The ARC is the IFoA’s global network of researchers from around the world. A core part of the ARC is the delivery of industry-relevant research. View some of the online material arising from ARC research below. All videos are free to watch and eligible for CPD.

ARC webinars are free for view for all.  

  • IFoA members – Please click on the title of the recording below. This will take you to the IFoA's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) where you will be able to login, access your recording and claim CPD. 
  • If you are not a member of the IFoA –please click on the appropriate link under each recording to be taken to your selected webinar.   

For more information on the ARC please visit the ARC homepage.

ARC Webinar Series 2022

ARC Webinar Series 2022 - The next generation of CDC pensions? Analysing a post-retirement retirement vehicle

Video 1 description: What will happen to DC pension savers who see life annuities as poor VFM but still want an income for life? Pooled annuity funds could offer them a decent lifetime income while reducing significantly the complex choices and risk inherent in income drawdown. They could be the next generation of CDC pension schemes, slotting into the existing DC framework as a post-retirement option. Results on how well a pooled annuity fund could pay out benefits, before any guarantees or risk mitigation actions are added, are presented. The results assume an open fund with a homogeneous membership. The ability of these funds to provide an integrated bequest upon death is also discussed.

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.

ARC Webinar Series 2021

ARC Webinar Series 2021: Mortality inequality: what insights can we gain from cause of death data?

Recent research has highlighted significant inequalities in mortality and life expectancy by socio-economic group; differences that have come further under the spotlight during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this webinar, we will discuss how cause-of-death data from the Office for National Statistics can help us to understand how inequalities arise at the all-cause level. The key to understanding mortality inequality is to think about the chain that connects risk factors, relative risks, and cause-of-death mortality through to all-cause mortality. Mortality inequalities arise when the prevalence of specific risk factors varies significantly between geographical and socio-economic groups and where these risk factors have high relative risk associated with specific causes of death. Risk factors that can be considered to be controllable by the individual (e.g. smoking) rather than preventable (e.g. Human Papilloma Virus) or not preventable (e.g. genetic variations) are much more likely to be associated with mortality inequality. In this meeting, the panel discussed how cause-of-death mortality varies by region and deprivation group and also by Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) across England. And, with reference to specific causes, brought insights into how specific risk factors vary between groups and through time alongside other factors such as medical advances. It then concluded with some discussion of the potentially disruptive effect of Covid-19 on cause-of-death data.

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.  

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE via the ARC Webinar Series 2021 webpage.

ARC Webinar Series 2021: Modelling cancer risk: regional and socioeconomic disparities

Cancer incidence and mortality vary by region and socioeconomic status. Modelling the structure development and trends of cancer risk is important for insurance purposes and can impact pricing and reserving in related health insurance fields such as critical illness insurance and care provision. In this work we investigate cancer rates over the period 2001-2018 to quantify differences among regions and deprivation groups in England, using data from the Office for National Statistics. Under a comprehensive Bayesian model, which accounts for uncertainties in the data, we provide a detailed assessment of regional and socioeconomic disparities in cancer morbidity and mortality risk. The analysis shows considerable inequalities in some of the most prevalent types of cancer, as well as all-cancer rates, with respect to socioeconomic status by region. It also reveals that the gap among deprivation groups with the highest and lowest cancer rates has widened over time for certain types of cancer. Our research has also found that delays in the average age of cancer diagnosis can result in a significant increase in cancer mortality, that also exhibits regional variation. This can be particularly relevant to diagnosis delays under the current Covid-19 pandemic. The work discussed in this webinar is part of the Modelling, Measurement and Management of Longevity and Morbidity Risk programme.

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.  

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE via the ARC Webinar Series 2021 webpage. 

ARC Webinar Series 2021 - Use of Primary Health Care Records Data in Actuarial Research

This webinar reviews the work of the UEA/Aviva research team over the last four years on a major research programme funded by the IFoA’s Actuarial Research Centre. The research concentrated on the longevity of people with major long term medical conditions such as diabetes, transient ischaemic attack, stroke and heart attack, and assessed the effects of key treatments such as statins, blood pressure drugs and hormone replacement therapy. Analyses were based on electronic primary health care records of 3.4M patients born before 1960, extracted from The Health Improvement (THIN) data-base. Professor Elena Kulinskaya and her team describe the approaches used, lessons learned, and their main results, including development of their innovative MyLongevity app to calculate life expectancy

A recording of this webinar is available to members to watch for FREE on the VLE.  

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE via the ARC Webinar Series 2021 webpage. 

ARC Webinar Series 2021: Understanding Biases in Trustee Decision Making

What is the evidence that “behavioural” factors, such as human psychology, company culture, corporate politics and conflicts of interest, cause institutional investors to deviate from optimal behaviour? Professor Peter Ayton (Leeds University Business School) presents his findings from the first extensive research programme conducted into the decision making processes of pension fund trustees. This free-to-view webinar is the first in the IFoA’s 2021 series highlighting its commissioned research through its Actuarial Research Centre (ARC) and offers an opportunity to put questions to the panel on the practical implications for actuaries working in investments and other areas.

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE via the ARC Webinar Series 2021 webpage. 

ARC Webinar Series 2021: Introducing the new Longevity Index for England (LIFE) app

This session will explore how the new index has revealed previously uncaptured mortality inequalities by using predictive variables at a high degree of granularity. Globally renowned leader in actuarial science Professor Andrew Cairns and his co-investigator Torsten Kleinow will demonstrate the uses of new LIFE index such as the causes of high or low mortality and regional differences in mortality.

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE, 

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE via the ARC Webinar Series 2021 webpage. 

 

2019

ARC 2019 Mortality and Longevity Symposium, Longevity and Morbidity Risk programme
 

This ARC research programme is application driven, with impact and innovation in the pensions and insurance industries and beyond as its primary aims. In this video, Professor Andrew Cairns (Principal Investigator) discusses his work on LSOA mortality data and shares some findings on variations in mortality rates (by socio-economic groups and by regions) in England.

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.

Joint CIA, IFoA, SOA Webcast: Measuring Pension Plan Risk from an Economic Capital Perspective
 

Jointly sponsored by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, Society of Actuaries, and CIA, this webcast will present research that compares the risk profiles of pension plans in the UK, the US, and Canada.

At the end of this session, attendees will be able to:

  • Identify the key items that affect the financial risk of a defined benefit pension plan;
  • Compare the financial risk implications of different pension plan designs; and
  • Evaluate the impact of alternative asset mix policies on the financial risk of a pension plan.

Economic capital, the 0.5th percentile result of a stochastic projection, is the primary risk measure employed. The research examines not only the difference in economic capital requirements between typical plans in the three countries, but also its sensitivity to changes in asset allocation, contributions, and starting funded status. This webcast is part of a wider international research programme, co-sponsored by the IFoA, looking into the impact ageing populations have on asset values over long time periods and considering the potential impact on large pension plans in Canada, the UK and the United States. The research is being conducted by the University of Waterloo (Canada) and the University of Kent (UK). Further details about the research can be found here.

Speakers: Stephen Bonnar (FCIA), University of Waterloo 
Aniketh Pittea and Pradip Tapadar, School of Mathematics, Statistics & Actuarial Science, University of Kent

A recording of this webcast is available for members to listen for FREE on the VLE.

ARC Event: ERM Results Launch
 

The IFoA’s Actuarial Research Centre (ARC) held a research results launch event on the subject of Equity Release Mortgages (ERM): No Negative Equity Guarantee (NNEG) at Staple Inn Hall, London.

In July 2018, the IFoA and the Association of British Insurers (ABI), through the ARC agreed to jointly commission an independent piece of research to determine appropriate methods for determining ERM cash flows and their value.

The University of Kent led by Professor Radu Tunaru (Senior Researcher) was awarded the contract to carry out this piece of research, which is shared here.

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE on YouTube

 

ARC Webinar Series 2018

ARC Webinar Series 2018: Behavioural Aspects of Institutional Investment Decision-Making

This webinar explores the decision-making of institutional investors, in particular insurers and pension schemes, and the biases that may affect their investment decisions.

Sponsored by Aon and Invesco

Speakers: Professor Peter Ayton (City, University of London) and Dr Iain Clacher (University of Leeds).

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE via the ARC Webinar Series 2018 webpage. 

ARC Webinar Series 2018: Minimising Longevity and Investment Risk while Optimising Future Pension Plans

This webinar covers the development of pension product designs that keep customers' needs at the forefront, with a real income in retirement that minimises costs for the customer.

Speakers: Dr Catherine Donnelly (Heriot Watt University).

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE via the ARC Webinar Series 2018 webpage. 

ARC Webinar Series 2018: Modelling, Measurement and Management of Longevity and Morbidity Risk
Tuesday 2 October 2018
This webinar is about developing a new generation of mortality and morbidity models, with a specific focus on the drivers for mortality.

Speakers: Dr Torsten Kleinow (Heriot- Watt University) and Dr George Streftaris (Heriot-Watt University)

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE via the ARC Webinar Series 2018 webpage. 

ARC Webinar Series 2018: Use of Big Health and Actuarial Data for understanding Longevity and Morbidity
Monday 17 September 2018
In this webinar new statistical and actuarial methods in the use of Big Data are discussed, in the context of health and wider applications.

Speakers: Professor Elena Kulinskaya (University of East Anglia) and Co-Investigator Nigel Wright (Aviva).

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE via the ARC Webinar Series 2018 webpage. 

 

2018

ARC Sessional Reseach Event: How Medical Advances and Health Interventions Will Shape Future Longevity
Monday 25 June 2018
In this ARC sessional Professor Elena Kulinskaya will discuss her paper How Medical Advances and Health Interventions Will Shape Future Longevity which shows how estimated mortality hazards can be translated to hypothetical changes in life expectancies at the individual and population levels.

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE on YouTube.

ARC Sessional Research Event:Self-selection and Risk Sharing in a Modern World of Life-Long Annuities
Monday 14 May 2018
In this ARC sessional Professor Jens Perch Nielsen and his co-authors (from Cass Business School) find new solutions to three of the most current and challenging problems in pension research.

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE on YouTube.

ARC Sessional Research Event: Still Living with Mortality: The Longevity Risk Transfer Market after One Decade
29 January 2018
This paper updates Living with Mortality written more than a decade ago. It describes how the longevity risk transfer market has developed over the intervening period, and, in particular, how insurance-based solutions – buy-outs, buy-ins and longevity insurance – triumphed over the capital markets solutions that were expected to dominate at the time.

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE on YouTube.

 

ARC Webinar Series 2017

ARC Webinar Series 2017: Minimising Longevity and Investment Risk while optimising Future Pension Plans 
14 June 2017
This webinar is part of a series to showcase three large research programmes currently running through the ARC, which seeks to address some of the significant challenges in actuarial science.

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE on YouTube.

ARC Webinar Series 2017: Use of Big Health and Actuarial Data for understanding Longevity and Morbidity
13 June 2017
From this webinar you will learn about the objectives of this research programme and some of the early developments since its commencement in autumn 2016.

Speakers: 
Professor Elena Kulinskaya (University of East Anglia) – Principal Investigator for the research programme
Nigel Wright (Aviva)

Facilitator:
Professor Andrew Cairns (Director of the Actuarial Research Centre)

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE on YouTube.

ARC Webinar Series 2017: Modelling, Measurement and Management of Longevity and Morbidity Risk

17 May 2017
Developing a new generation of mortality and morbidity models, with a specific focus on the drivers for mortality.
Speaker: Professor Andrew Cairns, Heriot-Watt University

A recording of this webinar is available for members to watch for FREE on the VLE.

A recording of this webinar is available to non-member to watch for FREE on YouTube.

 

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