The Institute of Actuaries of India Conducts Virtual Actuarial Conclave 2021

MUMBAI:
Institute of Actuaries of India, a statutory body established under an Act of Parliament is conducting, in virtual platform, its signature event, Virtual Actuarial Conclave 2021 (VAC 2021) which is being held from 10-13th March 2021.

Over 1900 delegates have registered from different fields across the globe for VAC 2021. A wide variety of topics are deliberated upon relating to the theme of the conclave that is relevant for the times we are passing through – “Navigating through uncertainty”.

The main highlights of Day 1 included the IAI President opening address on the overall event and about the profession, inaugural address by the Chief Guest, Dr. Subhash Chandra Khuntia, Chairman Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Presidential Town Hall, a session on Application of Actuarial Techniques in Banking and Felicitation of Newly Qualified Actuaries.

Subhendu Kumar Bal, President, Institute of Actuaries of India who is also the Chief Actuary & Chief Risk Officer at SBI Life Insurance Company said the Institute has taken initiatives to enhance awareness about the profession among students and members of other professions. The Town Hall included Presidents from Actuarial Institutes across the globe sharing their invaluable knowledge. . Other sessions included Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learnings, the InsureTech space and banking.

During the inaugural address, the Chief Guest Dr. Khuntia, said the Regulator is working on implementing the International Financial Reporting Standard 17 (IFRS 17) and Risk Based Capital (RBC) regime in India in the near future and urged the actuaries to drive this. He lauded the role of the Actuaries in calculating the effects of uncertain events like climate change and Covid Like pandemics in designing appropriate products to balance the interests of policyholders and shareholders. He said that the Appointed Actuaries are the eyes and ears of the regulatory authority and they are essential to ensuring that the insurance companies remain solvent at all times. He said the recent FDI relaxation in insurance is a long-awaited step and India provides a big market with huge resources and innovative ideas. Though the insurance penetration is low in India, we are recently seeing an increase in annuity products.

Dr. Khuntia asked the Institute of Actuaries of India (IAI) to create awareness about the roles actuaries play in both traditional and non-traditional fields like Banking and other financial fields. He said that the actuaries are still a very small community in India and the Institute should take the necessary steps to increase the number of qualifies actuaries especially in specialised fields like General Insurance to safeguard the public interest. He said that he could see actuaries leading insurance firms in the near future.

The actuarial professionals need to align with the emerging business realities and data driven shifts to create opportunities for themselves. Actuaries will be best suited for the emerging roles in not just insurance but also in Banking and other wider financial and non-financial areas, say experts at the Day 2 of the Virtual Actuarial Conclave .

The main highlights of Day 2 were the address by the chief guest Jan Kars, President, International Actuarial Association, address by Kaushal Mody, Senior Managing Director – Accenture Operations on Fast-Track to Future-Ready Operations for Insurance Companies, panel discussion on the effect of pandemics on insurance, Opportunities for actuarial professionals in wider fields including Banking, exploring new dimensions from unitisation and the role of India as leading offshore actuarial services partner.

Day-3 of the conclave was all about Risk management, IFRS-17, a global perspective on Actuarial hiring, discussion on unchartered territories of Ayushman Bharat and ensuring sustainable retirement outcome in old age. The chief guest of the day was Supratim Bandyopadhyay, Chairman, PFRDA. India ranks 34 in providing sustainable retirement outcomes and the panel had a wide-ranging discussion to improve India’s position and the reforms needed in this space. The session on Actuarial hiring was an eye opener for the members of the profession that delved upon the golden rules to choosing a rewarding career. The solvency II and IFRS sessions largely discussed the steps India needs to take and the practical issues surrounding the implementation in the near future.

All three days ended with sparking cultural performances by the members and presentation of Awards and certificated to newly qualified Associate members and other toppers and achievers.