Society of Actuaries Announces Recipients of 2019 Student Research Case Study Challenge

Schaumburg, IL (April 23, 2019) – The Society of Actuaries (SOA) announced the winners of the 2019 SOA Student Research Case Study Challenge, which include Drake University in Des Moines, the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill, Arizona State University in Tempe and the Lisbon School of Economics and Management in Lisbon, Portugal.

Sixty-three teams of actuarial students from colleges and universities around the world participated in this research case study, where they designed an autonomous vehicle insurance policy and actuarial projections of loss costs. Over eight weeks, the student teams built assumptions, conducted actuarial analysis, developed predictions and provided recommendations.

Students from Drake University received first place and a $5,000 grant for their entry which highlighted a variety of new policyholder behaviors, cybersecurity risks and changes in vehicle-miles exposures that would emerge with the implementation on autonomous vehicles for personal use and in commercial ridesharing services. The team created adoption timelines for autonomous vehicle usage and how pure premium would develop across coverages for the insurance company highlighted in the case study.

Students from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received second place with a $3,000 grant. Students from Arizona State University and Lisbon School of Economics and Management tied for third place, each receiving a $2,000 grant. Each student on these winning teams will also receive $500. See the full list of winners, finalists and semi-finalists.