IFRS 17 Conference 2021 (Virtual)

PANEL DISCUSSION: THE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS

• What are the main take- aways from the EU draft Endorsement advice?
• Do you agree with their stance on:
• Requirement to apply annual cohorts to intergenerationally – mutualized and cashflow matched contracts – where is the way forward?
• Synergies between IFRS 17 & SII
• Treatment of reinsurance and accounting mismatches
• How are you linking in your IFRS 17 changes to other potential IASB changes?
• IASB General Presentation and Disclosures Exposure draft
• IFRS 9 vs IFRS 17 implementation
• What impact, if any, has the EU endorsement advice had on your implementation programme/strategy?
• What do these latest updates mean for alignment on interpretation and the outlook for comparability?
• Update on the UK endorsement process – can we expect the UK to follow European endorsement advice?
• Any UK specific considerations we can/should expect?
• With-profits considerations
• What are the implications if the EU adopts its own version of IFRS 17 instead of the version issued by the IASB? What do companies that would need to comply with both versions do? And what if UK adopts a different version again?

Panellists:
Jo Clube, Group Technical Accounting Director, Aviva
Olav Jones, Deputy Director General, Insurance Europe
Peter Drummond, Senior Project Director, UK Endorsement Board

Moderator: Vitalina Kobernik, Audit Director - FS Insurance, Mazars

PANEL DISCUSSION : GOVERNANCE AND REGULATION OF IFRS 17

• How do we think regulation should/will evolve regarding IFRS 17?
• Is it going to be a straight switch? Or will regulators require old reporting for a few years?
• How do different regions differ in their approach to this?
• How are different regulatory environments approaching the issue of reinsurance?
• How do these future decisions impact decisions right now
• What does the best possible statutory framework for auditors and actuaries look like?
• Should there be a defined statutory role for actuaries in preparing and auditing accounts under IFRS 17 as per the proposal by the Actuarial Association of Europe?
• Would this help with achieving a more harmonized approach?
• Interaction with risk-based regimes
• IFRS and Solvency alignment –missed opportunity?

Panellists:
Daphne De Leval, Head of Risk Monitoring, Belfius Insurance & Vice Chair, Insurance Committee of the AAE
Oscar Kitasoboka, Chief Actuary, The Central Bank of the UAE
Peter Windsor, Senior Financial Sector Expert, International Monetary Fund

Moderator: Alex Bertolotti, Partner, UK Insurance Leader and Global IFRS 17 Lead PwC

PANEL DISCUSSION: CHALLENGES SURROUNDING THE TRANSITION BALANCE SHEET

• How have firms assessed the options and selected their approach?
• What are the key drivers in deciding strategy?
• How much flexibility do firms really have?
• How are auditors viewing the transition balance sheet and the strategies selected

• In which areas did it prove more challenging to gain approval from the auditor?
• What are the arguments for simplification that are acceptable in the transition process?
• Barriers to comparability

Panellists:
David Wilson, IFRS 17 Programme Director, Aegon UK
John Bowers, Consulting Director, EMEA, RNA Analytics
Richard Rees, IFRS 17 Technical Lead, QBE

Moderator: Ronan McCaughey, Commercial Editor and Deputy Editor, InsuranceERM

CASE STUDY – ALIGNING IFRS 17 AND BROADER FINANCE TRANSFORMATION

• IFRS 17 as a catalyst for broader change – is IFRS 17 a valid driver for large-scale business and systems change?
• Has the delay to the IFRS 17 effective date increased the appetite for large-scale finance transformation.
• What realistic goals should you have and how do you assess the cost/benefit to a full finance transformation project?
• How do you ensure that you align transformation targets with IFRS 17?
• What are the implications for the strategy as a whole?
• Key project management challenges and considerations?
• Data warehouse
• Outsourcing models
• What different approaches are firms taking?
• What does this mean for the strategy as a whole?
• Viewing technical issues about IFRS 17 in the context of wider considerations

Speaker: Kamran Foroughi, Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, Global IFRS 17 Advisory Leader

PANEL DISCUSSION: DISCLOSURES AND KPIs

• What might meaningful KPIs look like?
• Priority areas regarding the development of KPIs under IFRS 17
• Feedback from the CFO Forum KPI working group.
• Where are we in the quest for industry alignment on KPIs? – the challenge of industry alignment
• What are analyst expectations on KPIs?
• Will there be a need for legacy KPIs in the bedding in process?
• Where are bridging disclosures necessary?
• How might insight into a steer on what these KPIs might look like help influence implementation and process decisions right now?
• Roadmap and timeline to implementation of KPIs
• Realizing operational benefits from effective KPIs
• Internal metrics and what this means for our reporting system

Panellists:
Andrew Halim, Head of Accounting Policy, Hiscox
Arnold Van Welsum, Senior Programme Manager IFRS 9/17 and 1Finance (Finance Transformation), Achmea
Brian Heale, Senior Insurance/IFRS 17 Consultant, Aptitude Software
Jon Neale, IFRS 17 Technical Actuarial Lead, Pension Insurance Corporation
Jo Clube, Group Technical Accounting Director, Aviva

Moderator: Cintia Cheong, Senior Staff Writer, InsuranceERM

THE IFRS 17 JOURNEY – A CASE STUDY

• Where are you in the journey?
• What have been the key challenges and what is on the 'To Do' list right now?
• Feedback from dry runs – what issues have arisen and how are you addressing them?
• What level of data challenges have you faced?
• What financial impacts are you seeing and how are you responding?
• Priorities for the next 2 years – how do you make the most effective use of your time
• Hopes, expectations and reality.
• What impact if any has Covid-19 had on the plan/strategy?
• Advice to any firms early on in the stages of the journey. – if you have not started yet, how do you hit the ground running and be on target for 1/1/23?

Speaker: Bernhard Pfahnl, IFRS 17/9 Program Leader & Executive Assistant to CFO, Vienna Insurance Group

PANEL DISCUSSION: TRANSITIONING TO BUSINESS AS USUAL – WHAT CHANGES DO WE NEED TO MAKE TO THE OPERATING MODEL?

• How do we envisage the Target Operating Model to look and how do we intend to move to that stage?
• What changes to the operating model are you anticipating and preparing for?
• Optimising the closing process
• Understanding the wider business impacts on pricing and underwriting
• How are firms preparing processes and systems for the business as usual stage?
• Where are the priorities?
• How are you aligning with your other finance and business priorities?
• Resource requirements
• Skillset/size of teams
• Internal vs outsourcing considerations.
• Managing Knowledge transfer
• Onboarding internal stakeholders – who are they and how to approach and engage effectively
• Structuring a training programme

Panellists:
Oscar Kitasoboka, Chief Actuary, The Central Bank of the UAE
Sebastien Crouzet, Global Programme Director IFRS 17 & 9, Zurich
Stephen Bishop, Munich Re
Zeljko Strkalj, Global IFRS 17 Programme Director, Chubb

Moderator: Jeremy Marchant, Head of Aptitude Software, Pre-Sales, International, Aptitude Software

USERS AND PREPARERS IN CONVERSATION

• Is IFRS 17 providing us with the information it claimed it would?
• Stakeholder management and meaningful engagement -both internal and external
• Auditing IFRS 17 – what does the ideal IFRS 17 auditing framework look like?
• Progress update on where we are in terms of finding an industry consensus
• What processes will be in scope for auditing? What extra processes will we need to deliver to audit?
• Where do auditors expect things will go and are insurance firms currently on track to meet auditing expectations/requirements? If not, where are the gaps?
• Treatment of reinsurance contracts under IFRS 17
• Defining facts and circumstances when assessing onerous contracts under IFRS 17
• How will rating agencies need to change their methodology and approach to rating companies
• How can the industry best engage and inform rating agencies to help with this process?

Panellists:
Claudia Gaspari, Director and Equity Analyst, Barclays Capital
Eelain Ong, Global Finance Director/CFO, DHL Insurance
Stuart Reilly, IFRS 17 Product Owner, Direct Line Group

Moderator: Mary Trussell, Global Lead Partner for Insurance Accounting Change, KPMG

BREAKOUT INTERACTIVE DISCUSSION GROUP A - A SPOTLIGHT ON KEY CHALLENGES FOR NON-LIFE FIRMS

Participate in an open discussion, ask questions, share your experiences

Panellists:
Anthony Hams, Head of Group Provisioning, Atradius
Steffen Hoffmann, Head of IFRS 17 Staff Unit in Group Finance and Accounting, VIG
Stuart Reilly, IFRS 17 Product Owner, Direct Line Group

Moderator: Alice Boreman, Director, EMEIA - Insurance Risk and Actuarial Services, Ernst & Young LLP

BREAKOUT INTERACTIVE DISCUSSION GROUP B - A SPOTLIGHT ON KEY CHALLENGES FOR LIFE FIRMS

• Participate in an open discussion, ask questions, share your experiences.

Panellists: 
Alexandre Tzenev, Managing Director, Financial Solutions EMEA, Scor
Simon Miedema, Senior Financial Reporting Specialist, Aegon Nederland
Tijn Schulting, Head of Actuarial Function, Nordea Life and Pensions

Moderator: Simon Perry, Head of Life Insurance Actuarial and Risk, FSA, Grant Thornton, UK LLP