The webinar shares insights from an analysis of the 2025 solvency and financial condition reports (SFCRs) of health insurers in the UK and Ireland, for the 2024 financial year-end.
It will highlight key trends and emerging patterns observed in the underwriting performance, solvency capital position, and balance sheet resilience of health insurers in the private medical insurance (PMI) market.
The webinar goes onto discuss key risks and challenges faced by PMI insurers, with a focus on the challenge of managing rising costs of healthcare. It also explores how capital optimisation and asset-liability matching strategies can offer an effective framework of solutions.
Speakers:
Chair: Andy Cox, Deputy Chair, Health and Care Lifelong Learning Sub-committee
Christine Fairall, Senior Consultant, Milliman
Somya Bansal, Consultant, Milliman
This webinar will explore how demographic shifts and digital adoption are transforming investment strategies and financial innovations. Focusing on insights from the robo-advice platform Franc, the session will examine changes in consumer behaviour driven by tech-savvy younger generations and ageing populations.
The speaker will discuss how digital adoption influences client-side financial processes, the impact on asset management in emerging markets, and the opportunities and challenges of investing in a digital-first world. Attendees will gain a better understanding of the evolving investment landscape and how digital platforms can empower consumers to manage and grow their wealth effectively.
Speakers:
Sebastian Patel, Chief Operating Officer, Franc
Chair: Krishna Patel
To support the publication of the IFoA’s thematic review report Actuarial involvement in climate and sustainability work, we are hosting a webinar to explore the key findings.
Join the report’s author Alan Marshall, IFoA Review Actuary, who will discuss the importance of IFoA members being supported to continue work in influencing and leading activity in the areas of climate and sustainability, and will highlight key aspects where this can be enhanced.
He will be joined by guest speaker Georgina Bedenham from the Government Actuary's Department climate team, who will provide insights from their work, IFoA Senior Review Actuary David Gordon, and IFoA Regulatory Board Lay Chair Sam Younger.
The IFoA carries out regular thematic reviews of how work is carried out in practice by actuaries. This report provides a helpful overview on both the activity of actuaries in relation to this high-profile risk, and the latest developments around the world as firms, regulators and governments work to mitigate potential harms.
Speakers:
Georgina Bedenham:
Head of Climate and Disaster Risk, Government Actuary's Department
Alan Marshall:
Alan Marshall is a Review Actuary at the IFoA, working in the Regulatory Policy team. He has 30 years of experience in the insurance industry, working in a variety of roles covering propositions, finance, risk management and audit.
David Gordon:
David Gordon is Senior Review Actuary at the IFoA and leads the Thematic Review Programme. Before joining the IFoA, he was a defined benefit pensions consultant and scheme actuary for 30 years. He also had a leading role within his firm on regulatory matters.
Sam Younger:
Sam Younger is Lay Chair of the IFoA Regulatory Board, and is currently Chair of the Consumers’ Association (Which?), Chair of the Advertising Advisory Committee of the Advertising Standards Authority and a member of the Remuneration Committee of New College, Oxford.
Sam holds honorary doctorates from the universities of Brunel and Plymouth and was awarded the CBE in 2008. Beyond his professional life, he is a keen choral singer and a long time season ticket holder at his local football club Queens Park Rangers.
Girija Biyani has six years of experience in the financial and insurance sectors, working across Asia and the United States. Her expertise spans sustainability, social impact, financial inclusion, healthcare access, and climate resilience. At Swiss Re, she managed public and development sector business in India, focusing on designing parametric and indemnity risk transfer solutions for sovereign and sub-sovereign clients.
Girija has been involved as an advisor and project monitor for funding initiatives that promote awareness of preventative healthcare and expand access to inclusive financial services. She is currently working with Saathealth, a social enterprise to improve community resilience against health shocks and increase access to affordable financial products. Her current experience with solving the challenges of access, combined with her training in actuarial science, allow her to support product development through on-ground feedback and expertise.
Her background includes practical experience in product development, market entry strategies, and multi-stakeholder partnerships, working closely with government agencies, NGOs, and grassroots organisations.
Drawing on this cross-market and on-the-ground perspective, Girija offers practical insights into parametric insurance, inclusive risk transfer models, and strategies for advancing financial protection and resilience in underserved populations.
This event will be useful for both technical and business stakeholders of L&H insurance associated with advancing the cause of insurance penetration.
Speakers:
Girija Biyani
Chair: Thrushen Mari
A flagship sessional research meeting on the criticality of including biodiversity in climate scenarios.
The prospect of a 2.5°C world grows and the impact of a world that is already passing 1.5°C is being felt. Coral reefs have passed their extinction tipping point. Iceland has declared the weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation as a national security threat.
However, the financial and humanitarian impacts of biodiversity loss both rival and exacerbate those of climate change. While using climate scenarios and models to assess impacts has become actuarial standard practice, a lack of integration with biodiversity risks means these are systematically and structurally incomplete.
The IFoA’s Biodiversity Scenarios Working Party has completed a landmark workshop reviewing the importance and availability of biodiversity scenario frameworks. The conclusion is stark: climate scenarios that ignore biodiversity dynamics are not fit for purpose.
Speakers: Nick Spencer, Michael Sher, Mary Goldman, Jimena Alvarez
The ‘exposome’ is a relatively new concept that considers the holistic impact on an individual’s health of all of the exposures they encounter in their lifetime. It incorporates internal and external factors. Here we focus on chronically overlooked passive components of the external exposome.
Environmental factors impact health in ways we are only beginning to understand. By highlighting the concept of the exposome, we aim to make it relatable to individuals, helping them understand its impact on health and life insurance. This includes its contribution to both physical and mental health.
Imagine life as a giant puzzle, with each piece representing something encountered daily. It could be the air you breathe, the light pollution from using your phone at night, and even the microplastics in your coffee. The exposome acts as the ultimate puzzle master, connecting all these pieces to illustrate how they shape your health. It’s not just about avoiding pollution or eating organic – it’s about comprehending how our environment subtly influences our overall wellbeing.
Speakers:
Anika Bains, Pacific Life ReMike Wilson, Pacific Life Re
Nicky Draper, IFoA Honorary Fellow (chair)