ASTIN

Den Danske ASTIN Forening, The Danish ASTIN society

Chair:  Sarah Kæstel-Bjerg

The Danish ASTIN Society was established in 1995 as a subdivision of the Danish Society of Actuaries. The association's purpose is equivalent to the International ASTIN Association, thus contributing to spreading knowledge about the use of actuarial methods in non-life insurance.

In Denmark, we feel a specific connection to the International ASTIN Association and the creation of it, since the Dane Paul Johansen was one of the original founders and the first chairperson. Denmark still has a tradition of having an actuary on the ASTIN board and a lot of members. Actually, despite being a small country, the Danish Actuaries currently form the largest group of members within ASTIN.

The local Danish ASTIN chapter is also quite successful. It has evolved from being a small subdivision of the Actuarial Society to having more than half of the Danish qualified actuaries as members.

The local association's activities typically consist of two all-day events each year, where various interesting topics related to the non-life insurance business are discussed. The aim is to present agendas that include a mixture of current hot topics in the industry and more theoretical talks. We also try to inspire participants with presentations about new areas, they do not work within their day to day job, but which nevertheless impact their assignments. At our events, we also place great emphasis on the possibilities of networking, which keeps people coming back and not wanting to miss out.

The events, which are called “ASTIN-days” are normally attended by more than 100 actuaries, which is a significant proportion of the number of Danish actuaries working on general insurance.

In addition to the biannual events, the association organizes study groups on relevant topics in non-life insurance and contributes to the planning of further training of non-life insurance actuaries through cooperation with the education committee within the Danish Actuarial Society.

The Board of the Danish ASTIN society is elected for one year at a time at the annual meeting, which is held together with the spring ASTIN-day. When the board is constituted, the emphasis is placed on a balance between practitioners and members with a more theoretical background, and on members being active within the actuarial society both locally and internationally. The latter is important to keep Danish ASTIN at the forefront of the newest developments within the actuarial field and to be able to attract interesting speakers from abroad via personal network.

Kirsten Sasady is the current chairperson and has been since 2015.

DAV ASTIN, The German ASTIN Group

Chair: Professor Viktor Sandor and Roland Voggenauer

Celebrating our 40th anniversary in 2019 we take pride in saying:

„Non-life is our life“¹

The German ASTIN group was founded in 1979 by Professor Elmar Helten and Jürgen Strauss who later also became chairman of the international ASTIN section.

It is fair to say the group was a “spin-off” of the German Society of Insurance Mathematics (now DGVFM), hence the initial vision was clearly aimed at “scientificating” the non-life industry, or - to put in the words of the founders: “to formulate quantitative problems in non-life insurance in a mathematical fashion by using and testing theoretical models, and to support the collaboration of mathematicians in Germany as well as in international circles”.

Consequently, the group has always had two co-leads to cover both the academic and the practical perspectives. Bringing these dimensions together remains our vision still today.

By 1991 the group had grown to around 80 regular participants when Thomas Mack and Professor Christian Hipp took over the lead. They were also instrumental in establishing a professional educational system for actuarial practitioners in the 90ies, and it was under their patronage that the German ASTIN group became home for most mathematicians working in the non-life industry.

After close to 20 years, in 2009, Thomas Mack and Christian Hipp handed over to Roland Voggenauer and Professor Dietmar Pfeifer, thus continuing the tradition of dual leadership.

It was then that we introduced a formal German ASTIN committee consisting of esteemed colleagues from the industry covering all areas of actuarial expertise. The purpose of this was and is to ensure the practical relevance of identified topics and to connect to other actuarial bodies and groups, such as the official non-life committee within the German Association of Actuaries (DAV) and other ASTIN groups, specifically to our Swiss sister group.

When Dietmar Pfeifer retired in 2014 he was replaced by Professor Viktor Sandor who has since then been the co-lead together with Roland Voggenauer.

In the most recent years the size of the group has grown considerably to well over 200 regular participants. Our main activities consist of holding two full day meetings a year, one in the spring, embedded in the annual general meeting of the DAV around Gauss` birthday, the other one in early November in parallel to all other section meetings. In 2020 we are hosting the 78th meeting of German ASTIN.

Other than that we are heavily involved in all ASTIN related domestic and international activities of the DAV. For example, as early as 1983 we organized the ASTIN colloquium in Lindau, and in 2003 the same conference in Berlin; and of course we helped organize the ICA in Berlin in 2018.

As we generally work alongside the DAV, news about us can be found on their website (www.aktuar.de).

Last but not least, we are proud that two representatives of our group have been awarded the Hachemeister prize for an ASTIN paper with impact to US actuaries, namely Thomas Mack in 1994 and 2009, and Michael Fackler in 2014.

1A slightly amended quote by Th. Mack

ISOA, ITALIAN ASTIN Local Chapter

Chair: Giampaolo Crenca and Giovanni Sammartini

The Italian ASTIN Chapter has been founded in 2019, its initiative starting with the Seminar held together (ASTIN/ISOA) in Milan - spring 2019.

ISOA is an Association established in Via delle Milizie 1, Rome. The founders were Istituto Italiano degli Attuari (scientific actuarial body) and the Actuarial National Board, public body that holds the official register (Albo) and chairs all the “Ordine degli Attuari” (Ordine) recognized by the law since 1942, responsible of the actuarial profession in Italy.

ISOA is the Italian representative of the Italian ASTIN Chapter: it is the vehicle through which all the international activities and relationships pass and includes all the Italian Fully Qualified Actuaries enrolled in the register (Albo), according to the law of 1942 and under the supervision of the Ordine, as provided by the law, managed by the Actuarial National Board chaired by Giampaolo Crenca who is also the Chairman of ISOA.

Giampaolo Crenca and Giovanni Sammartini are the leaders of the group. Giovanni Sammartini is the coordinator of the non-life insurance committee inside the Ordine since many years. The members of this committee are Fully Qualified Actuaries enrolled in the official register who have a great experience in different fields of non-life insurance, sector that in the last 15/20 years developed very much and thanks also to Solvency 2 continues to develop in all its aspects.

ISOA is particularly supported by the National Actuarial Board and the organization of the Ordine which    includes many  Committees and Working Groups.

Moreover, inside Ordine, a Scientific Committee is very active, and it is another important support.

The Italian non-life insurance market has increased very much in the last 15/20 years from the actuarial point of view, particularly about pricing, reserving and solvency 2.

The Actuarial Technique in general insurance is a very important matter in the Universities and it is included in the state exam in order to be enrolled in the Albo and to be named “Attuario”, that is to become “Fully Qualified Actuary”.

The Japanese ASTIN Chapter

Chair:  Miyuki Ebisaki and Shigeo Watanabe

The Japanese ASTIN Chapter was formed in 2020 by volunteers of the ASTIN related study group of the Institute of Actuaries of Japan (IAJ), in order to strengthen the ties within the ASTIN community.
The Japanese ASTIN Chapter’s role follows ASTIN’s main one, which is to lead risk and actuarial professionals serving the non-life insurance industry globally by;

• Creating an environment that promotes continuing professional development among its members; and,
• Bridging the gap between academia and industry by driving innovation and fostering meaningful high-quality research in the field of non-life insurance economics and mathematics and their applications in quantitative risk management.

 In 2019, the IAJ celebrated its 120th anniversary. During the annual meeting, we had Joint ASTIN / Casualty Actuarial Society Seminar with the contribution of the ASTIN board members. There had been few occasions to have such rich lectures of current topics such as data science, cyber risks, insurance ERM and solvency, delivered by selected international lecturers. This memorial event led to the formation of the Japanese ASTIN Chapter. This will enhance communication and exchange of knowledge with international ASTIN community, and also motivate us to present our ideas globally.

All the committee members of the Japanese ASTIN Chapter including two chairs are also the members of the ASTIN related study group of the IAJ. In addition, the leader of the study group takes the role of the chair of the Japanese ASTIN Chapter. The Japanese ASTIN Chapter collaborates with the study group in most of its activities. 

The ASTIN related study group was found in 1986, in order to promote the actuarial research and study in non-life insurance. Currently, there are approximately 40 members in the study group. The activities include introduction of the papers in ASTIN Bulletin to the IAJ members, and presentation of their own studies both in the domestic meetings such as the IAJ’s annual meetings, and international congress such as ASTIN Colloquia. In the early days, the study group had focus on non-life actuarial studies, however, it expanded its activities into life insurance and financial areas. In recent years, the study group is enthusiastically working on predictive modelling.

ICA 2026 will be held in Tokyo. We are looking forward to thousands of actuaries to coming for the international event that happens for the first time in 50 years.

ARBEITSGRUPPE ASTIN, Swiss Association of Actuaries

Chair: René Dahms

The Swiss ASTIN chapter (called “Arbeitsgruppe ASTIN”) has been founded on October 15, 1967, by the General Assembly of the Swiss Association of Actuaries in Bern. Its initiative went back to Prof. Dr. Hans Ammeter who intended to make the annual meeting of the Swiss Association of Actuaries more attractive to its members. At that time, the Swiss Association of Actuaries was already having two working parties, one on Personal Insurance and one on Data Processing. The foundation of the Swiss ASTIN chapter then formed the third working party of the association. Its first chair was Prof. Dr. Hans Bühlmann. Since its foundation in 1967 the Swiss ASTIN chapter has been organizing scientific sessions every year during the annual meeting of the association.

The Swiss ASTIN chapter has become a very flourishing working party on the scientific side, on the educational side and also on the professional side. It has been (co-)organizing and hosting several international conferences:

• ASTIN Colloquium 1965 in Lucerne (slightly before its foundation)
• International Congress of Actuaries 1980 in Zurich and Lausanne
• ASTIN Colloquium 1990 in Montreux
• ASTIN and AFIR Colloquia 2005 in Zurich
• Insurance Data Science Conference 2019 in Zurich

Many prominent members have been driving the activities of the Swiss ASTIN chapter, among them are Prof. Dr. Hans Bühlmann, Prof. Dr. Josef Kupper, Prof. Dr. Hans Ammeter, Prof. Dr. Erwin Straub, Dr. Fritz Bichsel, Prof. Dr. Marc-Henri Amsler, Prof.

Dr. Hans-Ulrich Gerber, Prof. Dr. Paul Embrechts, Prof. Dr. Alois Gisler, Prof. Dr. André Dubey, Dr. Hans Schmitter, Peter Diethelm and Dr. Benedetto Conti.

There have been many influential contributions by members of the Swiss ASTIN chapter in many fields of actuarial science. The Swiss ASTIN chapter has formed the foundation of experience rating and credibility theory (Bühlmann, Straub, Bichsel and Gisler), it has played a fundamental role in the development of collective risk theory (Bühlmann, Gerber), and their members have written fundamental essays in the fields of reinsurance, claims reserving, solvency, quantitative risk management and market- consistent valuation. Many of these developments have been published in the Swiss actuarial journal “Mitteilungen der Vereinigung Schweizerischer Versicherungsmathematiker” and in the international actuarial journal “ASTIN Bulletin”.

A small anecdote is the development of the new tariff in 1970 for fire insurance in Switzerland. The working party aimed at developing a risk-based tariff accounting for differences between the different policies. Since data had been scarce the working party derived a new tariff based on the methodology of credibility theory. At that time

the tariffs had to be approved by the Swiss national regulator. This regulator came, after a careful consideration, to the conclusion that the newly structured tariff was very “sophisticated”, however, it preferred a simpler method which required less mathematical skills.

Another story of success of the Swiss ASTIN chapter is that it has been a regular host of ASTIN Bulletin – The Journal of the International Actuarial Association, which appeared for its first time in December 1958. We have chaired ASTIN Bulletin as Editor-in-Chief as follows:

• Dr. Hans Ammeter (1960-1965)
• Dr. Hans Bühlmann (1985-1995)
• Dr. Paul Embrechts (1995-2005)
• Dr. Mario Wüthrich (since 2018)

Going forward, our aim is to support the actuarial profession in all new (and present) developments. Currently, we have a strong focus on insurance data science and on the integration of computational and algorithmic methods into our profession. We therefore strongly engage in data science projects such as the newly founded Actuarial Data Science working party of the Swiss Association of Actuaries, for more information we refer to www.actuarialdatascience.org. Moreover, we are strongly involved in the development of the international actuarial syllabus, and we engage in international conferences.

Fully in the spirit of Prof. Dr. Hans Ammeter, we continue to organize the scientific part of the annual meeting of the Swiss Association of Actuaries. The list of prominent speakers includes Jan Jung, Gunnar Benktander, Jean Lemaire, Karl Borch, Bruno De Finetti, Christian Hipp, William Jewell, Ragnar Norberg, Phelim Boyle, Marc Goovaerts, and it continues to grow every year. These days, the scientific part of our annual meeting attracts every year more than 200 people. The presentations are given by local and international academics and practitioners and cover topics such as non-life insurance pricing, claims reserving, insurance data science or telematics car driving data.

Chairs of the Swiss ASTIN chapter:

• Dr. Hans Bühlmann (1967-1970)
• Dr. Josef Kupper (1971-1979)
• Fritz Bichsel (1979-1985)
• Dr. Hans-Ulrich Gerber (1985-1989)
• Dr. André Dubey (1989-2004)
• Hans Peter Boller (2004-2009)
• Benedetto Conti (2010-2015)
• Dr. Mario Wüthrich (since 2016)

Chair:  Giorgi Abashidze, Gayane Arsenyan and Dilara Asadova

The Caucasus regional ASTIN chapter has been founded on October 17-18, 2019, by the inaugural meeting of ‘ASTIN Caucasus’ followed by the first regional ASTIN conference in Tbilisi/Georgia. The event was attended by 40 participants from the region. It was a historical event for non-life actuaries in the Caucasus region. The founders of the chapter are the young actuarial associations: Actuarial Association of Azerbaijan, Association of Actuaries and Financial Analysts of Georgia (AAFA) and Actuarial Society of Armenia.

The new local chapter of ASTIN will serve as the main forum for the non-life actuarial community in the region with relatively recently founded but rapidly developing insurance markets. Going forward, the Caucasus chapter’s aim is to ensure regular actuarial professional exchange, to promote research and continuing professional development through holding regular meetings, conferences, workshops and training.

Currently, we have a strong focus on fields of claims reserving, risk-based pricing, reinsurance, solvency and quantitative risk management.