Facing the Future: Tomorrow’s Challenges & Opportunities
With the support of the co-hosting partners and 10 committed volunteers from the region joining the Organising Committee, we are pleased to present the 5th Annual General Insurance and Takaful Seminar. It will be held on 12 & 13 December in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Actuarial Society of Malaysia, the Actuaries Institute of Australia, the Casualty Actuarial Society and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries join forces every year to deliver this annual joint event. In the past, the seminar has been trying to address the latest market development and examine the potential solutions for the tropical issues. Previous seminar themes cover de-tariffication of Motor Insurance, Fire and Flooding Insurance, Catastrophe Risk and Climate Change and have attracted over one hundred professionals from the region.
As innovation and technology are becoming core parts of the insurance business, the daily challenges presented to actuaries include Cyber Risk, Machine Learning, Big Data and many more. The intricate situation is combining actuarial judgement, technical skillsets, technology advancement, statutory duties and working with different generations of actuaries. The Organising Committee have put together a two-day program with 11 sessions and 20 speakers from the region. One of the sessions I am looking forward to is ‘Actuarial Reflections and Projections from the three generations of actuaries’, which examines what the past can tell us about future adaptability and relevance of the profession.
The Actuarial Society of Malaysia – “This Seminar is a good event for actuarial professionals to get to know the general insurance/takaful industry goings-on as well as be part of the information sharing in the local actuarial industry as well as the industry in other countries.”
“ASM supports this event every year, now in its 5th year! We have always seen a huge turnout for the seminar every time it is held, mainly comprising of our local ASM members as well as other financial services professionals. Feedback received from attendees on the seminar in the past year, in general, were on the variety of speakers, from Malaysia as well as other countries, as well as the breadth of topics covered during the seminar. We look forward to having more future joint general insurance/takaful seminars together that will provide our members with more industry sharing that is in line with the current global happenings.”
I asked one of the ‘masterminds’ behind this Seminar, Bob Conger, Past President of the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS), CAS International Ambassador and Organising Committee Member over past years to share his thoughts and why is it important to the professions.
Q: What are your personal thoughts on the Annual Joint General Insurance and Takaful seminar?
“Each year, I have been really pleased with the quality of seminar that emerges from this collaborative effort among the actuarial organizations. I’ve really appreciated the variety of real-world experiences, and insights about the future, that the speakers bring to us – and this year’s seminar promises equally good speakers and content. The audience is great also – there is a really positive energy during the networking breaks, and since we implemented the App for audience questions and comments we’ve had a great surge of audience engagement through that channel.”
Q: How will the seminar content help professionals in their roles?
“Although the work that actuaries do is of course quite technical, it is essential that the actuary understand the environmental realities and the business context that give rise to the assignment at hand, and the data that is available for analysis. Equally, the actuary’s audience is not interested in learning about the math that the actuary did, but rather wants to hear some insights and practical solutions to the real business problems. A seminar such as this one really strengthens the actuary along the business dimension by discussing a variety of topics about how the insurance business operates, the environment in which it does so, and solutions to some of the pressing insurance business issues of the day.”
Q: How will delegates benefit from attending the seminar?
“Attending a high-quality seminar with a collection of your business peers creates the opportunity to really amplify what you learn from the speakers by continuing the discussions out into the networking breaks, comparing notes about what you heard, and debating the implications. I have noticed that the attendees at this seminar are very enthusiastic about continuing their conversations out into the breaks. Being able to have discussions with the other delegates definitely has enhanced the value I have obtained from the seminars.”
I would also like to welcome the newcomer Rebecca Deegan, the South-East Asia Representative at the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries joining the Organising Committee this year.
“As a newcomer I can say that I am impressed with the breadth of topics that will be covered, without any detriment to the depth contained within any one session. I think each of the sessions have both technical content and practical application embedded in them. “
“In addition, the two panel sessions allow for a higher-level discussion to encourage participants to think about the wider impact of their work and the role of the actuarial profession within a rapidly changing business environment. We’ve focused on topics that build on traditional actuarial skills, but that encourage attendees to ensure that their skills remain in demand, particularly in light of advances in technology.”
Registration is still open and early bird rates have been extended to 7 December 2018, please visit ASM website for online registration. Seminar program is available here.
Feel free to contact me if you are keen to meet up in Kuala Lumpur. Look forward seeing you at this Seminar!
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