Chairman’s Message

The global financial crisis (GFC) initiated from the West has come and arguably gone.  The impact is however still pretty much felt and at play globally and here in East Asia.  As actuaries we are operating in an increasingly uncertain environment post GFC.

The financial industry has learned much from the crisis and we have seen many evolutions.  On the regulatory and reporting front, the pending implementation of Solvency II and the introduction of IFRS 4 Phase 2 have no doubt kept the actuarial profession busy.  The increasing uncertainty in the market has also called for the need for more robust risk management.  The actuarial profession has responded with a global risk management qualification CERA but will no doubt face the challenges in establishing its dominance in the risk management sphere.  The insurance industry landscape has changed especially in East Asia with the increasing importance of Takaful, the increasing number of Takaful players and a huge Muslim population in the region with huge untapped potential.

The actuarial profession prides itself with its skills in making financial sense out of uncertainty. With the speed of changes and developments taking place around us, it is an opportune time for the profession to face these coming times with zeal.  The 16th East Asian Actuarial Conference (16th EAAC) is a timely occasion for meeting of minds, for actuaries to venture into the uncertain environment and capitalize by capturing the opportunities.

And so, we arrived at “Venture into Uncertainty, Capture Opportunities!” as the theme of the 16th EAAC.  The theme is a call for actions by the profession, to take the initiative of venturing beyond our traditional comfort zone and into wider areas where our actuarial skills can be put to use.  The opportunities are definitely aplenty out there for us to capture.

We look forward to your active participation in the conference in helping the profession in achieving this noble objective!