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Actuarial Innovation and Technology Topic - Innovation around the Globe

Background and Purpose

In an interview on National Public Radio (NPR) talking about advances in technology, William Gibson famously said “the future is already here - it’s just not evenly distributed.” We are seeing this with innovations in insurance – driven directly or indirectly by advances in technology.

Insurance innovations come in a variety of areas including distribution, underwriting, policy and claim management, actuarial processes and customer engagement, and across all lines of business.

Research Objective

The Actuarial Innovation & Technology Program Steering Committee (AITPSC) is seeking several researchers to prepare a research paper that examines insurance innovation around the globe and the factors that fostered that innovation or hindered it elsewhere, as a collection of case studies. The report should focus on innovation that is driven by actuaries or has a direct impact on actuarial work (such as product design, underwriting, and distribution), covering life and health insurance preferred, but open to other lines of business where appropriate.

The researcher should select the region intended to be covered, excluding USA and Canada, from the list below or beyond:

  • UK,
  • Russia,
  • EU,
  • Singapore,
  • China,
  • HK,
  • Taiwan
  • South Korea,
  • Japan,
  • Australia, New Zealand,
  • South Africa,
  • Latin America,
  • Caribbean,
  • India,
  • Israel,
  • Middle East,
  • Africa,
  • Vietnam,
  • Indonesia,
  • Thailand
  •  

Please note that innovation should be defined here as a structural change in the market.  One example of a framework that helps define what is a major innovation can be found in the Ten types of innovation document (https://doblin.com/dist/images/uploads/Doblin_TenTypesBrochure_Web.pdf) where a major innovation should fundamentally modify at least one aspect of each category (configuration, offering or experience).  Examples of innovations in the US market would be the introduction of Long-Term Care products, the emergence of embedded insurance (car manufacturers offering tailored products on their fleet) or Peer-to-peer insurance.

In order to facilitate the aggregation of the various single region reports into a global document, the AITSC is suggesting each report to follow the structure below:

  1. Background ~ 3-5 pages
    1. Culture,
    2. Regulatory background,
    3. Sales trends of the 30-50 years or relevant history
    4. Sales channels, competition, remuneration,
    5. Type of products that were common in the market,
    6. Policyholder expectation, tax code, technology, population density and such, and
    7. Any other factors that would be relevant for context.
  2. For each innovation ~ 4-5 pages per innovation
    1. Innovation rational
      1. What causes the innovation?
      2. External change?
    2. What was the innovation?
      1. What types of innovation - as an example, please identify the type of innovation (Doblin_TenTypesBrochure_Web.pdf)
      2. Specific of the particular idea
    3. How was the innovation implemented?
    4. What was the market response, chain of responses?
  3. Conclusion ~ 1-2 page
    1. Market outlook
    2. Implication for actuaries in that country and other countries

Each research team should specify the region and the innovation(s) to be developed in the paper.

Proposal Requirements

To facilitate the evaluation of proposals, the following information should be submitted:

  1. Resumes of the researcher(s), including any graduate student(s) expected to participate, indicating how their background, education and experience bear on their qualifications to undertake the research. If more than one researcher is involved, a single individual should be designated as the lead researcher and primary contact. The person submitting the proposal must be authorized to speak on behalf of all the researchers as well as for the firm or institution on whose behalf the proposal is submitted.
  2. An outline of the approach to be used (e.g. literature search, model, etc.), emphasizing issues that require special consideration. Details should be given regarding the techniques to be used, collateral material to be consulted, and possible limitations of the analysis.
  3. A description of the expected deliverables and any supporting data, tools or other resources.
  4. Cost estimates for the research, including computer time, salaries, report preparation, material costs, etc. Such estimates can be in the form of hourly rates, but in such cases, time estimates should also be included. Any guarantees as to total cost should be given and will be considered in the evaluation of the proposal. While cost will be a factor in the evaluation of the proposal, it will not necessarily be the decisive factor.
  5. A schedule for completion of the research, identifying key dates or time frames for research completion and report submissions. The AITPSC is interested in completing this project in a timely manner. Suggestions in the proposal for ensuring timely delivery, such as fee adjustments, are encouraged.
  6. Other related factors that give evidence of a proposer's capabilities to perform in a superior fashion should be detailed.

Selection Process

The AITPSC will appoint a Project Oversight Group (POG) to oversee the project.  The AITPSC is responsible for recommending the proposal to be funded. Input from other knowledgeable individuals also may be sought, but the AITPSC will make the final recommendation, subject to Society of Actuaries Research Institute (SOA) leadership approval. An SOA staff research actuary will provide staff actuarial support.

Questions

Any questions regarding this RFP should be directed to David Schraub, SOA Experience Studies Actuary (phone: 847-706-3560; email: dschraub@soa.org).

Notification of Intent to submit Proposal

If you intend to submit a proposal, please e-mail written notification by February 28, 2022 to Korrel Crawford (kcrawford@soa.org).

Submission of Proposal

Final proposals for the project should be sent by March 14, 2022 via e-mail to Korrel Crawford at kcrawford@soa.org.  It is anticipated that all proposers will be informed of the status of their proposal by the end April 2022.

Conditions

The selection of a proposal is conditioned upon and not considered final until a Letter of Agreement is executed by both the Society of Actuaries Research Institute and the researcher.

The Society of Actuaries Research Institute reserves the right to not award a contract for this research. Reasons for not awarding a contract could include, but are not limited to, a lack of acceptable proposals or a finding that insufficient funds are available. The Society of Actuaries Research Institute also reserves the right to redirect the project as is deemed advisable.

The Society of Actuaries Research Institute plans to hold the copyright to the research and to publish the results with appropriate credit given to the researcher(s).

The Society of Actuaries Research Institute may choose to seek public exposure or media attention for the research. By submitting a proposal, you agree to cooperate with the [Society of Actuaries/sponsoring entity] in publicizing or promoting the research and responding to media requests.

The Society of Actuaries may also choose to market and promote the research to members, candidates and other interested parties. You agree to perform promotional communication requested by the Society of Actuaries Research Institute, which may include, but is not limited to, leading a webcast on the research, presenting the research at an SOA meeting, and/or writing an article on the research for an SOA newsletter.