The International Congress of Actuaries is a conference held every four years under the auspices of the International Actuarial Association (IAA) and the actuary association in the host country. The 31st International Actuary Conference (ICA) took place in Berlin, Germany, from June 4 – 8. With nearly 2,000 actuaries, academics, and representatives of international insurance companies, the financial industry, government and related institutions in attendance, the ICA is the leading international conference for actuarial science and mathematical finance.
Insurance experts and policymakers gave presentations on actuarial and financial issues as well as discussed future plans for the development of the actuarial profession. The conference included more than 30 invited speakers who are leading experts in their fields from both industry and academia. There were five plenary sessions that provided insights into the latest plans for the advancement of the actuary profession, specifically in the areas of the future of insurance, demography, mobility, regulation, and an environment with low interest rates.
In addition to oral presentations, 280 poster presentations on various topics related to the actuary profession were displayed across 12 parallel lecture halls. Special topics included: Enterprise Risk Management, Life, Non-Life, Consultants, Health, Pension Funds, Professionalism and Education. In addition to the presentations of special topics in each session, many cross-session talks included current topics such as data science and demographic change.
Another highlight of the 2018 ICA includes being the very first Virtual ICA allowing actuaries and students, who were unable to attend the conference, to view more than 150 hours of sessions, which were broadcast live via the internet and recorded. In addition to providing an opportunity for a wider audience from around the world to partake virtually in the talks during the conference, the Virtual ICA enabled qualified authors, who did not receive a presentation slot in Berlin, to deliver their presentations online.
From May 30 to June 3, prior to the start of the 2018 ICA, delegates from the Indonesian Actuarial Association (PAI) attended the IAA board meetings and committees of the local professional actuarial association. IAA currently consists of 73 full member and 26 associate members.
IAA promotes the actuary profession globally, and supports the development of both the technical and professional competencies of actuaries. IAA meetings are a forum for sharing ideas, the results of actuarial research, as well as information about key decisions with its members and provides opportunities to establish relationships with other international actuary organizations.
IAA has seven sections and thirteen highly active committees producing various documents, standard practice models, educational curricula, professional guidelines, books, and scientific papers. Their recent publications in 2018 include Defined Benefit Pension Plan Funding and the Role of Actuaries and Measuring and Reporting Actuarial Obligations of Social Security System.
The IAA encourages its members to have in place standards of practice that are substantially consistent with the standard practice models of the International Standards of Actuarial Practice (ISAPs). In addition to standards of practice, the IAA also published an educational and non-binding document, International Actuarial Notes (IANs), which aims to enhance the understanding of the subject matter for actuaries and others, as well as those who use or rely upon the work of actuaries.
The IAA is also active in collaborating with various external organizations including the International Social Security Association (ISSA) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The goal of this partnership is to support actuaries in developing strategies and policy orders by providing its expertise and assistance in making decisions, and developing efficient solutions to protect the organization in the midst of an ever-changing world.
One of the IAA’s sections is Actuaries without Borders (AWB). Its mission is to provide volunteer based actuarial services to foster the development and management of social security, ERM, pensions, healthcare, insurance, investment, and others. Focusing on countries facing a shortage of actuarial resources, AWB provides support through consulting and education. For example, a Core Technical tutorial was held in Ghana, and a demand-driven workshop on a non-life pricing was held in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The AWB also offers a Global Mentorship Program tailored to the needs of prospective actuaries and young actuary workers in countries that lack actuarial resources. The current technology helps to overcome urgent and temporal obstacles by making the interaction between mentors and mentees across the world possible. AWB resources include the technical guidance section documentation assisting with the professional exam preparation. The AWB membership provides opportunities to network with a group of senior actuaries who support the development of the actuary profession around the world.
The participation of the Indonesian Actuary Association members at the IAA and ICA activities is considered a part of Continuing Professional Development (CPD). CPD is the main program of professional associations, where each member is required to achieve a minimum of hours or points for professional development each year. The institutionalization of this program was guided by the idea that knowledge and professionalism are the essences of developing actuary qualifications as risk management professionals.
In addition to increasing professionalism, engaging in the international actuary community can provide a platform for networking and sharing experiences with representatives from various countries which can be beneficial to national needs. Playing an active role in all existing meetings and discussions helps junior actuaries to determine the direction of their actuary career including the future direction of the actuarial and financial world. This is why professional associations strongly support and encourage participation of their members in every opportunity on an international scale. This is especially true for the actuaries, who work in Indonesia. Indonesian actuaries have to be prepared to implement innovations and to apply best practices in the largest country in Southeast Asia with the world’s fourth-largest population.
