New Zealand Society Of PRESIDENT’S ... - actuaries · Appointed Actuaries’ workshop. We hope members found the discussion with their fellow practitioners interesting and useful

New Zealand Society Of Actuaries (Inc)

PRESIDENT’S NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2014

New Zealand Society Of Actuaries (Inc) PRESIDENT’S NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2014 1

Message from the PresidentIt has been a busy time with seminars and visits these past few months. At one stage Council received member feedback that there might be too much on! That’s surely a first for the New Zealand profession, and a nice problem to have.

The second half of 2014 presented members with many opportunities for professional development and networking. These have been well attended and feedback from delegates has been positive.

The highlight for me was, of course, the chance to share time with members and friends at our winter dinners in Auckland and Wellington during early August. Both events were well attended and very convivial, and greatly enjoyed by all who attended.

I must thank Actuaries Institute President, Daniel Smith, and CEO, David Bell, for taking the time out of their busy schedules to visit us in Auckland and Wellington and join us as special guests at our winter dinners. It was great to have Daniel and David share their thoughts on the challenges they face and the initiatives they have undertaken. We share many common challenges and possibilities.

Of course many within the NZSA are members of the Actuaries Institute so it was important to Daniel and David that they had an opportunity to say “hello” to their members. In particular I was delighted that the President was able to present a recently qualified Fellow, Anita Samu, with her qualification in person.

Whilst Daniel and David were here we took the opportunity to visit the Reserve Bank to talk about trans-Tasman insurance regulations. We also met with academic staff at Victoria University, as they launch their inaugural Actuarial Science major. Both meetings were very useful to all concerned.

It is worth noting that the Actuaries Institute has resources the New Zealand profession cannot bring to bear alone, or at all. We are very grateful at the investment the Institute made in bringing the Australasia CPD Tour to New Zealand. I greatly enjoyed the afternoon myself and have received very positive feedback about it from others.

I also enjoyed the Young Actuarial Professionals, or “YAP”, lunches in both Auckland and Wellington. The Actuaries Institute regularly holds YAP events and was keen to make sure our younger members got involved during their New Zealand visit. The events were well attended in both Auckland and Wellington, and they look to be something we can support again in future.

Also CPD, but of a different kind, the Appointed Actuaries’ workshop in Auckland in September was another excellent opportunity for our members to meet, talk and discuss common challenges. My special thanks go to the organising committee of Marcelo Lardies, Brian Lenehan and Gae Robinson for putting together a thought-provoking and well run day. Many thanks, too, to all of the speakers who ultimately made the day the success it was.

The year is not over yet, of course, and the coming highlight must surely be the Society’s biennial actuarial conference, in Dunedin, in less than a month’s time. The organising committee is busy with final details and presenters will no doubt be finishing their papers! Registrations are exceeding expectations. It looks like it will be a superb event.

This will also be the end of my two years as President and, looking back, it has been a busy time for actuaries but with many opportunities. The opportunities have been created not just from new insurance regulation but from increased awareness about the importance of risk, post-GFC and

Paul Rhodes, President

Richard Beauchamp, Vice-President

the Canterbury earthquakes. We also have opportunities wherever long term planning and analytics coincide, like that done by the actuarial team at the Ministry of Social Development.

New Zealand’s actuarial profession is well placed to keep up this momentum. We have a great pipeline of young talented actuaries, but we need to maintain this by continuing to employ the best talent from our universities. Initiatives like Victoria University’s Actuarial Science programme will help boost our profile with students and give them a head start with the skills needed in our profession.

I look forward to catching up with you in Dunedin.

All the very best Paul

NZSA President Paul Rhodes and Actuaries Institute President Daniel Smith




News from CouncilElections and AGMNominations for President and three positions on Council closed at 5:00pm on Wednesday 22 October. Exactly the required number of nominations were received, so an election was not necessary

Congratulations to Richard Beauchamp, who will take the reigns as President of the Society from the AGM. Andrea Gluyas remains on Council for a further two year term, and Jonathan Nicholls (Wellington) and Greg Bird (Auckland) are joining as new members of Council.

The AGM will be held in Dunedin at the beginning of the biennial conference on Wednesday 17 November.

Website reviewThe website upgrade is finally underway, thanks to the experience and support we have accessed from website expert Jackie at ONZL (our Secretariat provider). This is further evidence that the move to a professional secretarial firm has been a good choice.

Ben Coulter (on behalf of the External Relations Committee) is leading a working party to review the content and structure, and we are in the process of signing a contract

with Auckland based firm Websites Made Easy for the design, construction and hosting. The website will be built in WordPress, an open source content management system, and will include member management, keyword search and much awaited online event registration and payment. We are planning for Ben to present on the new website at the AGM.

Proposed rule changesCouncil is proposing a motion to change the Society’s rules at the AGM. The rule changes cover three areas:

• clarificationoftheroleoftheSecretariat(asopposed to the Secretary)

• an amendment to allow voting to beconducted by electronic means (as opposed to solely postal voting at present)

• introductionofanewclassofmembership“Retired Fellow”, signified FNZSA (Rtd). This will have a reduced membership fee, no CPD requirements and no requirement to belong to an overseas actuarial body, but is only granted by application to Council. There would also be an analogous ANZSA (Rtd) category.

The proposed new rules will be circulated with the AGM papers.

New Zealand first BSc and BComm majoring in Actuarial ScienceEnrolments are now open for New Zealand’s first major in Actuarial Science, starting in 2015. Victoria University of Wellington is offering the major for either a Bachelor of Science or a Bachelor of Commerce. This not only attracts a wider group of potential candidates, but it also allows them to combine the major with other interests such as Economics, Finance and Accounting or Computer Science, Mathematics or Statistics. It’s planned that the courses making up the major will cover sufficient material to gain up to six exemptions from the CT examinations. Primarily these come from existing courses in Accountancy, Economics, Mathematics, Finance and Statistics, with the addition of a 300 level capstone actuarial studies paper on contingencies.

So, do you have any questions?Our biennial membership survey will be circulated later this month,

with the results also presented at the AGM. If you have any suggestions

for questions or topics to be included, please email Andrea Gluyas

[email protected].




Update from Committees General insurance practice committeeThe review of PS4 has been completed and has been passed on by the Professional Standards Committee to Council. Following a successful review by Council, the new Standard will be published.

The solvency catastrophe charge working group has been continuing to assess alternatives to the current solvency standard.

The group is currently preparing a paper that will outline options for determining the catastrophe charge and will be presenting this paper at the upcoming biennial conference.

The GI Committee assisted with feedback provided to the RBNZ on their Insurer data collection proposal that will be included in the NZSA’s submission. Feedback is now being collated on the RBNZ’s proposed amendments to the Solvency Standards.

Life Insurance CommitteeThe Life Insurance Committee is continuing with a review of PS3 to ensure it meets current

practice requirements. Thank you to those members who have provided feedback on the current Standard. It is now anticipated that a draft of the revised Standard will be circulated to members for feedback before the end of the year.

Other activity has centred on submissions on behalf of the Society on various RBNZ consultation papers:

• Submission to theRBNZon theSolvencyStandards Re-issue (in progress – submission due 3 November)

• SubmissiontotheRBNZontheProposedCollection of NZ Insurer Data (available on the Publications page of the website)

• Submission to the RBNZ on SolvencyRequirements for Variable Annuities (available on the Publications page of the website)

The Life Insurance Committee facilitated a life insurance break-out session at the recent Appointed Actuaries’ workshop. We hope members found the discussion with their fellow practitioners interesting and useful.

NZSA Conference 2014

Early bird registrations are now closed, with well over 100 attendees already confirmed. It’s not too late to book your place.

The Conference Committee has done a great job at securing some fascinating keynote speakers, along with the presentations from our own members.

When planning your travel, note that the conference finishes at 11am on Saturday morning.

Committee changesRetirement Incomes Interest Group

Christine Ormrod has now taken over from David Benison as convenor.

Events Committee

Adam Follington has been appointed convenor for a two year term, replacing Anita Samu. Jenn Bonnett and Catherine Edgar join the committee, replacing Anita and Amanda Hillock.

External Relations

Ben Coulter is now convenor, replacing Andrea Gluyas, who remains on the committee.

Retirement Incomes Interest GroupThe group is preparing a paper entitled “Income Streaming in Retirement: Options for New Zealanders”. This will be presented both at the NZSA conference, and for those not attending the conference, at the University of Auckland’s Retirement Policy and Research Centre Decumulation Forum in Auckland the same week.

The Group has also arranged a meeting with the Retirement Commissioner to exchange views.

Are you studying ST9?The Enterprise Risk Management Committee is offering ST9 students the opportunity to discuss ST9 topics with CERA-qualified members. If you are currently sitting ST9 and if you have any questions on the course material, please get in touch with Greg Bird, Convenor of the ERM Committee ([email protected]).




Event report

Actuaries Institute CPD Tour – Matthew Michalewicz – Maximise your ContributionAugust saw the Australian Actuaries Institute bring its annual CPD Tour to New Zealand for the first time. This was a great opportunity for members to undertake some personal development targeted specifically at our profession by someone who has experience dealing with our unique personalities.

The presenter was Matthew Michalewicz, born in Poland, raised in New Zealand and the USA and now resident in Adelaide. Matthew is a self-made man, an entrepreneur who has set up and sold several multi-million dollar companies, and who is also a motivational speaker and author of several books.

Matthew’s presentation style was fun and full of anecdotes of his amazing life (eg using his Polish heritage to persuade Lech Walesa to agree to join the board of one of his early companies).

Matthew posed the question – have we ever set goals and wondered why we lost interest in achieving them? He then talked us through the importance of setting goals you are in love with, and believing you can achieve them, even if you have to break them down into very small chunks to see your way to meeting them. He also recommended sharing your goals with friends, who will support you in achieving them. ”Ask what needs to happen for me to get to this goal. Belief leads to action, which leads to results. Let desire be a filter for your career goals,” he said.

Love was also in the air for the second part of Matthew’s presentation, on the topic of your personal brand. Matthew asked us to think about

what we are passionate about. Our actions affect our reputation, and our beliefs and values affect our actions. Visibility and credibility also affect our personal brands. Be seen and be experienced and knowledgeable about the things that matter to you. For example, improve your qualifications, write and present a paper, get on a board or committee – all of these enhance your personal brand.

In the final section, Matthew challenged us to maximise our value and contribution by becoming a “Business Actuary” – someone who knows about their company and their industry, not just their own area of specialisation. Get out and spend time with people in the other parts of your business, learn about their roles and challenges and opportunities. You could even challenge yourself to meet someone new each week.

The workshop was followed by drinks, and then the Mid- Winter Dinners in Auckland at the Northern Club and in Wellington at Trade Kitchen.

Young Actuaries Programme (YAP) LunchesAs part of the New Zealand leg of the Australia CPD Tour, there were lunches for younger members in both Auckland and Wellington, hosted by NZSA president Paul Rhodes, Australian Actuaries Institute President Daniel Smith and their CEO David Bell. There were a number of good discussions around the room on serious issues like education, to less serious issues like David’s previous life in the army. It was a great opportunity for members to meet the leaders of their profession in a casual setting and network with other members.

Members enjoying the Wellington mid-winter dinner.




Event report

Appointed Actuaries Workshop by Brian Lenehan

Benefit the shareholders and the customersThere was a packed room of actuaries, RBNZ representatives and other insurance industry participants at the Novotel Auckland on Friday 19 September, when John Smeed welcomed participants to the 2014 Workshop for Appointed and Senior Actuaries.

In recent years we have seen the development of a new regulatory framework based on the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act. The workshop provided a useful forum to review progress, discuss issues and consider the interaction between the regulator (RBNZ), directors, CROs and Appointed Actuaries with the long term goal of benefitting customers and shareholders.

Charles Hett and Adam Follington started the day off at a strong pace with their survey of IPSA implementation. This was followed by a very interactive panel discussion managed by John Smeed, where two Appointed Actuaries (Doune Connett and Craig Lough), James Painter of RBNZ and a non-executive director (Mark Todd) shared their expertise with the audience.

One wonders why actuaries have a tendency for self-deprecation of their communication skills. The myth of the actuary as a poor communicator was dispelled in the very articulate session by Nina Herries, Richard Johnson and Robert Cole of RBNZ who spoke about the FCR.

The final session before lunch saw an experienced CRO, insurance executive and lawyer (Nigel Edmiston) providing a lively talk about the role of the CRO. Nigel was pleasantly surprised that most of

the audience were aware that a murder was the collective noun for crows and he did have a few ideas for a collective name for actuaries.

There was little chance of a post-lunch slumber as the attendees split into the general insurance and life insurance cohorts for sessions with the respective committees. The Life Committee led a discussion of new solvency standards and the GI Committee spoke about matters such as the cat charge (supported by Tim Andrews from Australia).

It was pleasing to have several visitors from Australia and the next session allowed them to share their experience, with Tim Andrews leading a discussion on lessons from Australia.

The fast-paced day continued with NZ lawyer Michael Burrowes speaking on professional challenges, followed by Felicity Barker of RBNZ discussing regulatory trends. Felicity is an economist by training and she posed some interesting strategic questions and comments about value.

John Smith closed the day on behalf of the NZSA and led the charge to the bar. The day had covered a wide range of topics and this generated some early evening discussion. The pace of regulatory change has been rapid and, while many actuaries have been busy dealing with the current, the workshop gave an opportunity to think about the future and how what we do impacts on shareholders and customers.

Many thanks to all the speakers, the RBNZ for their support and Marcelo Lardies for co-organising the event. Feedback has been very positive.

Nigel Edmiston

Charles Hett

Tim Andrews Craig Lough

Mark ToddMichael Burrowes

Adam Follington




Members’ NewsNewly qualified Fellow

Andrew MiramsAndrew has worked for Melville Jessup Weaver in Auckland since the end of 2009. He initially began working in the asset consulting area of MJW, however subsequently moved into the general insurance practice.

Following a brief break from study, he passed his last actuarial exam in February 2014. Andrew is now looking forward to having more spare time to spend on travelling and renovating his house.

New members and changes of membership class Welcome and/or congratulations to the following:

FEllOws:

Andrew Mirams – Melville Jessup WeaverRichard Yee – Ernst & YoungMaiyuran Arumugam – Ernst & Young

AssOCIATEs:

Samuel Segal – ACCIsabella Hou – Vero Insurance NZ

sTudEnTs:

Jesse Eedrah – ACCAndrew Curtin – IAG NZSpencer Enesa – MCA NZ Ltd

Thanks to our contributors...

Thanks to this month’s contributors: Brian lenehan and Cordelia Chen.

If you have any thoughts on a newsworthy item for next year or feedback on this year’s newsletters, please contact the editor, Andrea Gluyas [email protected].

Thanks for reading

OUR CONTACT DETAILS:

New Zealand Society of ActuariesPO Box 10087, WellingtonPhone 04 815 8179

Email address:

[email protected].

CHRISTMAS LUNCH

You may not be ready to think about it as yet, but it’s less than two months until

Christmas.

Look out for your invite to our Christmas lunches in Auckland and Wellington.

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New Zealand Society Of PRESIDENT’S ... - actuaries · Appointed Actuaries’ workshop. We hope members found the discussion with their fellow practitioners interesting and useful