Climate changes and emerging technology to contribute towards sustainable growth in Amrit Kaal, say experts at the 22ndGlobal Conference of Actuaries
March 10, 2023, New Delhi: Institute of Actuaries of India, the statutory body established under The Actuaries Act 2006 (35 of 2006) for the regulation of the profession of Actuaries in India, has successfully organized The 22nd Global Conference of Actuaries (GCA) in Delhi from 4th-6th March 2023, bringing together actuaries and other insurance, pension and finance professionals from across the globe to share thoughts on matters that affect the financial services industry in general and insurance and pension industry in particular. The theme for the event was “Marching into the future, with responsibility and resilience”.
At the conference, experts discussed the need for the insurance and pension industries as well as actuaries to look holistically at products, regulation and policy against the backdrop of changing consumer needs, climate changes and emerging technology to contribute towards sustainable growth in Amrit Kaal. Evolving customer needs, technological disruptions and climate change are the key changes and the country needs an interdisciplinary approach to address them and provide a holistic solution said experts in the conference.
The conference was attended by 950+ delegates from across countries like UK, Belgium, Japan, UAE, USA, Australia, Canada, Singapore including Presidents of global actuarial professional bodies like International Actuarial Association, The Society of Actuaries USA, Institute and Faculty of Actuaries UK, The Casualty Actuarial Society USA. It was spread over 2 days.
Opening the deliberations at 22nd Global Conference of Actuaries, Shri R Arunachalam, President, Institute of Actuaries of India, talked about the importance of the actuarial profession especially around the areas of risk management, sustainability and climate change against the backdrop of a strong growth story for India in the Amrit Kaal. He said, “The 22nd Global Conference of Actuaries 2023 has been organised to enhance the discussion on future of the insurance industry, risk management, sustainability and most importantly climate change. I am grateful to welcome everyone who has gathered to be a part of this conference today and I am confident that the key takeaways from the conference will help everyone reflect on the issues and drive a solution-oriented resolution.”
Addressing the audience as a Key Note speaker on Day 1, Shri Supratim Bandyopadhyay, Chairman (EX), Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)talked about the evolution of pension in India from a Defined Benefit to Defined Contribution format. He mentioned, there is significant potential in the country to increase pension assets as a % of GDP from the current 12%. He spoke about the dire need for workforce in India to understand the importance of planning for retirement. This should be backed by innovation in design of annuity products to help the subscriber in the de-accumulation phase.
Shri. G. Srinivasan, Director, National Insurance Academy, emphasized the need for looking at consumer needs holistically wherein insurance would be a part of a larger consumer need.
At the conference, Shri M.R. Kumar, Chairman, Life Insurance Corporation of India, emphasized on simplification of products to grow reach and greater penetration.
Shri Devesh Srivastava, Chairman and Managing Director, General Insurance Corporation of India Limited, called for a bigger role of actuaries and better adoption of the technology to measure risk at more granular level using complex data.
Shri Parmod Kumar Arora Member (Actuary), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, emphasized on stronger governance at the insurers end to ensure viability and sustainability of the business while we work towards “insurance for all by 2047”. He spoke about moving to a principals-based regime and how “risk-based capital” would facilitate that.
Ms. Mamta Suri, Executive Director, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, also discussed about the implementation of IFRS 17 in Indian insurance industry.
In his keynote address on Day 2, Dr Vivek Joshi, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, reiterated the need for effective use of data and technology and highlighted the need for robust modelling techniques for modelling uncertainties. He mentioned that the Government is looking towards actuaries and other professionals to make India a world leader and there is a dire need of more actuaries to help meet the demand.
Shri Debasish Panda, Chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, stressed on the need for greater penetration to cover a larger part of the population while extending support from regulators perspective in terms of flexibility while ensuring security of the policy holder through risk based capital regime.
Mr. Saurabh Mishra, Joint Secretary, Department of Financial Services (Insurance, FinTech), Ministry of Finance, chaired panel discussion that focused on how the legislative & regulatory changes in the insurance sector will push the growth in the insurance industry to ensure “Insurance for all by 2047”.
In the conference experts presented their thoughts and research on a wide variety of topics including Climate risk, Sustainability, Insure Tech, Risk and Analytics, new Accounting Standards IFRS 17, Pension landscape. There were enriching deliberations around strategies to attract bright young minds to the profession as well as reskilling of the professionals in light of the changing paradigm globally. Experts were positive that Indian insurers are poised to become one among top 50 insurance companies in the world and called for all stakeholders and professionals to work in tandem to help achieve this goal.