ASM AGM and Dinner 2010

The Actuarial Society of Malaysia held its Annual General Meeting and Dinner yesterday in Hotel Impiana KLCC.  The event was attended by close to 100 members, despite it being held on the eve of a long weekend.

The event started with 2 invited speakers delivering papers that were not technical, for a change. Sridharan Nair, a PwC auditor, presented the broad insurance outlook post Global Financial Crisis while Sophia Ch'ng shared her work experience in particular in areas related to her winning the YAMA award.

The AGM proper started more than 30 minutes after the scheduled time with various reports from Council members. An amendment to the ASM's Constitution to formally introduce the FASM (Fellow of Actuarial Society of Malaysia) designation was put to vote after lengthy discussions.  It was resolved that a new FASM must be recommended by 2 existing FASMs and must fulfill 1-year related actuarial work experience locally within the 3 years preceding the application to become an FASM.  The FASM must also be a Fellow of a recognised global actuarial body such as The Institute of Actuaries of Australia, The Institute of Actuaries in England, Society of Actuaries in the United States, Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the Casualty Actuarial Society in the United States.

With the change in Constitution in 2008, yesterday also saw the election of ASM's first ever President Elect - Liew Pek Hin.  Liew's existing Vice President position was in turned filled by Yap Chee Keong.  Nicholas Yeo in turn was elected to fill the position vacated by Chee Keong.

The full list of ASM 2010-2011 Council:

President:	Patrick Cheah
President Elect:	Liew Pek Hin
Vice President:	Yap Chee Keong
Secretary:	Nor Aida Daud
Treasurer:	Azim Mithani
Committee Members:	Yoon Yew Khuen
	Chin Tze How
	Loh Sheng Chieh
	Nicholas Yeo

Buffet dinner was served immediately after AGM. 15 lucky members also walked away with shopping vouchers sponsored by MLRe during dinner.

Sophia Ch'ng presenting her Paper: Experience and Achievements relating to YAMA awards.

MC of the day.

Sridharan Nair presenting "Reshaping the Insurance Industry".

The AGM in full force.

President delivering his speech.

The ASM Council 2010/11.

Actuary - 6th best paid job in US

Actuary ranks number 6 in the top-paying jobs in US with a median salary of US$129,000. The top pay was reported to be US$257,000.

Source: CNN Money

Happy birthday ASM and something on EAAC

Do you know that the Actuarial Society of Malaysia was founded on this day 31 years ago? I bet most people have forgotten.

Well happy birthday, ASM!

And do you know that ASM was actually the first host country for the East Asian Actuarial Conference back in 1981? It was called "Actuarial Society of Malaysia, 1981 International Seminar". Almost all of us were not in the industry then and of course for the younger ones , you were not even born!

This year the 15th EAAC will be held in Seoul and the event will take place next week. 11 delegates from Malaysia have signed up. This is a much higher number compared to 3 Malaysian delegates who signed up for the 1999 EAAC also held in Seoul which I attended (only 2 attended out of the 3 who signed up). In case you don't know, Malaysia is the host country for the 16th EAAC to be held in year 2011 tentatively from 10 - 13 October, after a long 30-year wait.

Host countries for the 16 EAACs:

1981 Malaysia
1983 Singapore
1985 Philippines
1987 Hong Kong
1989 Taiwan
1991 Indonesia
1993 Singapore
1995 Japan
1997 Thailand
1999 Korea
2001 Hong Kong
2003 Philippines
2005 Indonesia
2007 Japan
2009 Korea
2011 Malaysia

Stay tuned and we will bring you more news on EAAC in days to come and over the next 2 years.

PruBSN's new CEO

Azim Mithani will soon become the CEO of Prudential BSN Takaful.

Earlier post: More actuaries are becoming CEOs

Source: The Star

Actuaries interviewed by press

A few local actuaries were interviewed by the press recently, this included: Patrick Cheah, , Liew Pek Hin, Azim Mithani and Raymond Lai, President, Vice President, Treasurer and Immediate Past President of ASM respectively.

The general view is that there is a strong demand for actuaries in Malaysia. Malaysian actuaries are also well sought after in countries like Singapore and Hong Kong.

From our headhunting experience, we have also placed actuaries in Indonesia. Malaysian actuarial students are also popular with Singapore employers. As a matter of fact, we are currently looking for someone with 3 to 5 years experience to work in Singapore.

Source: The Star

New CEO for TM Asia Life

Kenneth Wong has been appointed as the CEO for TM Asia Life Malaysia.

Earlier posts:

• Kenneth Wong leaving BNM
• More actuaries are becoming CEOs

Source: The Star

More actuaries are becoming CEOs

Lately we have seen a few actuaries who have been made CEO in the Malaysian market. Based on our knowledge, currently (or in the near future):

• 4 out of 15 conventional life insurance companies CEOs are actuaries
• 2 out of 8 takaful CEOs are actuaries

In the 90's, there were also quite a number of CEOs who were actuaries. In late 90's and early 2000 however, marketing/agency/sales people were the favourite pick for CEO. The trend has since reversed partly due to the introduction of RBC which requires the chieftains to be well versed in risk and capital management.

Increasingly there are also more actuaries who become CFOs.

Source: TAS

Individual Capital Assessment Talk

ASM organised a Talk on Individual Capital Assessment (ICA) for its members today at Great Eastern. The Talk was well attended by close to 80 members. Some members arrived at 3:30 pm possibly unaware of the change of time in view of the Puasa month.

ICA is the UK's approach to RBC. During the Talk, Hui In, the Malaysian actuary who returned from UK, highlighted the ICA methodologies, the impact of ICA to the life insurance companies and the differences among ICA, RBC, Solvency II and Swiss Solvency Tests.

Members who attend the Talk are entitled to 1.5 CPD hours.

For other ASM's news, please click on ASM label below.

Vacancies in Indonesia and Japan

In addition to various actuarial vacancies in Malaysia and Singapore, we now also have vacancies in Indonesia and Japan.

Highlights of some of the vacancies we have:

• Malaysia: Appointed Actuary, Pricing Manager with opportunity to travel to a nearby country.
• Singapore: Appointed Actuary, Head of Actuarial.
• Indonesia: Chief Actuary, Pricing Head

For more information, please visit vacancies.

Singapore is recruiting

I have a few actuarial positions with various employers in Singapore.

If you have:

• 6-15 years of actuarial work experience;
• Either progressing well in actuarial exams or are already qualified; and
• Is currently in managerial position

Please let me know and I will discuss (confidential and obligation free basis) with you further on the positions .

ASM Actuarial Idol

ASM held its first ever Actuarial Idol Singing Competition in conjuction with its 31st Annual Dinner yesterday at Grand Millennium hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

The event was attended by 170 members. 9 groups participated in the Actuarial Idol Singing Competition. The President and the Immediate Past President were invited as the judges for the competition. However, their scores carried only 50% weightage on the final results, the other 50% was dependent on the audience response. It was no surprise to see strong support groups mainly comprising the fellow colleagues of the competition participants making loud noises during the final moment before the results were finalised.

The Actuarial Idol competition was won by Isaac Chiew from Watson Wyatt, with 2 ladies from Prudential and the trio from Great Eastern winning the 2nd and 3rd places respectively. It was a night full of fun, who dare to say that actuaries are a bunch of boring people!

Earlier that afternoon, Surinderpal Singh and Jefferey Zain each presented a professional paper to the members, one on Genetic Underwriting and the other one on Takaful.

During the dinner, ASM also paid tribute to Benny Ng, a fellow actuary who passed away in April this year.

More photos

Videos:

1. Isaac Chiew - My Way


2. All Contestants

Brought to you exclusively by TAS Search, your friendly actuarial recruitment agency

Merger of Institute and Faculty fails

The proposed merger of Faculty and Institute of Actuaries has failed to secure the minimum required votes from the members. 73.5% of members of the Faculty of Actuaries voted in favour, exceeding the two-thirds majority required. However, only 71.6% of members of the Institute of Actuaries voted in favour, falling short of the 75% minimum required.

Earlier post

Source: IPE

Axa Affin Life to have a new CEO

Loke Kah Meng (pic) is tipped to be the next CEO of Axa Affin Life Insurance in Malaysia. He is due to report to work in early August.

It is learned that Loke's physical last day with Great Eastern was yesterday.

Loke was the EVP of Customer Management and Chief Marketing Officer at Great Eastern. He was heavily involved in the Centennial Campaign at Great Eastern when Great Eastern celebrated its 100th year anniversary last year.

A Fellow of Society of Actuaries, Loke worked in AIA as appointed actuary and Manulife as CFO and appointed actuary prior to joining Great Eastern.

Source: TAS Blogger

Joint Regional Seminar 2009

The Joint Regional Seminar (JRS) 2009 kicked off yesterday in Kuala Lumpur. The 1 1/2 day event saw 108 participants coming from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Langka and Pakistan despite travel restrictions/fear with the spread of A(H1N1) flu in the region.

JRS has been an annual actuarial event (with the exception of 2008) since early 2000. It is a seminar jointly organised by the Faculty and Institute of Actuaries, the Institute of Actuaries of Australia and the Society of Actuaries. The event is normally held in 4 - 5 locations in the region with the support of the local actuarial body. This year, Kuala Lumpur is the first stop, followed by Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Bangkok.

The theme for JRS 2009 is "Practical Actuaries and Financial Reporting". 6 speakers presented their papers on Day 1 and the morning of Day 2 was dedicated to a workshop conducted by a senior actuary who was instrumental for introducing JRS to this region.



















More photos: search for "Actuarial Society of Malaysia" in Facebook, all photos to be uploaded by Friday.

Appointed Actuary

We are searching for an actuary to be the appointed actuary of a company based in Kuala Lumpur. If you meet the following requirements, we would be glad to hear from you:

• 30 years or older
• At least 3 years experience post qualification
• FIA, FSA, FIAA, FFA or FCIA

Candidates who meet most of the above criteria are also encouraged to enquire.

Please contact us for a confidential chat.

China needs 5000 actuaries

It is reported that China will need 5000 actuaries in the next 5 years. The average annual salary of an actuary is between 500,000 to 1 mil yuan. The highest salary is reported to be 3 mil yuan paid to Steven Mile of Ping An.

Source: China Daily

Benny Ng Man Bun

I was in shock and great sadness to read an email from ASM on the demise of Benny Ng. Benny was no stranger to the actuarial profession in Malaysia, having served as the appointed actuary for the then Mayban Life and more recently, AmAssurance.

"Benny passed away peacefully on Monday, 20th of April", according to the email from the President of ASM. "He left behind a wife, 4 children and a grandchild."

Some further information on Benny:

• FSA, FCIA, FLMI
• Received his tertiary education in Canada
• Started his actuarial career in Canada
• Appointed actuary and chief actuary to a few Hong Kong life insurance companies
• Partner and consulting actuary for an actuarial firm he set up with friends

Source: ASM, TAS

SAS EGM, AGM and Dinner

Singapore Actuarial Society (SAS) held its AGM on 27 March 2009 and the following members were elected to the Council:

President: Frank McInerney
Vice President: Rani Rajasingham
Honorary Treasurer: Timothy Beardsall
Honorary Secretary: Jill Hoffman
Council Members: Angela Koechli, Chi Cheng Hock, Colin Pakshong, Sharon Tan, Annette King and Walter de Oude.

The AGM was preceded by a talk on "Credit Derivatives" and EGM. The proposed changes to PS1 were approved at the EGM.

Close to 70 members attended the AGM dinner held at Restaurant 1827 Thai. Newly qualified fellows of SAS received their certificates from President during dinner, see photos below: