Climate Risk- Making it Simple for Insurers

Kendra Felisky, Senior Actuary and COO at Marcuson, suggests a pragmatic way for firms to respond to the PRA's four Climate Change areas of focus. Climate change is something that concerns us all, which includes insurance regulators.  Regulators around the world are asking more and more of insurers, not just the UK’s PRA.  But it… Continue reading>

Machine Learning – A Voyage of Discovery

by Kirsty Ip I attended my first ever GIRO session (virtually) in 2020 and was excited to understand more about the research paper by @RonaldRichman and @CaesarBalona that won last year’s Brian Hey Prize.  The paper, titled “The Actuary and IBNR Techniques: A Machine Learning Approach”, presents a new framework for selecting the most appropriate… Continue reading>

Seven Thoughts on Part VII Transfers

The first and second waves of Brexit-triggered transfers may now have completed, but further Part VII activity looks set to reach the courts – here are five reasons why, and two things to remember if you are considering embarking on a Part VII.  Come and talk to us if you want guidance through this specialist… Continue reading>

2021 Gibraltar Insurance Seminar and SFCR Review

It was a pleasure to welcome delegates to our second annual Gibraltar-focussed webinar, "Fit for the Future?", which we held on 4 March.  We would like to thank our Chair and Guest Speaker Ian Clark.  Ian kicked off our webinar with a thought-provoking discussion on the current state of the UK motor market, including: impacts… Continue reading>

Validation: Delivering value or just going round the loop?

Top three validation priorities for 2021: better insight, lower cost, capital efficiency At this time of year, many risk and capital teams embark on a new lap of their internal model validation cycle.  Unlike the more exciting underwriting cycle or the more troubling reserving cycle, the validation cycle is more about applying common sense.  Most… Continue reading>

Dear CRO: Please step up, or step down

by Alex Marcuson There may be trouble ahead… With its decidedly blunt approach, the PRA’s season’s greetings letter to CROs should prove to be a bracing wake-up call.  Having set out in Janet and John terms last year (to Chief Actuaries and CEOs) that firms seem to be weakening their reserves, the PRA is unimpressed… Continue reading>

GIRO 2020

The annual GIRO conference is always a highlight for us here at Marcuson Consulting.  With the conference being held virtually this year, it has been a great shame that we haven’t been able to reconnect with our fellow professionals in person. Even so, the sessions themselves continue to be extremely engaging, offering valuable insights into… Continue reading>

Liquidity Risk: Going with the Flow?

The North Atlantic hurricane season is upon us again, and 2020 is expected to be more demanding than normal.  As the industry emerges from the first wave of COVID-19, liquidity risk management should be prominent on board agendas. In September 2019, the PRA published their Supervisory Statement SS05/19  - “Liquidity risk management for insurers”.  Compliance… Continue reading>