Andrew Boal

The Actuaries Institute welcomes the Federal Budget’s cost-of-living relief and equity measures but believes more investment is still required to supercharge the artificial intelligence (AI) economy and to address climate change. While supportive of climate adaptation and transition measures, Elayne Grace, Institute CEO says a significant uplift in public sector investment is required, as well public-private sector partnerships, to close the adaptation finance gap. “To manage the significant uncertainty around climate adaptation and transition, Government should accompany these policy and investment programs with rigorous, highly transparent monitoring frameworks. We need to regularly review the success of adaptation and transition measures and stay agile,” said Elayne. On AI measures, Elayne said, “AI creates immense opportunities to benefit Australian citizens, organisations and society. However, the same technology when implemented poorly or maliciously can cause substantial harms. “The Institute supports the $40 million funding announced to help Australia prepare for and embrace AI technology. But greater AI investment and clarity around policy is required to supercharge and secure Australia’s digital future.” To learn about areas of interest for actuaries in the Budget, read the Member Update: https://lnkd.in/dAHjiMac #actuaries #federalbudget #dataforgood #climateadaptation #climatetransition #AI #costofliving

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Is fast-tracking your actuarial qualifications worth the early career stress, or is a slower, more balanced approach the key to long-term success? How do you manage the trade-off between salary and personal time?

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The Actuaries Institute's monthly update of mortality in Australia for the five months to the end of May 2024 shows that mortality was 1% higher than our predicted baseline. Almost all of the higher mortality was due to mortality from COVID-19 being higher than our prediction. COVID-19 continues to cause ten times as many deaths as flu. Thanks to the Mortality Working group of Ronald Lai, Richard Lyon, Matt Ralph, Michael Seymour, Amitoze Singh. https://lnkd.in/emZtfEXu

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🔍 Unveiling the Role of Actuaries in Australian Superannuation Funds 🔍   In the dynamic landscape of Australian superannuation, actuaries play a pivotal role in ensuring financial stability and driving strategic decision-making. Here's why they're indispensable:   1️⃣ Risk Management: Actuaries provide essential insights into risk management, regulatory compliance, and ensuring the long-term financial security of superannuation funds.   2️⃣ Strategic Planning: Leveraging their expertise in data analysis and predictive modelling, actuaries help craft tailored investment strategies that align with the unique objectives of Australian superannuation funds.   3️⃣ Member Engagement: Actuaries design innovative products and personalized retirement solutions, enhancing member engagement and ensuring better outcomes for fund members.   4️⃣ Performance Evaluation: Through sophisticated performance metrics and benchmarking analysis, actuaries enable superannuation funds to optimize investment performance while maintaining transparency and accountability.   5️⃣ Compliance and Governance: Actuaries navigate regulatory complexities, ensuring compliance with legislative requirements and promoting best practices in governance and fiduciary responsibility.   At the heart of financial strategy and risk management, actuaries are instrumental in guiding Australian superannuation funds towards sustainable growth, resilience, and member-centric excellence.   #Actuaries #Superannuation #FinancialServices #RiskManagement #InvestmentStrategy #MemberEngagement #Compliance #Governance #Australia

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We’ve identified three key priority areas that Australian insurers will need to focus on ahead of the mandatory climate-related financial disclosure standards coming into effect. Dive into the latest blog from Lara Gaede, EY Regional Financial Services Climate Change and Sustainability Leader, Oceania, to find out what they are. https://lnkd.in/ePbTnmuh

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Quantum computing: A game-changer for actuaries? The latest Actuaries Digital article from Anthony Lowe and Institute President David Whittle explores the practical challenges and potential impacts of this revolutionary technology. Discover how quantum parallelism could transform actuarial work, from climate change modelling to portfolio optimisation, and learn about the implications for cybersecurity – and why financial institutions are taking notice. But how close are we to practical quantum computers? In their article, Anthony and David delve into the current state of quantum computing, including the hurdles of decoherence and error correction. Read now: https://lnkd.in/grp7iEMe #actuaries #quantumcomputing #cybersecurity #futureoftech

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It’s easy to collate some data but can you convince anyone with it? In this insightful article from Poon Leung, lecturer at the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies at UNSW Business School, you’ll learn how to bridge the gap between data analysis and persuasive communication. Emphasising the importance of purpose and emotional engagement in data storytelling, Poon illustrates how actuaries can use this technique to drive decision-making, providing practical tips to enhance your data communication skills. To make your organisation sit up and listen to your insights, read the full article: https://lnkd.in/gBtAJ2Wz #actuaries #datastorytelling #softskills #communication

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‘The people you work with’ was consistently voted as one of the most important aspects of enjoying working as an actuary in my recent survey. I feel like it’s incredibly difficult for actuaries to get a real sense of the people and culture at firms they’ve not worked for yet. All they usually have to go on are company websites, job ads, very occasional LinkedIn posts and the odd corporate video. Then there’s the people they might meet during an interview process, but a) you might only meet three or four people, and b) you might want to understand their people and culture before applying for a role. There is a lot more every company could do to show off the great people who work for them - let me know if you’d like to hear my thoughts on that. And then my effort to change things is via my ‘Actuarial People’ podcast available on Spotify and Apple. 40 episodes are available right now, and episode 41 goes live in a few weeks time, resuming weekly after that. If anyone reading this would like to record an episode, please send me a message and we’ll get something booked in!! #pensions #insurance #actuaries #actuarial #somethingdifferent

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Interesting to see the gaps in the role of #insurers in the report from the latest NZ Finance & Expenditure Committee #Inquiry into #Adaptation. Of course insurers can and do actually play a big role in these spaces: - Insurance retreat or premium increase is a more influential signal to many of us than #NaturalHazardRisk; - Insurers can follow the sustainable finance route and encourage #adaptive planning and development through pricing and policy T&Cs, especially during recovery (because it's in their own self interest to have resilient assets and property available to insure); - And insurers can direct their own commercial #investment towards #resilience projects, enabling not just local government, but Iwi, commercial and community groups to access #finance (see self-interest above).

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Aussies Feeling Pessimistic: MetLife Study Reveals Financial & Climate Fears for Australians A recent MetLife survey paints a picture of Australian anxieties. Key findings show: - Future Fears: 82% of Australians (compared to 73% globally) believe things will worsen before they improve. With financial inequality and climate change being top concerns. - Financial Worries: 70% of those aged 40 to 60 are concerned about outliving their savings, with half of Australians lacking a retirement plan. - Leadership Call: Australians want leaders with a long-term vision to tackle these challenges. How will superannuation and insurers respond to these concerns? #financialplanning #climatechange #australiangrowth #metlifestudy

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🎬 And that’s a wrap! 🌁 Fabulous first time at Casualty Actuarial Society’s CLRS event in San Francisco with Tom Durkin, Oliver Grossman and Ed Harrison. 🔑 A key theme emerging the conference was that firms recognise the need to make reserving smarter, quicker and better. This gives actuaries the time and headspace to provide better insights and value-add to the business, enabling reserving to truly sit at the heart of a modern insurer. 👍 It’s handy that LCP InsurSight enables you to do exactly this, then, isn’t it? 📞 Get in touch to hear more about how InsurSight can help you do reserving smarter, quicker and better, bringing to significant time savings, data analytics and first cut reserves, all at the touch of a button. #insurance #analytics #reserving

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Post-retirement you’d like your salary to continue (even at a reduced rate) in real terms without you having to work. This ought to:- Increase your happiness Increase your spending power Reduce the cost of the Age Pension over time. You could increase that income by timely changes to your investment options. Remember that you only live once - so you and your family ought to maximise your income in retirement- that ought to be a government requirement- oh, it is now.

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An interesting insight for #actuaries and #advisers “Australia has a four- to five-year life expectancy advantage over the US and a one- to 2.5-year advantage over Canada, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK.” …what a positive finding for Australians!

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𝗔𝗜 𝗖𝗼𝗻 – 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲 - 𝗔 𝘄𝗮𝗸𝗲-𝘂𝗽 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗜 It was a great honour to be part of the organising committee of the inaugural AI Con Conference. The beauty of this conference was that it was real with some great speakers. No vendor presentations – no people selling their wares. I particularly enjoyed the high-calibre Cassie Kozyrkov and George Shinkle. As I ponder what I learned from the AI Con I wanted to quote some of the facts and opinions that had a significant impact on my thinking. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 With AI and deepfakes particularly we will be “The Death of Truth” – What is real? 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀? Anthropic's CEO Dario: ⭐️"I think that most people are underestimating just how radical the upside of Al could be; just as I think most people are underestimating how bad the risks could be.” 𝗔𝗜 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 Cathie Wood and Brett Winton. ⭐️“A General Artificial Intelligence System that can perform any intellectual task that a human can is expected to launch between 2026-2030. 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 “𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿” 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ⭐️ “OpenAl's new model "01" was tested at an IQ of 120- that's higher than 91% of humanity!” 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 Leopold Aschenbrenner: ⭐️"We are on course for AGI by 2027. ⭐️These Al systems will basically be able to automate basically all cognitive jobs (think: all jobs that could be done remotely)." 𝗛𝘂𝗴𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ⭐️By 2030 the total demand for energy by AI GPI clusters may consume 100% of current US energy production. 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘀 ⭐️Co-intelligence is not always the answer: the Al alone did a better job diagnosing complex diseases than Al working with doctors or doctors working alone. 𝗕𝗲 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜’𝘀 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 Ignacio de Gregorio Noblejas: ⭐️“Is your job safe While Al isn't taking all of us to the unemployed street, it will certainly take many of us. ⭐️ Al is not the enemy; it's the weapon. ⭐️ Long story short, the goal here isn't to be better than Al, but to be better than your peers when Al reduces the staff count requirements by 70%. “ 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 ⭐️McKinsey predicts the potential to automate 79% of current business tasks in Australia by 2030. 𝗔𝗜: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗕𝗼𝘅 ⭐️We don’t have the ability to understand the complexity of the models anymore. We must rely on examples. ⭐️What happens with situations that happen outside the data used to train the models? ⭐️We need to be careful that this only occurs where failure is not critical or fatal. #datascience #artificialintelligence #aicon2024 #actuaries Actuaries Institute

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Hardly anyone dies at their life expectancy. The figures quoted in the media and legislation are often 'plain wrong' for the purposes of financial planning and retirement advice. Get ready for some 'brain hurt'.... but there is also some good news: In Canada, the financial planning standards council is all over this stuff: https://lnkd.in/eW-jrayg (table on page 4) In Aus, there are easy tools that take it all into account for you: https://lnkd.in/gcZ3GAF

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Leading up to the AFR Super & Wealth Summit 2024 in Sydney on 29 October, look out for our latest thoughts on the state of the retirement income market in Australia. There has been plenty of #innovation taking place in the #retirementproduct space, and this continues. But, importantly, how do we use #data more effectively to #engage members to improve #retirementliteracy and #outcomes in #retirement, and what #governance is required.

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APRA's proposed changes to reinsurance-related capital requirements could support Australian general insurers’ credit profiles over the medium term if they improve access to reinsurance protection. However, catastrophe reinsurance pricing and the frequency, severity and cost of natural disasters will remain important factors in determining insurers’ willingness to take on reinsurance, and thus the long-term effect on their capital and earnings. To read more on Fitch's view, please click through: https://lnkd.in/gQhmafM2 #insurance #reinsurance #regulation #fitchratings #creditratings

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What #data insights are you using to drive more customised #engagement with your members to deliver better #retirement #outcomes? And what #governance processes do you have in place to ensure better decision making and monitoring? Let’s discuss.

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