Jia Cheng - 2012 SCOR Life Actuarial Prize

Name: Jia Cheng Position: Product Actuary Company: Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance Co Ltd Location: Shanghai, China

I was rewarded the 2012 SCOR Life Actuarial Prize for my dissertation paper on the cohort effect in cancer incidence.

The SCOR Actuarial Prize is sponsored by the Multinational Reinsurance company SCOR. It is awarded to the best academic papers in the field of actuarial science. The jury panel is composed of academics and insurance, reinsurance and financial professionals. The winning papers are selected using criteria including an excellent command of actuarial concepts, high-quality analysis instruments, and subjects that could have a practical application in the world of risk management. Today, the SCOR prize is recognised in the insurance and reinsurance industries as a measure of competence. 

I'm a life actuary working on the pricing discipline. I was trained and qualified in the UK. However, being an actuary wasn't what I planned for when I first came to study in the UK. I did my first degree in Biochemistry at Imperial College, London. During the one-year internship which was part of my course, I realised that working with flasks and petri dishes in a lab didn't suit me. In my final year at Imperial, I overheard an actuarial trainee who was complaining about his job because of the actuarial exams he had to do in a party. I remember my first thought was “Wow. That sounds like an interesting job! I want to do that.” After doing more research about the actuarial profession, I decided to enroll in a post-diploma course in Cass Business School and pursue an actuarial career.

I used to work for Legal & General and Pacific Life Re in London. About 14 months ago, I moved to China with my family and I'm currently working for Manulife. My job is to design and price new insurance product. The China market is a young market. The insurance products are evolving and changing with a speed that I didn't anticipate when I was working in the UK. It feels what I do today will contribute to the shaping of the Chinese Insurance market in the future. It's a very exciting place!

As my work experience grows, I become ever more grateful to my training with the UK profession. It equipped me with not only the actuarial knowledge but also the soft skills such as communication and business awareness. The former was a "must have" to be an actuarial and the latter was what makes one a great actuary.