Technology Section 2007 Accomplishments

Transcription

1 Technology Section 2007 Accomplishments Review of Goals Membership Networking Information Sharing Publications Professional Education Research 1

2 Membership Our numbers are slightly down from last year Retention is 83% Down 83 members (1493 to 1410) Previous year, lost 116 members We have identified some strategies to counteract the continued decline Actively recruit non-actuaries in IT roles in insurance companies Recruit non-soa actuaries Maintain membership by having database of engaged section members Networking Goal is to provide more situations where likeminded Technology Section members can share information Social events pursued at Spring meetings and LTC meeting Free Lunch at annual meeting Engagement we recruited 5 quality candidates for Council elections 2

3 Information Sharing A collaboration portal has been set up, and subcommittees of the Technology section have begun to use it (Kevin) With the SOA website redesign, a review of the Technology content was required and updates have been made (Dean) Reached out to other sections for ideas: Taxation section s work on syllabus updates Marketing & Distribution s expert database Publications For the second consecutive year, we ve published 4 newsletters (Shyamal) We had a best article contest Tech updates were published in Dec, Feb, May, July Our 7 th speculative fiction contest was held, with continued great participation (Gary Lange) 3

4 Professional Education Our first webinar was successfully held topic was Record Linkage (Van) Education Subcommittee formed to evaluate formal education requirements on the subject of Technology (Shiela Silva and Carol Marlor charter members) Spring meetings (Tim), LTC meeting (Kevin), and Annual meeting (David) had technology sponsored sessions Research A standard format is being created for Scenario sets used in actuarial work (Steve Strommen) The Rate Manager tool is getting a fresh review and a plan for ongoing maintenance will be put in place (Joe) The SOA membership was surveyed to understand the technology needs of actuaries (Carl) 4

5 SOA Activities With the establishment of financial guidelines for all sections, the Technology Section put together a budget for 2007 The meeting sessions we ve created are aligning with the Value Ladder concept CPD requirements for SOA members will encourage some actuaries to pursue more technology education Parting Words as Chair So much talent and interest in contributing to the section many people are just waiting to be asked Take advantage of leadership events sponsored by the SOA Section Chairs meetings have been most rewarding participate while Vice Chair if possible Don t lose momentum. Thanks to Phil for jumpstarting the section last year 5

6 Parting Words as Chair (cont.) My personal goals for the year: Stay engaged in the Section Enroll every person on the chair, actively leading some activity for the section Engage additional section members, beyond the Council, in committee work My hopes: The Technology Section becomes an integral part of the SOA. If we stopped what we re doing, will anyone notice? I hope the answer becomes a stronger YES 6

7 Insurance and Actuarial Advisory Business Intelligence For Actuaries Click to edit Master title style Steve Goren and Tim Pauza SOA 2007 Annual Meeting - Washington, D.C. October 14-17, Agenda Introduction Why Business Intelligence is Important Audience Survey Business Intelligence Defined Key Business and Organizational Challenges Business Intelligence Making it Happen Team and Approach Establishing an Infrastructure Repositories Presentation Tools Applications Discussion 1

8 Audience Survey Show of hands How many in the room are familiar with the concept of Business Intelligence (BI)? How many of you are actively involved in Business Intelligence projects in your actuarial departments? How satisfied is senior management with the actuarial area s analysis and explanation of results in valuation and financial reporting, and planning and forecasting? Business Intelligence Defined The application of tools, technologies, and processes to a company s data that enable improved analysis and reporting capabilities resulting in actionable business insight 2

9 Key Business and Organizational Challenges Where we are Actuaries have difficulty communicating and/or explaining their findings in a timely manner CFOs are frustrated by lack of clarity and actionable recommendations from actuarial department We have lost credibility Missed opportunities when talking to senior management Valuation and modeling engines are great, but reporting from them is awkward and labor intensive Unable to explain results due to excessive volatility Poor response time to emerging trends and issues (Continued) Key Business and Organizational Challenges How we got here Processes and systems that do not support what we are trying to deliver Labor intensive leaving little or no time for analysis Reporting and analysis tools are weak Cumbersome to answer questions about what goes into a reported number Overuse of spreadsheets for everything from data manipulation to reporting Added complexity New products with a wide array of options and guarantees Valuation requirements Risk management practices Increased data volume Company consolidations and growth Expanded reporting demands of stochastic approaches (Continued) 3

10 Key Business and Organizational Challenges Where we need to be Able to explain the drivers of financial results with respect to volatility Confident in financial results CFOs are demanding greater transparency of results Senior management also expects clarity and timely actionable recommendations from actuaries Refocused on analysis essential if we want to meet these challenges and regain the confidence of our customers Business Intelligence Making it Happen Team and Approach The team Collaboration between Actuarial and IT Business and technology representatives Project management Project approach Requirements and data architecture Technical and application architecture Build, test, and roll out 4

11 Business Intelligence Establishing an Infrastructure Critical Success Factors Ease of use Appropriate IT/Actuarial interdependence Ongoing commitment to support from IT Limited reliance on IT business people can work effectively within environment Rapid deployment Reduced cost system should pay for itself in saved time and improved business decisions Reduced cycle time reporting automated, which leaves more time for analysis and decision support Improved depth of business insight drill-down, slice-ndice, ad hoc reporting, all aid deeper analysis (Continued) Business Intelligence Establishing an Infrastructure Data Integration and Improvement High Performance Computing Advanced Decision Support Admin Systems Input Management Modeling Engines Mgmt. Reports Accounting Systems Actuarial Data Repository Actuarial Analysis Repository Accounting Analytics Assumptions Assumption Management Valuation Engines BI for Actuaries Validation Automated and Controlled Environment Source: Ernst & Young Insurance and Actuarial Advisory Services 5

12 Business Intelligence Repositories Policy Information Repository Monthly snapshots of policy data on a policy coverage basis Primary source for policy counts, coverage amounts, premiums, and reserves. This will be the source for model cells based on actual data Data from multiple sources can be integrated using push or pull methodology Data quality can be improved by implementing technology-based data integrity controls to reconcile account values Provides a method to remove/adjust inappropriate policy data in a controlled fashion Reused by multiple models (Continued) Business Intelligence Repositories Assumption Repository Assumption sets for current and previous periods are maintained outside of the modeling engine All corporate assumptions Liability experience assumptions Reinvestment/disinvestment specifications Economic scenario assumptions May reside in either a structured (i.e., database) or unstructured (i.e., Lotus Notes) repository Controlled and shareable among multiple modeling teams Governance process exists to review, modify, and approve assumptions in a flexible, yet controlled, and auditable environment (Continued) 6

13 Business Intelligence Repositories Product Specifications Repository Similar to assumptions, product specifications (premium rates, COI charges) are maintained separately from the model Product specifications are not likely to change after pricing has been completed and are input into the product specification repository only once Similar storage and access options are available as with assumptions Changes to product specifications will be possible, but much less common (Continued) Business Intelligence Repositories Analysis and Reporting Repository Business Intelligence reporting systems are very powerful Mainstream tools are flexible and provide graphical representations of the data structures without requiring the technical knowledge to manipulate data within the database Data is structured differently to support the various types of reporting and analysis requirements Relational structures at various levels of granularity Multi-dimensional cubes to provide the ability to view aggregated data from different perspectives Validation controls are provided in this database-centric environment 7

14 Business Intelligence Presentation Tools BI Toolbox Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) Data Store Reporting Advanced Decision Support Valuation Engine Automated Standard Reports Modeling Engine ETL* Actuarial Analysis Repository Mgmt. Reports Accounting Analytics Dashboard (KPIs) Drill-down Slice-n-dice Assumptions Controls OLAP* RDBMS* Validation Ad Hoc Reports User-friendly interface Data mining *Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) *On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) *Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) Source: Ernst & Young Insurance and Actuarial Advisory Services (Continued) Business Intelligence Presentation Tools Different types for different purposes: Reporting Ad hoc and production Analysis Graphical interface to SQL-generated queries On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) multidimensional cubes for slicing data across different dimensions, such as by product or time Dashboards Suites Cognos, Business Objects and Hyperion Production reporting Actuate 8

15 Business Intelligence Applications Improve efficiency of reporting to free time for analysis Automated data handling, static reports, and control reports Experience studies and trend analysis Financial reporting Static reporting of reserves, DAC, etc. Drill-down/slice-n-dice to explain deltas Ad hoc reports against reserve data to answer management questions Controlled top-side adjustments Planning and forecasting ERM support Discussion Q & A Audience experience 9