Top 10 podcasts 2019

Podcasts are wonderful. They’re relatively easy to make and the conversation shared between hosts, guests and listeners often captures candid, colourful detail on topics of interest and individual experiences.

The fact you can listen on your commute or while pottering at home make them an appealing medium for audiences to catch up on industry developments and other professional’s stories.

According to Roy Morgan, driving the growth in podcasts are downloads to mobile phones “which have more than tripled since 2015 growing to over 1.3 million Australians today”.

This is reflected on the Actuaries Institute Podcast Channel which has seen 18,636 downloads and 7,076 plays to date.

It’s available on App store or via any Android podcasting app:

Top 10 podcasts

Overall, we released 24 podcasts in 2019 and below are the 10 that our audience has listened to the most since the Channel launched in late 2017. On average, the number of listens per episode was 412.

Many of the key takeaways from conversations were covered in Actuaries Digital podcast summary articles.

1. Superannuation Projection and Disclosure Subcommittee (SPD)

Estelle Liu and Rein Van Rooyen’s update about the activities of the SPD claims the title of most listened to podcast of 2019. SPD has been very active this year in promoting actuaries working in projection and disclosure related matters. In the podcast, Estelle explains the subcommittee’s engagement with the Treasury, APRA, ASIC and the industry on multiple topics, as well as submissions, articles and notes they have provided. Read the summary article.

2. APRA Climate Risk Survey: Awareness to Action

2019 has seen public pressure on climate change take centre stage across the globe. In March, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) released their Information Paper – Climate Change: Awareness to action. The paper prompted discussions among financial services industries about the impact of climate change on the sector. Executive Board Member at APRA Geoff Summerhayes came to Institute HQ to talk with Sharanjit Paddam about the discussion the paper provoked and how APRA assesses this type of risk. Read the summary article.

3. Mental Spinach – Make your own luck

Work/life balance and how to achieve the ultimate relationship between the two has been a popular topic in businesses over the last decade. If you struggle with this balance, Actaury Ian Pollard and daughter Jess Pollard can help you. In this four-part series, they talk with Martin Mulcare about how you can achieve your career and personal goals by viewing your life through four lenses. Appearing three times in the top 10, the series seems to have resonated strongly with many of us. This episode revolves around “The Opportunity Lens”, and how to create your own luck and opportunities. Read the summary article.

4. Inside Asia – Matthew Maguire & David Whittle on General Insurance

With Australia’s placing close to Asia, many actuaries work across the Asia-pacific region. In this podcast, Actuary at Pineapple Advisors and Past President of the Singapore Actuarial Society Matthew Maguire shares valuable insight about the variations in the general insurance market between Asian countries and Australia, and the actuary’s role in the region. Read the summary article.

5. Mental Spinach – No more flying blind, the art of self-awareness

In part one of Mental Spinach, Martin Mulcare introduces father and daughter team Ian and Jess Pollard, on their co-authored book. Mental Spinach aims to inspire others to reflect on their values, desires, strengths and opportunities to navigate big decisions and design a rich and sustainable life. Read the summary article.

6. LGBTIQ+ in the Profession (Diversity and Inclusion)

Mark Baxter and Stephen Kwa talk honestly about their experiences – both negative and positive – as gay men in the profession in a hope to inspire and reassure young actuaries. They explore issues such as homophobia in the workplace, conservative families, and coming out and going back into the closet. 

7. How to Make Private Health Insurance Healthier (Green Paper)

This podcast introduces the new Actuaries Institute PHI Green Paper which was launched in June 2019 at the Actuaries Summit in Sydney. The Paper highlights serious affordability and transparency issues that are threatening Australia’s private health insurance (PHI) sector.

8. Insurtech Australia – Interview with Co-Founder Simon O’Dell

Simon O’Dell speaks to Actuaries Digital Chief Editor Angat Sandhu about how the insurance industry is facing disruption by a new wave of insurtechs and startups and how actuaries have the right ‘first principles’ approach and skills to add value in the changing landscape. 11 months on from recording this podcast, the pair comment again on these issues, through the lens of ‘digital ecosystems’ here.

9. The Underwriting on the Wall

OnePath and UTS Advanced Analytics Institute examined 50 million rows of data to reduce the number of underwriting questions from 30 – 40 to 13, in a bid to make the claims process easier for the policy holder. Peter Tilocca, Chief Underwriter at ANZ wealth discusses the partnership the importance of complex data collection, analysis and how it’s beginning to transform underwriting.

10. Mental Spinach – Your Productivity Equation

Part four of the Mental Spinach series looks at how to create the greatest impact in your career, relationships and life. Put simply it’s about living and working smarter not harder. It’s a mindset of making the rewards from your opportunities bigger, receiving them earlier, while streamlining the effort you have to put in – classic return on investment principles, but applied to non-financial things.

CPD: Actuaries Institute Members can claim two CPD points for every podcast listened to.