University students in Latin America have long shown strong interest in CAS programs. This was clearly demonstrated by the demand for participation in the Latin American cohorts of the CAS Student Central Summer Program over the past two years. As part of that program, students had access to lectures from the highly knowledgeable CAS members in topics including pricing, reserving, data visualization, soft skills and many more. In addition, they took part in a case competition that happened at the end of the program. The program was held entirely in English, but the mentor-led cohorts from Latin America had weekly meetings with mentors in either Portuguese or Spanish, which was important to keep students engaged and allowed them to ask questions in their native language. 

Inspired by the success of the CAS Student Central Summer Program, the Latin America Regional Working Group (LARWG) took the initiative to develop case competitions dedicated to university students in the region, 100% hosted in their native languages. There were two events happening in parallel: one in Portuguese, dedicated to students in Brazil, and one in Spanish for most of the other Latin American countries. 

Did you know?  

Latin America is experiencing robust growth in general insurance markets. In their “Latin American Market Report 2024,” Swiss Re reported that total insurance premiums rose by an estimated 7.6% in real terms in 2024, and projections indicate a 3.8% increase in 2025. This expansion is supported by stable operating environments and economic growth across the region. The actuarial profession is playing a key role in this development by providing expertise in risk management and financial modeling to support the growing insurance sector.  

The competitions had students act as a part of a hypothetical consulting company serving a property insurer that was looking for better ways to visualize data related to its exposure to flood risk and seeking to improve its long-term profitability. The competition judges acted as actuarial and underwriting executives of the insurer; they received the work product of their consultants through 15-minute presentations followed by five minutes of Q&A. 

The competitions were incredibly successful and engaged Latin American university students in record numbers. The one conducted in Portuguese had 19 teams registered, with a total of 82 students representing 11 universities throughout Brazil. The one in Spanish had 33 teams registered, with a total of 138 students representing 11 universities in five different countries (Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru). 

Besides the unique opportunity to apply academic knowledge to a realistic business problem in P&C insurance, students were also attracted by valuable prizes, including free exam and DISC registrations, cash prizes and access to exam study materials. Each winning team also received a trophy, which we hope they will proudly display in their universities to inspire future students to engage with the CAS and participate in future competitions. 

Hosting competitions in Latin America for the first time with an overwhelmingly positive response required many people to come together: 

• Swiss Re and Addactis were the corporate sponsors for the Portuguese and Spanish competitions, respectively. In addition to funding a significant portion of prizes, one actuary from each company — Ana Carolina Alves and Juan Ignacio de Oyarbide — actively participated in the organizing committee and acted as judges.
• LARWG volunteers went above and beyond on the creation of a brand-new case for analysis, outreach activities for sponsors, universities and students, and the implementation of a thorough logistics and communications plan to make these competitions possible. CAS Fellows Roberto Pérez, Fernando Alvarado and Celeste Bremen demonstrated their passion for the cause through their incredible engagement.
• Besides judges representing the sponsors and the CAS, the competition also relied on local industry expertise from judges representing various actuarial organizations in Latin America: Claudia Ribeiro, AFFI, MIBA (Brazil); Leonardo Dufour (Argentina); Andrés Vesga (Colombia); and Eduardo Esteva, AFFI (Mexico).
• Katie Mulembe, CAS Director of International Relations, provided strong support for the competition, and delivered prizes and certificates to participants.
• University professors from 22 universities throughout Latin America acted as mentors to their students, supporting an extracurricular activity and, in many cases, joining in to listen to their team’s presentation to the judges. I would like to extend a special acknowledgement to the mentors of the winning teams: Dr. Máris Caroline Gosmann (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) and Dr. María de los Angeles Yáñez Acosta (Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México).

The LARWG is grateful for the engagement of the CAS community and hopes to be able to turn the competition into an annual tradition. The group wants to bring additional educational opportunities to future cohorts of the actuarial students in Latin America and to continuously raise awareness of the CAS in the region.

Rafael Costa, FCAS, is staff risk engineer for Cruise.