Since being elected in 2023, I have had the opportunity to learn and experience many aspects of the CAS that I had little exposure to previously. This includes the CAS’s presence, influence and growth in areas outside the U.S. Although my career has been focused within the U.S., I have come to appreciate the many ways that our international engagement benefits all of us and makes our profession stronger. In this article, I’d like to share some of the things that I have learned.
About 20% of CAS membership today is currently located outside the U.S.
Today there are more than 2,000 CAS members in other countries. The largest of these is Canada, where more than 1,300 members live and work — a number that has more than doubled over the past 10 years. While our affiliation with the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) has existed for many years — long before I became an actuary — this recent significant growth demonstrates the value the CAS brings to this major North American market. This year, we will join with our colleagues in Canada to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the CIA. I look forward to continuing to strengthen this long-standing relationship.
There are now more than 600 CAS members outside the U.S., Canada and Bermuda — a number that has also doubled over the past 10 years, with accelerating growth in more recent years.
We are also seeing rapid growth in other parts of the world. There are now more than 600 CAS members outside the U.S., Canada and Bermuda — a number that has also doubled over the past 10 years, with accelerating growth in more recent years. Much of that growth is happening in China, where 36% of our international candidates and 28% of our international members are located.
The CAS is increasingly recognized by P&C/general insurance practitioners in many countries, and many want to affiliate with us.
Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to meet many actuaries who practice in countries outside the U.S. and Canada. I have been impressed with how many experienced actuaries follow the CAS publications and education offerings. They rely on us to develop their own skills and expertise in general insurance. And many of them want to become a more formal part of our Society.
To help address this need, the CAS recently enhanced our Affiliate Membership program. This level of membership is an opportunity for established actuaries from around the world to tap into the CAS community and depth of professional education resources. In 2024 we made improvements to the application process to gain Affiliate status. We also increased marketing at international events to help more professionals learn about this opportunity. In just a few months after we implemented these changes, we saw a 33% increase in Affiliates, drawing in new Affiliate members from Brazil, China, Germany, India, the Philippines and other countries.
CAS engagement in international markets elevates general insurance practitioners.
One of the things I didn’t realize is how limited the continuing education resources are for general insurance actuaries outside the U.S. and Canada. In many nations, the actuarial profession is dominated by life insurance. As a result, their local actuarial associations often provide little educational content that focuses on issues and applications within general insurance. However, when the CAS engages there, we bring expertise and many educational offerings that enable the actuaries to elevate their skills and increase their influence in their growing general insurance sectors.
For example, the CAS sponsored the General Insurance Summit in Hangzhou, China, in 2024 — truly a unique offering — to have an entire day focused on general insurance topics for actuaries. It was attended by more than 150 CAS members and candidates from across China. Topics presented at the summit demonstrated the CAS’s leadership in emerging P&C topics, such as AI, catastrophe modeling, climate risk, electric vehicles and more. This forum also demonstrated the demand for expertise that we are uniquely able to deliver.
International students and university faculty are very interested in the CAS and general insurance.
One of the most remarkable ways that the CAS is extending its reach is through students and universities around the world. Our Student Central Summer Program has evolved to over three formats to suit the needs of a broader array of students. In 2024, we held the Mentor-led Summer Program, the Independent Study Program and the East Asia Summer Program. Each format provides students with the opportunity to learn and apply actuarial techniques to real-world problems — similar in many ways to an internship experience. More than 450 students across 30 countries graduated from this program last year.
I had the opportunity to meet students from the University of Lagos in Nigeria who participated in this program last year. They all spoke very highly of their experience. They enjoyed building on their academic experience and deepening their interest and commitment to pursuing an actuarial career in general insurance.
The CAS is also building the skills and expertise of university faculty to teach general insurance topics. In October 2024, we held our first-ever CAS Teaching Summit in Malaysia, attracting faculty members from 23 universities across Asia to explore the opportunities to enhance the span of general insurance topics covered in the classroom. Participants exchanged best practices and learned about proven teaching methodologies, enabling them to better train future general insurance actuaries in their countries.
In addition, the CAS implemented an International University Recognition Program to highlight universities that are committed to providing students with a strong foundation in general insurance and resources to help them improve their academic offerings. We now have 18 international universities enrolled in this new program, located in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Nepal and Thailand.
Our international engagement positively impacts our educational offerings for all members.
I’ve come to appreciate how many innovations and advancements in our profession have developed outside the U.S. before taking root in the U.S. Early in my career, I saw this happen with the rapid development of generalized linear models in actuarial practice in Europe and the U.K., several years before these essential tools became commonplace in the U.S. Today there are developments in a variety of areas that are happening at a different pace in other countries, such as the adoption of electric vehicles, the pressure to address climate challenges and the integration of AI-based methods into actuarial practice. The CAS has active working groups addressing each of these topics, with significant involvement from members outside the U.S. This demonstrates how the CAS can become the preferred community for actuaries in general insurance to exchange ideas in these and other advancements. As we do so, we will all benefit by advancing our capabilities and expertise in the dynamic world of P&C/general insurance.
The more I have learned about the CAS’s international reach and growth, the more enthusiastic I have become about our profession’s ability to grow globally and benefit economies around the world. And I’ve seen many ways that the Envisioned Future in our Strategic Plan is coming to life — CAS members are sought after globally for their insights and ability to apply analytics to solve insurance and risk management problems.
