General Insurance Research Update

By Anthony Cappelletti

General Insurance Insights, June 2024

The General Insurance Research Committee (GIRC) continues to meet monthly to identify relevant research topics and potential partnering organizations with the goal of furthering the SOA’s activities in general insurance. In addition, the committee provides SOA members with results that will help them in their day-to-day activities. The committee welcomes ideas for consideration and is seeking additional members. If you are interested in either submitting ideas or becoming a member, please contact me at acappelletti@soa.org.

Of note from the GIRC:

• Proposals have been submitted for research on “Geospatial & High-Resolution Imagery coupled with Artificial Intelligence in Loss Estimate Analytics and Underwriting.”
• Nearing completion is the report “A Framework for Digital Asset Risks with Insurance Applications.”

Also, the report Takaful: An Alternative Approach to Insurance was recently published. It’s authored by GIRC member Shariq Sikander, FSA, CERA. It’s an excellent source of information for Takaful. Takaful brings the concept of insurance in line with Islamic values and the fundamental principles of Islamic finance. The report goes from explaining Takaful to providing the framework and models for it. The report also examines Retakaful (Takaful version of reinsurance), global adoption of Takaful and supervision of Takaful. It even considers the concept of Window Takaful as a solution to overcome obstacles for the adoption of Takaful.

All completed general insurance research is published on the SOA’s General Insurance Research page.

GIRC is currently finalizing details for various submissions for research funding. Once the projects commence, the SOA will be seeking individuals to join volunteer project oversight groups (POG) to help guide and oversee each project. Each POG seeks four to seven volunteers who may be FSAs, ASAs, or non-members with backgrounds in the topic. Volunteers are expected to participate in periodic, hour-long conference calls (a total of five to 10 calls expected over the course of a project) to review material and provide guidance. Research projects provide a way for volunteers to network, build upon their experience in the field, and help support the SOA’s research efforts.

Additionally, the following SOA sponsored research projects applicable to general insurance have been completed and published:

On the SOA risk management research page:

• “The Risks of Change in the Insurance Industry: Adapting to the “New” New Normal”—An investigation of the insurance industry’s view of the risks and disruptors faced by the industry under the “new” new normal. Included in the top five are artificial intelligence/cyber security and higher inflation.

On the SOA Research Institute Catastrophe & Climate page:

• “Post-wildfire Drinking Water Crisis: Implications and Opportunities for the Insurance Industry”—Education for the actuarial community on wildfire-caused contaminated plumbing and recovery associated phenomena, health and financial impacts.
• “Essay on Navigating the Storm: The Actuarial Role in Addressing Severe Thunderstorm Risks.”

It’s also worth noting that GIRC member Himchan Jeong, FSA, co-authored the following research paper that was published in the International Actuarial Association’s Astin Bulletin:

• “Integration of traditional and telematics data for efficient insurance claims prediction,” (Astin Bulletin (2024), pp. 1–17 doi:10.1017/asb.2024.6).

If you have questions about GIRC projects, contact me at acappelletti@soa.org. If you would like to volunteer, please review the current open volunteer positions on the Volunteer Opportunities Database.

Statements of fact and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily those of the Society of Actuaries, the editors, or the respective authors’ employers.

Anthony Cappelletti, FSA, FCIA, FCAS, is a staff fellow for the SOA. He can be contacted at acappelletti@soa.org.