At the 2022 NAMIC Annual Convention, AAIS interviewed Pinnacle Actuarial Resources Consulting Actuary Gary Wang about issues and trends currently impacting the insurance industry. He also weighed in on future strategies and shared some advice for insurers as we move into 2023.

According to Wang, a major trend affecting the industry today that is worth watching is the explosion of data and analytics (software and processes) that allow us to leverage data. This is “competing with the need to be socially responsible in how we use data to determine what we do in insurance,” said Wang.

A major strategic focus for mutual insurers in 2023 will be their “ability to keep up in terms of the manpower and expertise needed to handle the increased sophistication required with using data and modeling techniques,” Wang stated. Future strategies will also require “business and social awareness to know that it is more than a technical solution,” he added. “Insurers need to understand the implications of applying these advanced techniques and data.”

Pinnacle is invested in staying on top of the “cutting-edge frontier” of how data is becoming available to customers as well as the advanced techniques that can be applied to study data and determine actual results and evaluation of data. Pinnacle is also, “spending a lot of time and effort studying the concepts of bias and fairness that can become a problem from using data indiscriminately,” said Wang.

To view the full interview, please click the video above.