Description: The class involves a combination of presentations, class participation, in-class exercises and structured hands-on work with the MA BPT in small workgroups. Prior to this course, participants are expected to spend 3 to 10 hours preparing, depending on prior experience level.

Description: One important lesson learnt from the recent financial crisis was that overreliance on financial models could lead to unforeseen and harmful consequences. Model risk management (MRM) is becoming a core and mandatory component in enterprise risk management for many financial institutions, especially Fed/OCC CCAR-compliant firms. In recent years, insurance companies are also being required to have model risk management programs by Solvency II, ORSA and other supervisory guidance. MRM is not just model validation. It consists of governance and policies regarding a model's life cycle including data, model development, model test and implementation, model validation, model monitoring and documentation. It also provides guidelines and standards for risk assessment and model inventory management. The presenters will discuss current and best practice MRM, approach for model validation and auditing, as well as topics for technical issues such as types of model risks. It will also discuss the differences between Fed/OCC standards and Solvency II standards. At the conclusion of the session, attendees will be able to: Describe best practice in model risk management; Explain requirements and standards; and Develop model validation procedure.

Description: Due to the development of mobile internet, Chinese insurers now have a variety of valuable ways to collect and use customers' health data.The speaker will share his experience in heath data application in the following fields:Using data to customize health information and suggestion for customers;Using data to stimulate customers' needs for insurance products; and Using data to provide tailor-made products and services

Description: This session will cover clustering techniques generally (k-means, hierarchical), and how k-means have been used to segment policyholders using third party features such as credit scores to assess customer profitability.

Description: This session will review limited fluctuation credibility, and how to apply that approach to a GLM. Alternative credibility approaches through the lens of ASOP 25 will also be discussed.

Description: Most actuaries deal with model development at some point in their career. However, very few of us have proper training in programming, software engineering or software shop operations. Explore topics, techniques, and practices from the FinTech and IT industries that can be applied to building robust, high-quality actuarial models. This session will be of particular interest to actuaries engaged in 'in-house' model development, managers of modeling teams, and actuaries interested in software development.

Description: This presentation considers the pricing of European derivatives in a Black-Scholes model with stochastic volatility. The presentation shows how Parseval’s theorem may be used to express those prices as Fourier integrals. This is a significant improvement over Monte Carlo simulation in many cases. The main ingredient in this presentation's method is the Laplace transform of the ordinary [constant volatility] price of a put or call in the Black-Scholes model, where the transform is taken with respect to maturity [T]. The presentation derives these formulas and then applies them to the case where volatility is modelled as a Markov chain in continuous time, the so-called 'Markov regime switching model'. This model has been used previously in stochastic volatility modelling, but mostly with only N=2 states. The presentation shows how to use N=3 states without difficulty, and how larger number of states can be handled. Numerical illustrations are given, including the volatility smile in a three-state model.

Description: A number of vendors have developed mortality scoring systems through various predictive modeling algorithms. They significantly alter the underwriting and mortality assessment landscape. You have been charged with evaluating these scoring systems. How should you go about doing it to maximize the value of your analysis and minimize the disruption to your product?At the conclusion of the session, attendees will:Learn about the types of scoring systems now available;Learn to create an action plan for evaluation; Learn how to navigate the pitfalls of evaluating something entirely new; andLearn how to integrate the score in your existing processes.

Description: The presenter will discuss North American actuarial careers. He will provide an overview on actuaries in the United States and Canada, including his personal experiences. He will also discuss supply and demand of actuaries in North America.

Description: Reinsurance has been available for VA Guarantees for over 20 years. During that time, the reinsurance market for VA Guarantees has undergone frequent and sometimes violent transformations. Where does the market stand today? What forms and structures of reinsurance are available? Which VA Guarantee designs and features are easier to reinsure? Is reinsurance offered on both newly issued policies as well as in force/legacy books, and which vintages are difficult to reinsure? In an age of sophisticated hedging programs, what role does a reinsurer play in helping a VA writer manage this highly volatile risk? In this session, we will hear from a reinsurer that is actively writing new VA Guarantee reinsurance treaties in the U.S. and around the world, and from a VA writer that has successfully partnered with a reinsurer to enhance its VA product offering