Risk management: research working parties

The following are active research working parties overseen by the IFoA’s Risk Management Research and Thought Leadership Committee.

Volunteer for a working party

All members are encouraged to volunteer for a research working party. If you have your own ideas for member-led research you would like to pursue, please contact our Practice Communities Team below or refer to our Guidance for Research Working Parties (562 KB PDF).

Members interested in volunteering for a research working party should check our volunteer vacancies.

Research working parties

Ethics is the main area of concern for the public facing decisions made by AI-driven models and this issue needs a high level of focus and skills that actuaries can provide.

Very often AI models take over decisions and can have strong bias with a dramatic impact on organisations both in financial and reputation terms, as well as on individuals.

Developing a good or best practice framework for governing and managing the risks associated with the use of new AI and data-driven techniques by the financial services industry will be one of the areas of focus for this working party.

About

Chair: Brandon Horwitz
Established: 2022

The overarching objective of the Black Swans Working Party is to be a source of knowledge and expertise within the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) on matters relating to systemic risk planning and insurance, by developing a model to allow for a comprehensive and affordable systemic risk insurance to be offered, protecting the UK safeguarding society and livelihoods from these extreme risks.

About

Chair: Lawrence Habahbeh
Established: 2022

The IFoA’s Cyber Risk Investigation Working Party has been shortlisted in the category of “Campaign of the year” (2020) by Insurance Insider Honours, the global (re)insurance awards ceremony that recognises market talent. This is a working party aimed at providing insight for actuaries working on realistic capital calculations and enterprise risk management for life insurers and general insurers.

The scope of "Phase 1" (completed)

The purpose of the research was to provide insight to actuaries working on capital requirements for insurers setting out the potential impact of cyber risk events and the measures available to mitigate this risk. The aim was to create a greater awareness of the risks for insurers and highlight emerging issues in an area that is changing rapidly as the dependency on computer systems to support insurers’ business increases.

  • What is cyber risk?
  • The types of risk
  • The cost of a cyber risk breach
  • Risk mitigation strategies

The scope of "Phase 2" (in progress)

  • Construct a framework for companies to use to identify and manage Non-Affirmative Cyber risk
  • Survey to inform future direction
  • Cyber Symposium
  • Social Media drive

About

Chair: TBC
Established: 2015

The working party aims to develop a holistic framework to assess Environmental, Social, and Governance factors across the breadth of an organisation (outside of focussing on investment applications) and the effective management of the risks associated with these factors.

About

Chair: TBC
Established: 2024

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