CAS Members Encouraged to Attend International Meetings

by Abbe S. Bensimon

Casualty actuaries increasingly deal with global issues as technology shrinks distance and countries attract foreign industry.  The CAS is creating new opportunities to meet actuaries from other countries.  At these meetings, we can better understand the worldwide marketplace and deepen our society's influence on the international insurance industry.  Two special CAS events are coming up soon: the first is the CAS/GIRO seminar in October 2001, and the second is the 27^th International Congress of Actuaries in March 2002.

At the CAS/GIRO seminar, October 3-5 of this year, CAS members will have the chance to meet many European actuaries in Glasgow, Scotland.  In a future issue of The Actuarial Review we will provide details of the program that Alan Hines and the Committee on Special Interest Seminars have been planning.  This would be an excellent opportunity to familiarize yourself with casualty actuarial practice in Europe. Please mark this event on your calendar now.

Another opportunity will take place March 17-24, 2002: the 27^th International Congress of Actuaries (ICA).  The CAS, through our liaison Michael Bayard Smith and the Joint Program Committee for Reinsurance Seminars, has actively helped in the planning of this event, which brings the worldwide actuarial community almost into our own backyard—Cancún, Mexico!  The ICA has been working intensely over the past decade to create a program of superlative educational content covering a broad array of international actuarial topics.

At International Congresses, actuaries become more aware of the global nature of our profession, understanding better the common issues in various countries and the diversity of problems that actuarial science can solve.  About 2,000 actuaries and accompanying persons are expected in beautiful Cancún at the time of the vernal equinox.  This meeting offers unparalleled opportunities for professional growth, intellectual stimulation, and international social interaction.  The ASTIN organization will hold its annual meeting at the end of the Congress week. At the beginning of the week, the CAS will be sponsoring a continuing education track on reinsurance from the perspective of both reinsurers and primary companies.  An event that takes place only once in four years, the International Congress of Actuaries is not to be missed by casualty actuaries!  Do look for the ICA's bulletin for the meeting in Cancún, and REGISTER.  Please help us make this first International Congress of the millennium a total success.