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Tuesday 3rd May 2016
The Students Actuarial Society (SAS) at Heriot-Watt University welcomed several distinguished guests to their conference on Wednesday 10 February.
The Students' Actuarial Society (SAS) at Heriot-Watt University welcomed several distinguished guests to their conference on Wednesday 10 February.
The conference is an important event organised by the society to help students find out more about the profession and gain insight into particular topics current to the world of actuaries. It is not exclusively for students; indeed, many qualified actuaries, professors and academics regularly attend, with a total attendance this year of over 100.
The conference was entitled 'Breaking boundaries', summing up the fact that actuaries are facing ever-more demanding challenges, and must try to push past current limitations.
Yuki Sun, the conference director, started proceedings by introducing the speakers. Melissa Koay, the vice-president, then opened with a rousing speech on the role of the SAS, and reflected on the excellent work members had done throughout the year.
The first speaker, Dr Gordon Woo, from Risk Management Solutions, presented on aviation risk insurance. He spoke about the history and current risks in the industry, including terrorism, cyber attacks, innovation and natural phenomena.
Naomi Burger, from Deloitte, followed and spoke on mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
She discussed the new corridors of cashflow opening up between Asia and Europe. She also highlighted the increase in M&A deals over the past year, and how they have hit record levels, with currency fluctuations and cost of debt to blame for increased interest in European countries.
The final talk from Dan Jermyn and Rebecca Campbell, both from RBS, was on emerging technologies and big data. Today, data is generated on a phenomenal scale. The variety, volume and velocity of data delivery has changed the way companies respond to issues and problems. They discussed the need for ways to interpret important information, while ignoring 'noise' to deliver effective and efficient services.
Gavin Reid, associate professor at Heriot-Watt and a member of the Scottish Board of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, thanked all those in attendance and presented the prize for best question, kindly sponsored by the IFoA. This year, the prize was split among three students: Martin Chege, Wihan Botha and Vaibhav Laddha.
The conference is an important event organised by the society to help students find out more about the profession and gain insight into particular topics current to the world of actuaries. It is not exclusively for students; indeed, many qualified actuaries, professors and academics regularly attend, with a total attendance this year of over 100.
The conference was entitled 'Breaking boundaries', summing up the fact that actuaries are facing ever-more demanding challenges, and must try to push past current limitations.
Yuki Sun, the conference director, started proceedings by introducing the speakers. Melissa Koay, the vice-president, then opened with a rousing speech on the role of the SAS, and reflected on the excellent work members had done throughout the year.
The first speaker, Dr Gordon Woo, from Risk Management Solutions, presented on aviation risk insurance. He spoke about the history and current risks in the industry, including terrorism, cyber attacks, innovation and natural phenomena.
Naomi Burger, from Deloitte, followed and spoke on mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
She discussed the new corridors of cashflow opening up between Asia and Europe. She also highlighted the increase in M&A deals over the past year, and how they have hit record levels, with currency fluctuations and cost of debt to blame for increased interest in European countries.
The final talk from Dan Jermyn and Rebecca Campbell, both from RBS, was on emerging technologies and big data. Today, data is generated on a phenomenal scale. The variety, volume and velocity of data delivery has changed the way companies respond to issues and problems. They discussed the need for ways to interpret important information, while ignoring 'noise' to deliver effective and efficient services.
Gavin Reid, associate professor at Heriot-Watt and a member of the Scottish Board of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, thanked all those in attendance and presented the prize for best question, kindly sponsored by the IFoA. This year, the prize was split among three students: Martin Chege, Wihan Botha and Vaibhav Laddha.
John Watret, communications director, Student's Actuarial Society
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