Description: Despite the advent of COVID-19, autonomous vehicle (AV) market leaders continued to invest in technology and to establish partnerships with vehicle original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). This report provides a 2021 update on autonomous vehicles.

Description: Decentralized insurance alternatives is a rapidly expanding sector of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), an emerging and growing financial ecosystem powered by blockchain technologies. The purpose of this report is to review and discuss the business models and operating designs of decentralized insurance alternatives, which may have significant implications for traditional insurance businesses, as well as the actuarial profession.

Description: The Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute released an updated report summarizing current issues regarding actuarial technology. In March 2022, for a second time, the SOA Research Institute gathered a panel of insurance industry experts for an update on current actuarial technology topics to help identify directions for future research efforts. This report summarizes their discussions on the Actuarial operating model, technology risk and open-source software.

Description: The Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute released a report summarizing the InsurTech Insights Americas conference held May 24-26, 2022. InsurTech, a concept created 10-15 years ago, is maturing and currently western financial markets are recording a downward trend while inflation is rising. While this downward pressure on financing makes investors more cautious, stakeholders are working towards partnerships to improve the overall effectiveness and purpose of the insurance industry.

Description: The advent of emerging technologies such as blockchain, decentralized AI, and advanced privacy preserving techniques have created the possibility that billions of individuals may be able to maintain sovereignty and control of their own data. As data becomes increasingly valuable as the means of production for a variety of digital goods and services, this self-sovereignty of data may create a new economic framework of individualized data monetization. This session will explore the key factors, technologies and mega-trends in health and medicine aligning to drive this new economy and explore what the future may look like from a data valuation perspective as the current $120 billion secondary market for health data expands to include consented health and health-relevant data from more individuals, to the benefit of all individuals and the healthcare system as a whole.

Description: Top Actuarial Technologies of 2022-2023 provides updates on the current and planned uses of various technology types and tools, highlights those technologies expected to grow the fastest among actuaries in the next 12 months, and assesses the status of adoption versus expectations from 2019.

Description: Implementation of GAAP Targeted Improvements will impact data, reporting, resourcing and governance. This provides an ideal opportunity to rethink some of the data and reporting processes currently in place and how they can be improved to create effective and scalable solutions for the future. With the transition date already behind us for public companies and preparation in motion, we will share insights into how organizations have started to tackle implementing the GAAP Targeted Improvements. The presenters will share insights on data and process challenges and possible solutions, as well as a 'smart compliance' approach to comply with the most valuable aspects of compliance. Resourcing strategies for successful implementation will also be discussed.

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: On November 30, 2021, the SOA Research Institute assembled an industry expert panel to discuss current issues in actuarial technology. Each participant who volunteered to be part of the discussion was selected because of their management-level responsibilities for the application of technology in an actuarial context. The group was diverse in terms of employment, including company actuaries from life, health, and property/casualty backgrounds, as well as consultants from various kinds of firms. This document summarizes the discussion that occurred during the three-hour meeting. To encourage candor during the discussion, participants were assured that this report would not attribute comments to individuals or companies, so no names appear in the body of the report. The names of those who participated are included at the end of the report.

Description: Decentralized finance, or DeFi, is an emerging financial system powered by blockchain technology. This research report aims to introduce actuaries to DeFi and help them develop a solid understanding of DeFi. It will begin with addressing “what is DeFi?” by providing an introduction on blockchains and DeFi. It will then discuss in further detail the key characteristics, applications, opportunities, and risks of DeFi. After providing the foundation, this report will discuss the potential adoption of DeFi and its interaction with the current financial system (sometime referred to as traditional finance for contrast with DeFi), and the implications for practicing and aspiring actuaries. In addition, a glossary of terms used in DeFi and a brief history of the development of DeFi have been included in the appendix.