Dear SAS members,

 

We are pleased to welcome Mr Kenneth McIvor, PhD, FIA, Willis Towers Watson, as our speaker for this talk:

 

Genetic testing - should actuaries in Singapore worry?

15 years ago, the 13-year-long Human Genome Project that aimed to complete one person’s genome amounted to $3 billion in cost. That cost today is less than $1000.

 

As genetic tests become more widely available, should we worry about adverse (or anti) selection?

The cost of adverse selection in the life and critical illness insurance markets, brought about by restrictions on insurers’ use of genetic test information, has been studied for a variety of rare single-gene disorders. However, most common disorders are associated with multiple genes – or a polygene. We will look at some approaches to modelling the severity of adverse selection which could result from insurers being unable to take account of tests for polygenes as well as major genes.  We’ll also look at the different ways that insurance markets around the world are currently tackling the issue and discuss some case studies.

 

Date: Thursday 7 June 2018

Time: 3.40pm to 6.00pm

Venue: OCBC Centre, 33rd level (access via West Lobby), Chulia Street, Singapore

 

3:40pm Registration

4:00pm Talk commences

5:30pm Talk ends, refreshments starts

6.00pm End

 

Cost: Free for paid up Members (please login with your Username before signing-up), full-time students showing student identification.

Non-Members:

S$40 for payment via cheque / internet banking / cash deposit at any DBS branches is preferred.

S$42 for payment via Paypal.  During Paypal payment, please wait until the transaction is complete and you are transferred back to the SAS website before closing your browser.

lease pre-register as the seats are limited.

 

Priority will be given to paid up members who have pre-registered and then to others who have pre-registered and finally, if any seats remain, to those who do not pre-register based on their order of arrival.

If you would like to attend, please register by singing up by 1^st June through this link  Online Registration

 

About the speaker:

Kenny joined Willis Towers Watson in 2008 after completing his PhD on the topic of insurance and genetics at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. During his research, he combined actuarial models of the insurance market with epidemiological models of disease inheritance to improve the actuarial profession’s understanding of the impact of information asymmetry and adverse selection.

 

Prior to his research, Kenny attained a masters degree in genetic epidemiology from the University of Sheffield and a first class honours degree in actuarial mathematics and statistics from Heriot-Watt University.

 

Over numerous assignments in the U.S., Europe and in Asia, Kenny has helped life insurance companies manage their capital, pricing and reserving for mortality and longevity risks, for products in the protection, retirement and high net worth markets.

 

He co-developed Willis Towers Watson's prototype multi-state mortality model, which was calibrated using Generalised Linear Models (GLMs).

 

Thank you

 

Frederic Boulliung

Forum Coordinator

Singapore Actuarial Society