Getting ahead in the cloud
In the mid 20th-century life insurance moved from tabulating to embracing early computer technology - a bold decision to embrace new tools, and pioneer the way forward for other industries. Yet somewhere between then and now our industry got comfortable.
Personalization – a question of corporate culture and ethics
Over the past month we have held Shifting Gears breakfast sessions in Sydney, Auckland and Wellington. The sessions were aimed at sparking discussion around what we saw as one of the most important trends in our industry – personalization.
Should we be worried about outside threats to the industry?
Klaas Stijnen and Adam Follington discuss the "unknown unknowns" – which threats should life insurers worry about? And will regulation really be a big barrier for new entrants?
The shift from advised to direct insurance
There has been a marked increase in the percentage of life insurance customers purchasing products direct, bypassing advisors. What does this mean for insurers?
2016 in posts
Here’s a look at some of our most popular, thought provoking, and controversial posts from the last year. If you missed any highlights, now is your chance to make sure you’re up to speed before tackling the new year with gusto.
Al Merten - Chief Actuary and Appointed Actuary
We sat down with Alan Merten from Deloitte to discuss the positives and negatives of having one person filling both the Chief Actuary and Appointed Actuary roles.
The realities of spreadsheet risk
The use of spreadsheets remains highly common among finance and actuarial teams. Traditionally employed for increasingly critical business functions, they allow for quick and flexible analysis of data, but with this flexibility comes complexity. As the reliance, overuse and undue trust of spreadsheets increases so does the danger they bring.
Shifting Gears live session recap
On Thursday the 17th of November, we held the first ever Shifting Gears half day event in beautiful Sydney, Australia. With an enthusiastic group of attendees listening intently to our talented group of speakers, the event was a wonderful way to spend the morning. There were many great ideas tossed around, and innovative insights offered up about the changing horizon of the insurance industry.
What actuaries can learn from developers
It’s no secret that actuaries do a reasonable amount of coding throughout their working life; most of which is used to setup and maintain actuarial models for a range of tasks eg. valuation, regulation, strategy and pricing. But actuaries aren’t software developers, and so they should take the opportunity to learn a thing or two from one.
