IAI keen on skilling students in actuarial profession

A senior government official said that once the India's insurance behemoth LIC is listed, the majority of business in the sector will be with the listed entities which currently comprise two from non-life and three from life insurance segments.

The listed insurers at present include SBI Life, HDFC Life and ICICI Pru whereas in the non-life segment, the listed entities include ICICI Lombard and New India. LIC is under the process of getting listed. "Once the proposed listing of LIC happens, about 60 per cent of the insurance industry business would be with listed entities. The sector as a whole has been growing at a pace significantly higher than that of the overall economy," said Amit Agrawal, additional secretary, finance ministry, while addressing actuaries virtually on Actuaries Day (August 21).

While the professional community has indeed done well and earned the respect of those it serves, there is need to recognise that we stand today at a critical juncture in two important ways. First, the need to better assess and manage risk has perhaps never been as acutely felt

around the globe. Secondly, an emerging Indian economy and maturing insurance sector are experiencing fundamental changes that underscore new needs, he said. In the development of the new solutions needed by this emerging India and its maturing insurance sector, actuarial sciences and the actuarial profession have a key role to play, he said. Agrawal spoke about five needs in his speech. He said that the first need is to anticipate the introduction in India of new, globally proven products and services. To give an example, value added services are a new horizon for the insurance sector. While the Indian Insurance Act (IIA) currently defines insurance only in terms of various forms of insurance, the actuarial profession in India needs to anticipate a time when such services based on globally validated models may be offered in India as well. The science and the associated knowledge for this should be available with the practitioners and students, so that they are well placed not only to contribute for provision of such services when the time comes but also to help identify models and opportunities to devise solutions that meet India's needs better, he said. In its bid to connect with students, Institute of Actuaries of India (IAI) is currently working on National Actuarial Olympiad. National Actuarial Olympiad is the new vision of Subhendu Bal, President of Institute of Actuaries of India. Building IAI 2.0, to service Generation Z and up-skilling Actuaries to contribute in making India a back-office of the world is his another vision.

"One of the areas we are working is to increase awareness about actuarial profession among the public and specifically to the students. In this regard, we are assessing ways to create National Actuarial Olympiad, which will help us connect with the students at the time when they are on the verge of taking a crucial decision about their career," said Subhendu Bal, President of Institute of Actuaries of India.

Bal addressed to the students, members of the profession and other participants about the initiatives and activities which were in place or in planning in the near future as a part of the development of the actuarial profession. IAI President appreciated the efforts taken by Goonj foundation for their significant contributions in fight against Covid 19. As a token of appreciation, Institute felicitated Anshu Gupta, founder, Goonj for their extraordinary work.

"We have been consistently working towards increasing awareness among different stakeholders including the Government," he said.

IAI has signed an MoU with National Health Authority constituted for implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). It has also signed MoU with India Insurtech Association for interfacing with policymakers and other bodies, to facilitate IAI student members to get exposure to Insurtech through internship & assignments and any mutual collaboration.

According to Bal, as a part of establishing thought leadership, Actuarial Profession is committed to play a leadership role in implementation of IND AS 117 standard for insurers in India.

He went on, "We are committed to making positive contributions to support a successful transition of accounting standards. In this regard, we have provided training on IFRS 17 to National Financial reporting Authority (NFRA) and Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI)."