IFRS 17 Conference

Keynote panel: How are firms proceeding in light of the delay to the implementation timeline and uncertainty around the final look of the standard

• What impact is the one-year delay on implementation having on resourcing/budget decisions/management & stakeholder buy in?
• With uncertainty over what might change, what decisions do you go ahead with and how long can you afford to hold off on making other decisions?
• What aspects of the current standard are causing the most concern and how would these elements need to change to allow the industry to come up with workable solutions that achieve the original objectives of IFRS 17?
• What are the likely repercussions of the delay?
• Will there be disruption to implementation projects?
• Impact on efforts to engage with investors
• Will the delay mean firms are able to achieve a better outcome with improved long-term business benefits?
• What impact will Brexit have on the UK's endorsement process?

Panellists:

Jo Clube, Group Technical Accounting Director, Aviva plc
Massimo Tosoni, Head of Group Accounting Policy & Reporting and Group Own Funds, Assicurazioni Generali SpA
Remo Cavegn, Finance Program Director, Allianz
Simen Gaarder, Group Chief Actuary, Gjensidige Forsikring ASA

Moderator: Paul Newton, Aptitude Software

Transition – Update from the Front-line

Phil will give an update direct from the Transition trenches of the practical challenges in getting the Transition calculation up and running and describe the grenades and bullets needing to be avoided in order to get the calculation completed. In particular

• Reminder of what Transition is trying to do and why is it difficult
• The different methods available
• How do you choose the different method that is the most appropriate?
• Inpractability – what is this and why it is important?
• Data, Models and assumptions – why is this important
• Commercial considerations – what do senior management really want?
• Summary and conclusions

PRACTICAL WORKED EXAMPLE: Comparison of outcomes under different approaches
Challenges specific to each of the modeling approaches will be considered as part of this exercise

Speaker: Phil King, UK Life Capital Reporting Lead, Aviva

Panel discussion: alignment and comparability: to what extent is IFRS 17 going to achieve greater comparability and alignment between business units, between entities and a greater alignment with solvency ii?

• How feasible is it to expect greater alignment and is that even what we should be aiming for?
• What approach are you taking to achieving consistency and comparability?
• Challenges given differing product characteristics, local markets and local regulations.
• Managing multiple measurement models and approaches

Panellists:

David Wilson, IFRS 17 Programme Director, Aegon UK
Rahul Verma, Methodology Lead, IFRS 17, Just Group Plc
Sandra Hack, Principal Expert, Risks and Financial Stability Department, EIOPA.

Moderator: 

Paolo Laureti, Offering Manager of Insurance solutions, IBM Risk Analytics

Systems solutions and data governance - developing an IT strategy for IFRS 17 that goes above and beyond compliance

• Do we clearly understand what the systems need to deliver in order to meet the Standard's requirements?
• Reviewing existing operating models – to what extent do we have the systems to support this?
• Taking a holistic view of your data governance and working towards centralized data.
• Decision making against the backdrop of an absence of industry agreements and the untested nature of the software
• Future proofing your systems
• Given the short timeline for implementation, lack of clarity surrounding certain technical aspects of the standard and pressure on budget and resources – is straightforward compliance the maximum most firms can aim for?
• How can we move beyond compliance and leverage IT and infrastructure choices to bring true added value to the way the business is managed?

Speaker: Karthik Thilak, IFRS17/9 Global Program Director, Zurich

Finance Transformation driven by IFRS 17

• Doing IFRS 17 by extending the actuarial systems: what are the opportunities and the risks extending the actuarial models to perform the IFRS 17 calculations?
• Is the Contractual Service Margin (CSM) a concern only for life insurers?
• Can P&Cs take a light approach when targeting to use the Premium Allocation Approach (PAA)?
• IFRS 17 is an accounting standard with an actuarial interpretation of the numbers: why and how should actuaries and accountants collaborate
• Introducing a Target Operating Model that enables value added Finance Transformation projects.

 Speaker: Massimiliano Neri, IFRS 17 Lead, Moody's Analytics

Breakout sessions – Your opportunity to benchmark with peers and together work towards an industry alignment in the way firms interpret and implement IFRS 17

WORKING GROUP A

In practice: spotlight on methodology choices and challenges specific to short duration contracts 

10-minute presentation followed by open discussion:

• Insurance companies with PAA portfolios need to implement the functionality of the General Model?
• PAA eligibility criteria: what does it mean that the liability for remaining coverage is not materiality different than that measured under the General Model?
• Actionable eligibility criteria
• Onerous contracts on initial recognition
• Contract level vs group-level assessment
• Quantifying materiality
• Onerous contracts test
• facts and circumstances triggering the onerous contracts test
•  Judgment and proxies used in conducting the onerous contract test
• Other PAA methodology choices and complexities

Facilitator: Pawel Wozniak, IFRS 17 Consultant, 3Blocks Ltd

WORKING GROUP B

In practice: spotlight on methodology choices and challenges specific to long duration contracts

10-minute presentation followed by open discussion:

• Taking a steer on the areas of judgement and how these design choices will impact the way profit is ultimately recognized
• Calculating the risk adjustment
• Constructing the insurance contract discount rate
• Coverage units

Facilitator: Brian Birch, Interim Insurance Finance Consultant, FINANCE TRANSFORMATION SUCCESS LIMITED

Q&A with Darrel Scott, Board Member, IASB

Panel discussion: Expectations on reporting and numbers & engagement with external stakeholders

• What will be required of the CFO?
• What building blocks need to be in place now to assist the CFO in meeting these expectations when the time comes?
• How can the finance team prepare for the demands on governance around the accountancy?
• The analyst perspective – what are the analysts expectations in terms of reporting and numbers?
• Challenges for the analyst given lack of industry alignment
• Engagement with external stakeholders – what plans are in place to prepare analysts for the change?
• What level of engagement is feasible at this stage? And how do you ensure engagement is effective particularly given the long lead-time?
• Communicating your company's implementation approach and the impact that IFRS 17 will have on the balance sheet and to what extent we can expect the view on profit recognition to change
• To what extent is uncertainty over implementation and final scope hindering the ability to engage with external stakeholders (investors and analysts)?

Panelists:

Erich Kruschitz, Head of Group Finance, UNIQA Insurance Group
Hadley Cohen, Analyst, European Insurance Team, Deutsche Bank
Jo Clube, Group Technical Accounting Director, Aviva plc

Moderator:Cintia Cheong, Staff Writer, InsuranceERM

Understanding the impact of IFRS 17 on reinsurance strategies/contracts

• What are the main changes in the way reinsurance contracts are treated under IFRS 17?
• Wording around renewals and notice periods: how will this affect contract boundaries of the cover thus impacting the measurement model
• Understanding complexities related to estimating the value of underlying business not written yet for proportionate covers
• Approaches to managing potential mismatches in duration
• Matching reinsurance covers to the underlying business model
• Reshaping/redesign reinsurance cover/contracts (eg RAD covers)
• Could this signify a material change to the traditional reinsurance model in the future?
• In the instance that the IASB reopens the standard, how might the way reinsurance contracts are treated in the current proposal be amended to allow the industry to come up with workable solutions that also achieve the original objectives of IFRS 17?
• Will the new financial statements be understandable to users when we see a new way of presenting reinsurance (no gross and ceded bases)?

Speaker: Dr. Florian Gallasch, Head of Methodological Workstream IFRS 17, Munich Re

Panel discussion: Resourcing considerations and fostering cross functional communication

• Who are the key internal stakeholders and how can their early involvement be key to the success and timely delivery of the project?
• Structuring your project in the most efficient way to be able take a holistic view and eradicate the silo approach.
• Creating opportunities for cross functional communication and a culture of collaboration
• How effective is communication with the board?
• Do they clearly understand the scale of the work and the scale of the budget required to meet the IFRS 17 implementation deadline?
• If not, why not and how can communication be improved?
• Aligning global implementation with local implementation
• How are firms resourcing IFRS 17 now and in the years to come?
• How do you make plans for resources when there is still uncertainty surrounding timelines and technical issues?
• Profiling the skills required
• Competition for talent - Overcoming the labor shortage & lack of relevant skills
• What are the considerations in calculating an IFRS 17 budget?

Panelists:

Erich Kruschitz, Head of Group Finance, UNIQA Insurance Group
Tony O'Riordan, CFO, New Ireland Assurance
David Wilson, IFRS 17 Programme Director, Aegon UK

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

Elephant in the room: IFRS 17 and the matching adjustment

Solvency II was originally a market consistent regime for the regulatory balance sheet, and much of its original wording followed IFRS standards. This was since watered down by an addendum to Article 77 of the Solvency II directive, known as ‘Matching Adjustment’. IFRS 17 has a similar provision to Article 77, but has much stronger standards on market consistency. Will this lead to a divergence between regulatory and statutory balance sheets? Could there be a serious impact on UK insurers? The presentation will cover

• History of Solvency II and Matching Adjustment
• Corresponding provisions in IFRS 17
• Potential divergence of regulatory and statutory reporting
• Scenarios for reported solvency of UK insurers

Speaker:

Dean Buckner, Co-founder EUMAEUS, Director, Leasehold Knowledge Partnership and former Senior Technical Specialist, PRA

The interplay between IFRS 17 and IFRS 9

• Lessons learned from the banks implementation of IFRS 9
• How will the interplay of these two standards impact long-term investments and financial stability?
• What are the key decisions that are common between IFRS 17 and 9
• Accounting for equity holdings in IFRS 9
• What is the impact of the delay to the implementation date?

Speaker: 

Fredré Ferreira, Senior Technical Manager, EFRAG

Panel discussion: Impact of IFRS 17 on business steering

• What happens when your KPIs and the way you manage the business don't align with the accounting models?
• What would new KPIs look like?
• What will this mean for the way insurance businesses are run in the long term?
• How will the new KPIs affect credit ratings?
• What impact will IFRS 17 have on long term investments & financial stability
• Possible impacts in capital
• Product design & product pricing: using knowledge and understanding of IFRS 17 to challenge/influence/improve product design
• How will IFRS 17 impact new product design?
• Will some products become unviable?
• What are the key product design features that might change
• Cost of innovation under IFRS 17

Panelists:

Remo Cavegn, Finance Program Director, Allianz
Peter Telford, Enterprise Risk Director, Legal & General
Stefan Gfeller, PPM Transformation Lead – IFRS 17/9, Group Planning & Performance Management, Zurich Insurance Group
Massimo Tosoni, Head of Group Accounting Policy & Reporting and Group Own Funds, Assicurazioni Generali SpA

Moderator: Chris Cundy, Managing Editor, InsuranceERM and Insurance Asset Risk

End of conference