CAS Members to Hold Annual Meeting North of the Border

by Andrew E. Kudera

The 1998 CAS Annual Meeting will be held November 8-11 at Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel and Towers in Toronto, Ontario. Toronto is Canada's largest city and features a spellbinding skyline. The city itself is Victorian with a glassy postmodern downtown.

The featured speaker is Alan J. Parisee, an authority on leadership in changing times. Mr. Parisee has been a guest lecturer at Stanford and Wharton, and is the author of numerous articles and four technical books. His ideas have been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Barron's, and Executive Excellence. He is currently writing a book on the paradoxes of our time.

There will be four general sessions. Monday's general session, "Dynamic Capital Adequacy Testing," will explore the evolution of financial evaluation in Canada from its beginnings in the life area to its current applicability in the property and casualty arena. It will also discuss financial reporting issues such as earmarked surplus and the fair value of liabilities. Wednesday's general session, "Globalization," will discuss how the insurance industry is adapting to the changes that are precipitated by an increasingly global economy. Perspectives will be presented by several senior insurance and reinsurance executives and a regulator.

Two other general sessions will be presented concurrently on Tuesday. "Integrating Financial and Insurance Products," will discuss the increasing use of the combination of financial and insurance products by organizations to effectively manage their exposure to loss. This session will also discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by those organizations that provide these products. "The Actuary and Insurance Fraud," will discuss recent trends and improvements in technology in combating fraud. It will also discuss how insurance companies are using these improvements to reduce fraud.

Some of the concurrent sessions currently planned include "Canadian Catastrophes," "Can We Talk," "Electronic Commerce," and "Mergers and Acquisitions: A Case Study." Attendees will also be able to participate in sessions on "Actuarial Supply and Demand," "Financial Guaranty Products," "Securitization of Non-Catastrophic Risks," and "Year 2000 Issues." Other concurrent sessions will look at the current events in the automobile and workers compensation markets. As usual, attendees will have the opportunity to discuss issues with the CAS Board of Directors.

The winner of the Charles A. Hachmeister Prize will be announced and attendees will have the opportunity to attend a session that discusses the winning paper. Attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in several sessions that cover the newly accepted Proceedings papers.

On Tuesday evening members and guests are invited to a reception and dinner at the Royal Ontario Museum, which is noted for its large collection of dinosaurs. The entire museum will be open for tours during the evening.

More detailed information for the 1998 Annual Meeting, including the preliminary program and registration information, will be mailed in September.