Description: Debriefing of activities at the Third African Actuarial Congress held on April 2013 in Lomé, Togo, and brief description of the status of the actuarial profession in a few Western African countries..

Description: In this fifth issue of International News of 2022, we feature the following contributions: (1) Ruben John John Callo, FSA, FIAA, FLMI, and the SOA’s Ambassador to Australia under the Ambassador Program , presents an illustrative study aimed at helping consumers choose life insurance products using the “customer value per dollar” methodology, and although examples included relate to the Australian market, the methodological principles can be adopted in other markets; (2) Shirley Z. Song, FSA, MAAA, Member of the International Section Council, Josh Dobiac, MS,CAIA, and Yang Jing, deal with the Targeted Improvements to the Accounting of Long-Duration Contracts (LTDI), and the fact that both IFRS and US GAAP frameworks are evolving into a new financial reporting framework. The implications for US insurers are discussed.

Description: Catastrophic exposure is on the rise owing to extreme weather and economic development of the past few years. Catastrophic claims peaked in 2017, but continue to pose a challenge to insurance markets. Global reinsurers seem to be well-capitalized despite the increase in CAT claims. But emerging insurance markets show a wide protection gap relative to more advance markets. Can reinsurance play a role in helping to narrow the gap? This article examines a few ideas.

Description: In this article, the author discusses the insurance market in Switzerland.

Description: Bulgaria, a member of the European Union, is developing fast, and the Bulgarian Actuarial Society is seriously committed to provide education opportunities.

Description: Notes about the 4-day training seminar sponsored by SOA (LAC Committee), CAS and the Colombian Actuarial Association, held in Bogotá, Colombia, in May 2018.

Description: How is actuarial career development related to human development? The author draws a parallel using the archetypes developed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl G Jung.

Description: Digital is the main reason over half of the companies on the Fortune 500 have disappeared since 2000." (CEO Accenture). We cannot be sure how global technology megatrends will disrupt the life insurance industry, but we can be certain that the future will not look like today. As large quantities of available data are no longer owned by insurance companies and statistical techniques become more accessible to non-statisticians, the pressure to keep up with technological advancement increases. Life actuaries must think critically about and be prepared for the coming changes and position themselves as leaders in an industry lagging behind in new technology adoption.

Description: A description about current efforts of several Central and Southern Europen countries to improve penetration and density of insurance coverage, in the personal view of Renata De Leers. De Leers has spent many years consulting with regulators and industry leaders, and is an advocate of inclusive insurance solutions, as a way to foster economic development.

Description: A new generation of Armenian actuaries have started to write SOA exams. The state of development of the profession is explored in this article.