With 2014 just around the corner, the CAS wants to know which stories you think made the greatest impact on the actuarial profession in 2013. The stories you choose are totally up to you, and can range from national and international news to CAS news stories. Some of the stories of 2013 are:
- West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion
- The U.S. Affordable Care Act
- Syria’s civil war and chemical weapons use
- Implementation efforts of the CAS Strategic Plan
- The U.S. government shutdown
- Moore, Oklahoma tornado
- Colorado floods
Please send an email to ar@casact.org or leave a comment in the section below telling us the story or stories you think had the most impact on to the actuarial profession in 2013. Within your comment, please write a brief description and include a URL, if available, to explain your decision. We will use your comments to help create a survey to poll CAS members on the top 10 news stories of 2013.
The survey will be explained and distributed in a link in an upcoming blog post. Once the survey is completed we will report the final top 10 results in the 2014 January/February issue of the Actuarial Review.
We look forward to reading all of your suggestions. Thank you for your participation!
I have two suggestions, first the continuing advance of autonomous vehicle has real significance for the insurance industry and actuarial professions. Although it is technically a 2012 story, HLDI released data showing substantial benefits from collision prevention technology
Second story, is the release of the new flood zone maps and the substantial changes in flood related premium.
Agree with the NFIP changes having a significant impact, including a new participant in the voluntary market for flood insurance.
I would also think that the changes in Exam philosophy to utilize Bloom’s Taxonomy as a means of evaluating Exam quality (in terms of the types of questions asked) and candidate’s preparedness for work in the industry has seen its first full year of implementation in the CAS-specific Exams. What’s the effect and outlook of this initiative?
One topic that has been a major story in 2013, although perhaps not an actuarial story yet, is that of cybersecurity. In this year alone we have seen stories about:
– the results of various cyberterror activities performed by groups like Anonymous or the Syrian Electronic Army
– CryptoLocker, an insidious piece of malware that uses (mathematically) unbreakable encryption
– The revelations of Edward Snowden – both the fact that it happened and the content that is slowly being released
– The voluntary shutting of a number of privacy-related services in the US due to increased government demands for information
– Any number of password thefts, most recently,that of 30+ million Adobe users
As we live in a world where information is more and more becoming currency, and large amounts of our “private” data is being stored online (whether intentionally among younger people living their lives in online social networks or unintentionally as a fallout from Healthcare Reform or online commerce), potential failures and losses are increasing quickly. We already have nascent cyber policies and coverages, but in the very near future I believe there will be the need for more coverages such as:
– indemnification of a company in case of release of private information
– personal coverage against identity theft and privacy violations and the fallout that it may entail
– business interruption coverage due to accidental or intentional cyber attacks (Duqu, Stuxnet, etc.)
– liability coverage for the same (imagine a malware package that overloads our decrepit electrical grid causing large-scale outbreaks of electrocutions)
One story is the decision of the IAIS to develop a global capital standard for insurers. (Wednesday, 9 October 2013 press release).
Agree with earlier post about self-driving cars being a big story.
Another story is the issuance by the FASB and IASB of insurance accounting exposure drafts, both of which would require discounting of property/casualty claim liabilities.
Another story is the continuing delay in Solvency II, with a new expected effective date of 1/1/2016, but with earlier implementation of Pillar 2 impacts (such as ORSA expected).
Taking more care of the overseas market, I recommend a piece of news that China Re released the first batch of Exposure Curves for China’s P&C market including that of heavy industrial risks, light industrial, common commercial and storage risks.
Haiyan and November tornadoes in the midwest would be good additions to the list — there are already some great suggestions ahead of these.