Ratemaking Prize Awarded

BOSTON, Mass. - The winner of the 1997 Ratemaking Call Paper Program Prize is a professor at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Shaun S. Wang, Ph.D., received a $1,000 check and a plaque at an award ceremony during the CAS Ratemaking Seminar here March 13-14.

Dr. Wang's paper, "Implementation of PH-Transforms in Ratemaking" was one of four papers from the Committee on Ratemaking's call for papers presented during the Ratemaking Seminar. The CAS Forum Winter 1997 edition contains all the 1997 Ratemaking call papers.

An anonymous panel of actuaries reviewed the papers. The criteria used in the selection of the prize paper included: originality of ideas, thoroughness, understanding of complex concepts, and contribution to actuarial literature, said Nancy Braithwaite, call paper program coordinator.

Reinsurance actuaries have shown interest in the topic of PH-transforms, Wang reported. After he presented his paper at the Ratemaking Seminar, "I had some interactions with reinsurance actuaries who told me they are testing my PH-transform formula in their companies," Wang said. "I had also heard that Swiss Re has been using something similar as a pragmatic method without the theoretical concepts I presented."