Insurers faced a substantial workload and increasing costs ahead of IFRS 17 going live on 1 January 2023. Selecting an appropriate consultancy to help implement the standard has therefore become critical for many insurers.

PwC clearly got a grip of the relevant services required by its clients as it secured the IFRS 17 Consultancy of the Year title.

The firm currently has over 3000 live projects related to the standard and over 3200 of its practitioners are supporting 17 clients with their IFRS 17 change programmes.

PwC says its multidisciplinary team has been supporting clients at every step of the IFRS 17 implementation process.

"Whether seeking support on technical interpretations, operational solutions or delivery approaches, clients have been looking to reduce the risk profile of their programmes, while continuing to gain as much depth and insight as possible on the financial and operational implications to drive decision-making and external communications," says Brian O'Loughlin, finance consulting director at PwC.

Despite the success, O'Loughlin adds "delivery is not over yet", and in addition to supporting clients with further compliance and execution, it is also looking to "remediate, refine and recalibrate solutions" as IFRS 17 becomes the operational norm.

"We know that while [the] primary focus for many clients has been ensuring day one compliance, conversations are now moving towards the implications for pricing and product strategy, and how business decision-making may change as a result, he says."

PwC's future plans will draw upon its IFRS 17 experiences as it looks to broaden and deepen its advisory capabilities.

"IFRS 17 implementation has been a lesson to all that the finance function needs to be resilient, agile, scalable and sustainable with people organised around technology from both a technical and operational perspective," says O'Loughlin.