA) in Mumbai, where both Sandberg and Peterson served as session leaders. More than 700 attendees gathered for the GCA, which was preceded by an IAI gala ceremony to recognize volunteers, award recipients and the new class of IAI qualifiers. The gala ceremony included a number of Bollywood-style dance acts put together by GCA attendees and was truly a cultural event. While at the GCA, the delegation had positive meetings with representatives of the IAI and other individuals working in the actuarial profession in India.

The SOA delegation then visited Delhi, where they held additional meetings and briefings with associations, educational institutions, and employers and individuals familiar with the market in India. The SOA delegation met representatives from Amity University, MetLife Global Services Center, PwC, the Risk Management Association of India, Mercer Consulting (India), Deloitte India, Birla Institute of Management Technology and AON Services India Private Ltd.

Throughout the meetings, the SOA delegation found there was significant interest in the Indian market to learn about the SOA’s educational and research offerings. The delegation learned that actuarial teams at global employers, global consultancies and domestic outsourcers are interested in providing their staff with additional training in global and U.S./Canadian skill sets, including valuation, product design, accounting, financial reporting frameworks, solvency oversight systems and reserving.

The SOA delegation also discovered there may be interest in collaborative research projects with the SOA in topics such as micro-insurance, private pension markets, mortality, catastrophe modeling and sustainability, enterprise risk management (ERM), climate index modeling, and general insurance and health topics.

Looking forward, the SOA will evaluate possible options for future engagement. The International Committee will discuss these possibilities and then bring them to the SOA Board.