Chairperson's Corner
By Sean Kim
Reinsurance News, February 2022
As we turn the page to a new year, it is important to take a moment to pause and reflect. This past year has brought a roller coaster of emotions—which often included hope, despair, and acceptance. However, throughout all of this, I have found just how important it is to be grateful for all of the not-so-little things we each have in our lives. Family, friends, health, career, food on the table, shelter—we can all find something to express gratitude for. I am also personally grateful and honored to have been a part of this global reinsurance community since 2019. Working with and getting to know all of the past and present Reinsurance Section Council (RSC) members has been amazing, and I look forward to serving as your new chair of the RSC for the coming year.
I recently had the opportunity to participate in a brief Q&A with Munich Re’s Communications team to share a bit about what I've learned throughout my experience with the RSC and what I hope to accomplish as incoming chair. Read more below.
In the new year, I look forward to connecting with my fellow RSC members and continuing to advance the Reinsurance Section's mission.
Q&A with Sean Kim:
Q: When did you start getting involved with the SOA’s Reinsurance Section and what made you want to be a part of the global reinsurance community?
I joined the SOA RSC toward the end of 2019, so this will be my third and final year as a council member. I’ve always enjoyed volunteer work and giving back to the community, especially those that I personally connect with.
Growing up in Canada, my parents were extremely active in the Korean-Canadian community and this definitely had an influence on me as I, too, became more and more involved over the years. There’s just something special about a group of like-minded individuals willing to sacrifice their time and energy for something they genuinely believe in.
Q: What have you learned during your time as vice chair?
That the SOA has some amazing, dedicated staff members. I wanted to especially acknowledge Jessica Schuh, our former SOA staff representative over the past couple of years, for doing an excellent job holding down the fort. I don’t know where we’d be without her and we’ll miss having her on the team!
Also, joining the RSC has opened my eyes to how member-focused the council (and more broadly the SOA) is and how much work goes into these things. From developing the newsletter to educating state regulators on reinsurance topics, podcasts, webcasts, research papers, etc.—it’s inspiring to see the actual people, work, and intent behind executing all of these deliverables.
Q: In what ways do you hope to give back to the profession as chair?
I want to make sure I bring my energy to the table as consistently as possible and do my best at keeping everyone on the council engaged and committed throughout the year. To be honest, I don’t think that will be very tough because we have such a great group of people.
I’m also very keen to share my ideas and hopefully influence the future of the actuarial profession in general. We are in a very challenging and competitive environment and I think keeping things status quo is not an option. Luckily, I have a great deal of respect for the SOA and fellow actuaries which gives me confidence that we will emerge from this stronger and with a broader reach than ever before.
Q: What would you say is among the most exciting things happening in the industry right now?
I apologize in advance as I have an individual life (IL) background, so my answer has a natural bias toward that portion of the market. The hot topics of discussion in IL seem to center around digitization and automation, the new underwriting paradigm, and improving the customer acquisition process. However, what I’m most excited about is all of the work being done around continuous engagement and how to truly improve someone’s life and overall health. There is such an obvious natural alignment of interest between insurer and insured that I feel we can be exploring in much more depth. The role that reinsurers play in all of this is critical in enabling and providing confidence to insurers by risk and knowledge sharing via true partnership.
Q: As chair, what will be your first line of business for the Reinsurance Section?
Start planning for our annual strategy and kick-off meeting. I’m looking forward to getting all of the council members together and having an engaging discussion to set the tone for the year. We have some big things planned, so I’m really hoping the pandemic doesn’t ruin the fun.
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you were given and how has that helped you professionally?
Rather than advice, I’ll point to a quote I live by: “A person who falls and gets back up is much stronger than a person who never falls.” Both personally and professionally, this pushes me to continuously step out of my comfort zone to take on new and bigger challenges. I never view falling as failing, rather I see it as another opportunity to get stronger.
Statements of fact and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily those of the Society of Actuaries, the newsletter editors, or the respective authors’ employers.
Sean Kim, FSA, FCIA, MAAA, is head of Business Development and Marketing for Munich Re’s Individual Life business in the US. He can be contacted at seankim@munichre.com.