SCOR has presented its 2024 Actuarial Awards across seven countries, continuing its annual recognition of outstanding actuarial research.
Since 1996, the awards have aimed to advance actuarial science, encourage research, and enhance understanding of risk management. This year marks the introduction of a new Asia-Pacific award program, as well as the launch of a scholarship initiative for actuarial undergraduates in the UK.
The awards, supported in France by the SCOR Corporate Foundation for Science, are judged by international researchers and professionals in insurance, reinsurance, and finance.
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Winners are chosen for their mastery of actuarial concepts, analytical methods, and the practical applications of their work in risk management.
Thierry Léger (pictured above), CEO of SCOR, highlighted the role of actuarial research in addressing evolving risks and described the awards as part of SCOR's commitment to expanding the frontiers of insurability.
“Our Actuarial Awards have been supporting actuarial science for the past 28 years. By expanding their reach to Asia-Pacific and creating a scholarship program for actuarial undergraduates in the UK, we are fortifying SCOR’s firm commitment to pushing back the frontiers of insurability and contributing to the welfare, resilience, and sustainable development of society,” Léger said.
On Oct. 3, SCOR’s chief risk officer, Fabian Uffer, presented the Swiss Actuarial Award in Zurich during a conference held with the Swiss Association of Actuaries. The award went to Dr Simona Meiler of ETH Zurich for her doctoral thesis, "Unraveling unknowns in tropical cyclone risk assessment."
In Stockholm on Oct. 11, the Actuarial Award for Sweden was presented at the SCOR Sweden Re Nordic Life Insurance Conference. The prize was awarded to Vilma Guevara Härkönen of Stockholm University for her master’s thesis, "On Claims Reserving with Machine Learning Techniques."*
On Nov. 18, Germany’s Actuarial Awards were presented in Mannheim. Robin Sell of the University of Cologne won first prize for his master’s thesis, "Spectral Decomposition in Fixed Income: Leveraging Principal Components for Portfolio Analysis and Macroeconomic Interpretation."
Dr Yusha Chen of Ulm University and Anna Ströse of TH Rosenheim were also recognized for their respective doctoral and bachelor’s theses.
In the newly launched Asia-Pacific awards, presented on Nov. 27 in Sydney and November 28 in Singapore, Michelle Kundai Vhudzijena of UNSW in Sydney won first prize for her doctoral work on "Modeling mortality heterogeneity using health trajectories and multimorbidity."
Dr Yanbin Xu of Nanyang Technological University Singapore was awarded second prize for his thesis on "Climate change and sustainability: An actuarial risk management perspective."
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Italy’s awards were presented in Milan on Dec. 11. Beatrice Parravicini of Università Cattolica received recognition for her master’s thesis, "Parametric insurance coverages against natural catastrophe risks: a new risk transfer solution in a world of climate extremes."
Lorenzo Zubin of the University of Trieste was also awarded for his work on regime-switching models in mass lapse risk assessment.
On Dec. 11 in Paris, the French Actuarial Awards were presented during an annual actuarial conference organized with the French Institute of Actuaries. Sébastien Farkas of Sorbonne University received the "Prix des Jeunes Docteurs" for his doctoral research on "Mathematics applied to the insurance of digital risks."
Nicxan Hensman Stalin of Université Paris Dauphine-PSL was recognized with the "Prix des Jeunes Actuaires" for his thesis on hurricane exposure modeling in the United States.
SCOR has invited researchers to submit their work for the 2025 Actuarial Awards, including the biennial Iberian Peninsula awards. Applications for the UK scholarship program will open in January 2025.
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