Delegates embrace festival of brilliance at All-Actuaries Summit

Innovation, inspiration and unflinching honesty from key figures of the actuarial profession and business community were in abundance at the 2022 All-Actuaries Summit. With a stellar line-up of fantastic speakers including Dylan Alcott AO, Dr Ken Henry AC and Dr Catriona Wallace, attendees embraced the Summit’s new hybrid format, joining in-person at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre or virtually from 2-4 May 2022.

In keeping with the Summit’s theme ‘Getting Closer, Thinking Bigger’, the program was designed to cater for longer break times, including networking drinks and a Gala Dinner, to help attendees reconnect with peers and friends easier than ever before after two COVID-interrupted years.

The content of the Summit catered for actuaries and professionals working throughout all practice areas. The opening day was specifically targeted towards the life insurance, superannuation and wealth management sectors.

The 2022 All-Actuaries Summit began with an extraordinary welcome to country ceremony and was followed up by Actuaries Institute President Annette King, who officially opened the Summit. In her address, Annette asked delegates to seize opportunities, have courage and use data for good. She urged everyone to do this not just as a one-off, but every day

Attendees then settled in as esteemed financial journalist and media personality Alan Kohler chaired the first plenary session. Titled Capitalism – what have you done for me lately?, the session featured a panel consisting of Danielle Wood (CEO, Grattan Institute), Rebecca McGrath (Chair, Oz Minerals), Ian McFarlane (Economist and Central Banker) and Sir Paul Collier (Economist).

The session commenced with an opening video address by Sir Paul Collier. In his address, Paul expressed his appreciation of the actuarial profession.

“I’m proud to be speaking to the actuaries because internationally the actuaries have led the way in realising that the profession has to become what it once was: a globally respected profession. You have to be able to look your teenagers in the eye and be proud of what you’re doing.”

From left, Rebecca McGrath, Danielle Wood, Ian McFarlane and Alan Kohler at day 1 of the All-Actuaries Summit.

Later in the day, Summit Convenor Naomi Edwards chaired the second plenary, titled After the Mask? Extraordinary Leadership in a Post-COVID World. Naomi was joined by Adam Geha (CEO and Co-Founder, EG), Alison Pennington (Senior Economist, Centre for Future Work, The Australia Institute), and Elise Sharpley (Partner, Deloitte Consulting) to discuss the shape of post-pandemic life, the future of the office and what a great post-COVID leader will look like.

In a special twist, the session concluded with a brief interview between Naomi and Ilan Lease (Managing Director, Retender) to discuss the release of his book titled The Improbable Entrepreneur.

Day two included content relevant to all practice areas including risk management, international perspectives, leadership and professionalism. It commenced with a keynote address from Dr Ken Henry AC to open the plenary session The challenge of doing the right thing. Following his address, Ken joined plenary Chair Ian Laughlin, Danny Gilbert (Managing Partner, Gilbert + Tobin), Dr Simon Longstaff (Executive Director, The Ethics Centre) and Margaret Cole (Board Member, APRA) to discuss judgment and decision making in the cut-throat environment of the corporate world.

Dr Ken Henry AC speaking at day 2 of the All-Actuaries Summit.

That same day, President Annette King, Senior Vice President Naomi Edwards, Vice President David Whittle, and CEO Elayne Grace discussed the new strategy of the Institute and the profession in the plenary session Purpose and Growth – the future for actuaries. Chaired by Mark Samuels, the Presidential Trio and CEO also celebrated how the Australian profession has served business, government and the wider community over the last 125 years, and the opportunities for career growth, growing the profession, and the importance of purpose.

From left, Elayne Grace, David Whittle, Mark Samuels, Naomi Edwards and Annette King at day 2 of the All-Actuaries Summit.

Among the highlights of the Summit included the inspirational keynote address from Dylan Alcott AO, who spoke at the end of day 2. Joining President Annette King on centre stage, Dylan captivated the audience as he discussed courage, resilience and winning in the face of adversity. In keeping with his laid-back charisma, Dylan happily allowed attendees to try on his 2008 Beijing Paralympics gold medal as his discussion with Annette unfolded.

Dylan’s Olympic prize wasn’t the only gold medal on display on day 2. After being initially awarded the prestigious Institute Gold Medal in a small, COVID-safe ceremony in December 2021, Ian Laughlin was formally recognised at the Gala Dinner for his outstanding work the service in the community, the profession, business and government.

Ian Laughlin addresses the audience at the Gala Dinner.

The third and final day covered content specific to general insurance, data analytics and health. CEO Elayne Grace chaired the opening plenary of day 3, titled Big Data and the Bigger Picture. This plenary saw Craig Price (Head of Data Science & Artificial Intelligence CoE, Suncorp), Dr Catriona Wallace (Artificial Intelligence Expert, Adjunct Professor, Director, Gradient Institute) and Alison Bliss (General Manager of Data, Analytics and Insights, APRA) discuss the current and future potential of digitalisation and artificial intelligence.

In the final plenary of the Summit, titled Out of the Storm, Chair Suzanne Patten and a panel consisting of Andrew Matthews (Principal, Finity), Brett Ward (Chief Actuary, IAG) and Nghiep Luu (GM Data Analytics & Optimisation, AIA) explored methods to improve preparation for dealing with disasters based on real life experiences.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what unfolded at the 2022 All-Actuaries Summit. So, over the coming weeks, keep clicking back to Actuaries Digital and subscribe to the Actuaries Digital Digest for comprehensive coverage and key learnings from each plenary session and various concurrent sessions from the Summit.
 

Celebrating our 2022 Volunteer of the Year Award winners

Over the course of the Summit, the winners of the 2022 Volunteer of the Year Awards were announced. It is no secret that our community of 700+ strong volunteers are the driving force and beating heart of the profession. Their hard work, commitment, and ability to share their valuable skills, knowledge, and time to help others and grow the profession is something to celebrate. Many of our volunteers show tremendous ability, purpose and courage through their drive, dedication, and support. 36 exceptional nominations were received, and the Selection Panel found it very challenging to select the award winners. Congratulations to everyone, here are the winners!

President’s Award

  • Anthony Lowe – Anthony received the President’s Award for his outstanding leadership as Chair of the Public Policy Council Committee since 2018. Anthony is a role model for how the actuarial way of thinking can be applied in wider fields to make a significant difference.

 

Distinguished Volunteer Award

  • Susan Ley – Susan is a valued and longstanding member of the General Insurance Practice Committee. For 16+ years she has dedicated her time and expertise to support GI actuaries, mostly recently by ensuring professional standards and guidance are both current and relevant.

  • Rade Musulin – Rade has been Chair of the Climate Risk Working Group since 2020 and a member since 2017. He has been an active volunteer since 2007 and has helped the Institute produce a wide range of research on property insurance, professional practice for Appointed Actuaries and other climate risk issues.

  • Paul Shallue – Paul has been instrumental in drafting many of the Institute’s professional standards, practice guidelines, and information and discussion notes. His understanding of the legislation, taxation rules, prudential standards and history of the development of superannuation in Australia is second to none.

 

Spirit of Volunteering Award

  • Ash Bhalerao – Ash has worked tirelessly to contribute to topics across life insurance, and risk management and has led several cross-practice initiatives such as the Target Capital Practice Guide and, more recently, the Financial Resilience, Recovery and Resolution Working group.

  • Michelle Ng – Michelle  is known for her passion for supporting young actuaries and promoting women in the actuarial profession. A role she has consistently done since graduating from university. Michelle plays a key role in the Young Actuaries Program, Young Actuaries Advisory Board and the Volunteer of the Year Awards selection panel.

  • Evelyn Njoo – is an active member of the Health Practice Committee. Since joining, she has taken on extra responsibility, playing a leading role in the 2021 PHI forum to discuss the impact of COVID on the industry and as Chair of the Future of Health Summit for 2022. She also contributes to the working group reviewing Financial Resilience, Recovery and Resolution.

 

Young Volunteer Achievement Award

  • Harrison Gee – Harrison is an active member of the Young Actuaries Program and the Young Actuaries Advisory Board. Over the last four years, he has helped drive events and workshops, and more recently online initiatives to help keep our community connected during various lockdowns and travel restrictions.

  • Kriti Khullar – Kriti is a member of the Young Data Analytics Working Group (YDAWG), working closely with the Python Study Group, DAA and was actively involved in the YDAWG’s 2020 US election coverage.

  • Shang Wu – Shang coordinated the extensive revision of the Institute’s Retirement Income Public Policy Statement and supporting document that was over a year in the making and launched in 2021. He is a very active contributor to Superannuation and Investments Practice Committee and the Retirement Income Working Group.

 

Click here to find out more about the winners of each award category.

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