2017 ASNY Annual Meeting

We are very excited for this year's ASNY Annual Meeting being held on Monday, November 13th at the New York Marriott Downtown Hotel.

The meeting will commence with a general professionalism session followed by breakout sessions. At the breakout sessions an accomplished group of industry leaders will present on a broad range of topics of interest including actuarial and IT partnerships, actuarial governance, and evolving regulations.

For photos from the 2017 ASNY Spring Meeting, please visit our photo gallery.

**Update** 2017 ASNY Annual Meeting attendee list as of 11.09.2017 is now available.

SCHEDULE

8:00 - 8:45 am: Meeting Registration and Breakfast

8:45 - 9:00 am:  Welcome Remarks
                   Alex Zaidlin, FSA, MAAA, ACIA | ASNY VP Meetings & KPMG LLP

9:00 - 10:30 am: General Session: Presidential Address and Actuarial Professionalism
                   Mike Lombardi, FSA, MAAA, CERA, FCIA | SOA President
                   
Society of Actuaries President Mike Lombardi will hold a two part session. Mike will open with a presidential address, during which he will discuss key SOA strategic initiatives, educational objectives and the future of the profession as he sees it. In the second part of his presentation, Mike will lead an interactive discussion on current actuarial professionalism topics and will conclude with professionalism case studies and audience discussion on the topic.

10:45 - 12:00 pm: General Session: Panel Discussion: Building a Winning Relationship with IT
                   Tim Pauza, ASA, MAAA | EY LLP (moderator)
                   James Burrows | Prudential
                   Eric Sherman, FSA, MAAA | New York Life
                   Graham Bryce, FSA | AXA Equitable
           
With actuaries’ increasing reliance on data and information technology, forging a strong partnership with information technology (IT) professionals is critical to a company’s success. This “talk show” style panel will focus the evolution of business needs and the corresponding relationship between actuarial and IT, key challenges to collaboration, and ways various business groups develop more progressive and effective partnerships.

12:00 - 1:15 pm: General Session: Insurance Market in Today's Economic Environment
                   Colin Devine, CFP, CPA, CFA | C. Devine & Associates
                   
Heading into 2018 the U.S. Life Insurance industry remains poised to realize above average growth driven by its ability to provide long-term guarantees that address the income, supplemental health and wealth preservation risks faced by the rapidly rising number of retiring Americans.  However, many carriers face increasing strain from the mix of low interest rates coupled with past aggressive product features on legacy liabilities such as VAs, LTC and SGUL.  This has led some to exit business lines; restrict new product sales; sharply raise pricing on in-force policies via rate increases or dividend reductions; or an emerging trend of spinning-off or divesting portions of their organizations.  In addition, the regulatory landscape continues to evolve and could have long-term implications for how products are sold as well as compensation.  Other potential issues include cyber risk, improvements in biometric underwriting or the implications of the opioid crisis.  Change is part of life however and disruption creates opportunities.

1:15 - 2:30 pm: Lunch Session: Club Business
                   David Wicklund, FSA, MAAA | ASNY President & EY LLP

2:45 - 4:00 pm:  Breakout Session 1

• Focus on FASB Target Improvements
        Tom Chamberlain, ASA, MAAA | Deloitte LLP
        Ken Joyce, FSA, MAAA | Milliman
        
  This session will focus on the proposed FASB targeted improvements. A discussion of the FASB recommended changes will be followed by a comparison of the GAAP book profits under historical GAAP (“HGAAP”) and the proposed Targeted Improvements GAAP (“TGAAP”) for example products. We will encourage audience members to ask questions during the session to create dynamic and insightful assessment of the changes and awareness of operational challenges.
   
• An Insider's Perspective on InsureTech, from Actuaries for Actuaries
        Matt Wolf, FSA | Haven Life (moderator)
        Lauren Minches, FSA | Abaris
        Amanda Turcotte, FSA, MAAA | Ostraa 
        Fausto Palazzetti, FSA, MAAA | Oscar
        
  

  With insurtech funding booming, and traditional insurers looking for new opportunities, our industry is undergoing significant transformation. This session will explore a selection of InsurTech companies from an Actuarial perspective. The panelists are all actuaries working at insurtech companies in life, health, and annuities, and also at start-ups at different stages of development. The panelists will share their experiences working in and with insurance technology startups and their perspectives on insurtech’s impact on the industry and the actuarial profession. At the conclusion of the session, attendees will be able to:
  - Identify the forces that are driving the creation of insurance technology startup
  - Demonstrate an understanding of the various players
  - Appreciate how actuarial professionals fit in the new insurance models.

   
• Accelerated Underwriting in Life Insurance
        David Zhu, FSA, FCIA, PhD | Munich Re
        Rodney Cordle, FSA, MAAA | RGA
        
  

  At this session the presenters will open with an overview of the representative designs of current non-invasive, Accelerated (and automated) Underwriting (AUW) programs, together with considerations from the perspectives of direct carriers as well as their reinsurance partners. They will then cover various new data and tools for consideration in second generation AUW programs; including marketing data, APS, wearable data, and alternative data-based mortality scores. The session will close with the challenges of non-disclosure and an example of a “smoker predictor” model.

  
  
  
• Actuarial Platform Vendor Panel
        Cheryl Poulin, FSA, MAAA | Prudential (moderator)
        Sean Hayward, FSA, MAAA | FIS
        Trevor Howes, FSA, FCIA, MAAA | Moody's Analytics
        Jason Kehrberg, FSA, MAAA | PolySystems
        Brian Reid, FSA, MAAA | MG-ALFA
        
  Whether you work in pricing, valuation, or risk, at an insurance company or for a consultancy, modeling is sure to be an important part of your job as an actuary. This session will be a Q&A-style panel with representatives from several of the major actuarial software vendors, who will share their insights on the world of modeling . The emphasis will be on trends and challenges, such as model efficiency, model governance, modeling for PBR, and other topics.

4:15 - 5:30 pm:  Breakout Session 2

• Product Development Update
        Angela McShane, ASA | EY LLP
        Patti Arellano, FSA, MAAA, CERA | Munich Re
        
  The presentation will cover industry trends in product development, particularly around how the product development process has evolved in recent years and where the industry should be focusing going forward. Topics will include governance, organizational structures, and process improvement. The second half of the presentation will cover the product development process and current initiatives at a life insurer.
   
• Artificial intelligence in Insurance
        Sophia Song | KPMG LLP
        Nathaniel Loughin, ACAS | KPMG LLP
        
  The session will introduce the concept of Artificial intelligence and explain how AI affects the insurance industry overall. We will give examples of where insurers can use robotic process automation and cognitive computing capabilities in their operations. We will also analyze the benefits and challenges of using AI for actuarial work and ways to familiarize people with these methods to make them more accessible and less of a ‘black box’. Additionally, the session will identify new roles of actuaries in the age of AI and what actions to take to prepare for the new role.
   
• Integrated FP&A projections and “what-if” analysis
        Alpesh Sanghani, FSA, MAAA | EY LLP
        Dariush Akhtari, FSA, MAAA, FCIA | Moody's Analytics
        
  Baseline and what-if / stressed projections of cash flows, financial statements and capital requirements are critical inputs to a range of business purposes: forecasts, risk management, liquidity management, strategic decision making etc. Forward looking projections have historically been inefficient and performed in silos making it difficult to scale the process as CFOs and CROs ask for more. In this session we discuss challenges of the forecast process and opportunities to meet desired future capabilities. We will also discuss “what-if” analysis and ways to support production of forward looking projections for “what-if” analysis in an efficient way.
   
• Pension Buyouts for Actuaries
        Brian O'Neill, CERA, CFA, FSA, MAAA| Knighthead
        Jennifer Haid, FSA | AIG
        
  Defined Benefit Plan Pension Risks are Actuarial and Financial in nature.  Defined Benefit Plan Sponsors, particularly those companies who are non-financial in nature, do not typically have the horsepower for evaluating, managing, and mitigating these risks.  Nor should they.  These are the companies that make sure our tap water is clean, or make the tiles that end up on our kitchen counters, or make sure that we fly the friendly skies safely.  Pension risks simply don’t belong in their wheelhouse.  Insurance companies, on the other hand, have been measuring, managing, and evaluating these risks for decades.  Let’s add to the narrative that i) PBGC premiums have and will continue to grow exponentially, ii) Administrative costs are burdensome and can be excessive, iii) Liabilities can be more straightforward to handle for insurance companies than typical life policies, iv) PRT transactions are one of the few true growth markets for life insurers in the current macro climate, and v) Investment management fees are often high and vaguely disclosed.  It is no surprise that we are seeing the PRT market getting modestly bigger year by year and would be no surprise to see that trend continue for the foreseeable future.

5:30 - 7:00 pm:  Networking Cocktail Reception

PAYMENT

If you would like to pay by credit card online, please register online.  If you have been a past member, but have not yet paid dues for this year, membership dues must be paid first before you will receive the reduced cost for this event.

If you have any questions, please use the Contact ASNY page and select Subject option 5, "ASNY Annual Meeting".

Cancellation Policy

• Cancellation of any individual's event registration must be made two (2) weeks or more prior to an event to be eligible for a refund. All requests are subject to $50 service fee to cover administration costs and email must be received prior to the two week deadline. Cancellations made after the two week deadline will not be honored, however, all individuals are allowed to transfer their registration at any time to another individual at their organization at no cost by sending an email to ASNY representatives at the email below. Any transfer should be communicated to ASNY as soon as it is known. 
• ASNY reserves the right to cancel any program if conditions warrant. In the rare event of such cancellation, registration fees will be refunded in full. We are not responsible for any discounted airfares or hotel penalties that an attendee may incur due to cancellation.
• Please contact [email protected] with any questions you have around this process.

Presentations will be uploaded at the bottom of the page as they are received from presenters.

2017 ASNY Annual Meeting - General Session 1 - Presidential Address.pdf

2017 ASNY Annual Meeting - General Session - Insurance Market Outlook.pdf

2017 ASNY Annual Meeting - Breakout 1a - FASB Target Improvement.pdf

2017 ASNY Annual Meeting - Breakout 1c - Accelerated Underwriting (Zhu).pdf

2017 ASNY Annual Meeting - Breackout 2c - Accelerated UW in Life Ins - RGA.pdf

2017 ASNY Annual Meeting - Breakout 2a - Product Development.pdf

2017 ASNY Annual Meeting - Breakout 2a - Product development update_EY_final.pdf

2017 ASNY Annual Meeting - Breakout 2b - Artificial Intelligence.pdf

2017 ASNY Annual Meeting - Breakout 2c - Integrated Fin Plan (Akhtari).pdf

2017 ASNY Annual Meeting - Breakout 2c - Integrated Fin Plan (Sanghani).pdf

2017 ASNY Annual Meeting - Breakout 2d - Pension Buyouts (ONeill).pdf