42nd Actuarial Research Conference

42nd Actuarial Research Conference

By Len Asimow

The 2007 Actuarial Research Conference took place Aug. 9–11 at Robert Morris University, in Western Pennsylvania just outside the city of Pittsburgh. About 100 participants enjoyed the hospitality of RMU and the generous financial support of Highmark, Inc., a leading health insurance provider for the region.

There were over 40 presentations on actuarial research, education and contemporary issues over the two and a half day conference, with both concurrent and plenary sessions on the schedule. Among the highlights was a keynote presentation by John Shepherd of Macquarie University (Sidney, Australia), and an opening panel on Communicating Actuarial Research Results, conducted by Rick Gorvett and Harry Panjer.

Ian Duncan moderated a stimulating panel (and audience) discussion on Friday afternoon, broadly covering the topic of Applied Actuarial Research. A distinguished panel of practitioners, consisting of Jeremy Gold, Jim Toole, Steven Craighead, Tom Edwalds and Jeff Beckley provided a wide variety of interesting perspectives. Ian's comments concerning this session appear elsewhere in this issue of Expanding Horizons.

Unseasonably stormy weather culminated in a lengthy power outage, interrupting the conference for several hours on Thursday afternoon. Undaunted, the attendees took an early recess to the RMU hosted reception, where spirits were soon lifted. By Friday evening the conference was back on schedule as the weather cleared in time for participants to enjoy a dinner riverboat excursion aboard the Gateway Clipper, sailing leisurely along the famous three rivers bordering the downtown Pittsburgh skyline.

The 43rd ARC will take place in 2008 at Regina University in Saskatchewan, Canada. More details are provided elsewhere in this issue.