The Future of Financial Reporting for Insurers: IFRS 17 and Beyond

Welcome remarks

Panel Discussion: Evaluating the approaches taken by insurers to IFRS 17 in light of Full Year 2023 disclosures – Differences in policy choices, methodologies and KPIs and the reasons behind them

• What trends are we seeing in the choice of transition method, selection of measurement model, approaches to discount rates, CSM and risk adjustment calculations?
• Are insurers providing sufficiently detailed and transparent explanations of accounting policy choices and actuarial judgements to enable comparability of performance?
• Different approaches to classification of onerous contracts and the rationale behind them
• Development and use of KPIs in disclosures (including approaches to disclosure of the CSM and definition of operating result) - How will KPIs continue to evolve over the next year?
• What approaches are insurers taking to development of credible and comparable Adjusted Operating Profit measures?
• Will we see harmonisation in approaches and an increase in comparability over the next couple of years?
• Convergence between IFRS 17 and Solvency II valuation approaches - Will Solvency UK have a knock-on impact IFRS 17 methodologies?

Moderator:
Chris Cundy, Managing Editor, InsuranceERM

Panellists:
Asim Vikram Ghosh, L&G Retail IFRS17 Lead, Legal & General Group
Bob Owel, Technical Associate Partner & Vice Chair of Insurance Contracts Topic Team, KPMG
David Wilson, Financial Reporting Director, Aegon UK
Gunn Albertsen, Actuary, Storebrand Livsforsikring AS

Panel Discussion: Exploring the results - How has IFRS 17 impacted insurers’ 2023 financial results and what conclusions can we draw so far?

• Based on available Full Year 2023 disclosures, what trends are we seeing within and between life, general insurers and reinsurers? Are any surprises emerging from reported results?
• How does the quality and granularity of both quantitative and qualitative disclosures vary?
• What impact are we seeing with regards to shareholders' equity and Adjusted Operating Profit?
• What impact is the Contractual Service Margin having on results?
• How have results been impacted by volatility and how well are firms explaining these changes to stakeholders?
• How confident are preparers in explaining their results to senior management and investors?
• How is the comparability of results? Is IFRS 17 succeeding in improving consistency and comparability?

Moderator:
Paul Walsh, Senior Staff Writer, Insurance ERM

Panellists:
Alberto Messina, Director, Insurance, Fitch Ratings
Jignesh Mistry, Actuarial Director, PwC
Jo Clube, Director of Finance Technical, Aviva Plc
Rachel Cromarty, Director, Actuarial Services, Ernst & Young

Panel Discussion: How are auditors managing the transition to IFRS 17 and engaging with insurers to address key priorities and challenges?

• How are auditors coping with their first full year IFRS 17 audits? Where have the main pain points been?
• Where are we seeing differences in approach between auditors regarding IFRS 17 interpretations and technical provisions? What are audit firms doing to address these misalignments?
• Where are the main points of friction between preparers and their auditors - coverage units and Contractual Service Margin recognition, documentation of process and controls, disclosures of judgements and estimates?
• Actions required to increase the alignment and consistency of audit methodologies

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

Panellists:
Andrew Halim, Head of Accounting Policy and Development, Hiscox
Gail Tucker, Insurance Audit partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Joanna Yeoh, Global IFRS 17 Implementation Lead, Chubb
Stuart Johnson, Head of Group and Statutory Reporting, Beazley
Vitalina Kobernik, Director, Insurance Technical Accounting Lead, Mazars

Panel Discussion: Addressing the outstanding IFRS 17 implementation pain points – Critical issues to resolve to make IFRS 17 reporting Business as Usual

• What data remediation challenges are insurers facing? What data flow improvements will they focus on in 2024?
• Identifying and rectifying sub-optimal system designs
• End to end process optimisation challenges – where are the main bottlenecks impacting speed and efficiency of IFRS 17 reporting?
• How to address Working-Day Timetable delivery challenges?
• Issues arising from simultaneous application of IFRS 9 and 17
• To what extent have firms relied on short term tactical work arounds to meet reporting deadlines and how do they move forward to establish more tactical solutions?
• Improving internal controls in IFRS 17 reporting and building preventative controls
• Post implementation review – priorities for re/insurers, auditors, supervisors and solution providers

Moderator:
Cathal Lillis, Independent Actuarial Consultant, Lillis Consulting Ltd.

Panellists:
James Clatworthy, IFRS17 Data & Systems Director, Aviva Group
Sam Sango, IFRS 17 Manager, Chaucer Group
Tim Culshaw, Head of External Reporting, Canopius Group
Pio Francesco Cocco, Senior Actuarial Manager, AXA Insurance UK Plc

The future of sustainability-related disclosures – Assessing the impact of IFRS S1 & S2 and the ESRS on insurers

• Overview and scope of the ISSB's Sustainability Disclosure Standards IFRS S1 & S2 and the EU's European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS)
• Key similarities and differences between IFRS S1 & S2 and the ESRS
• What steps are being taken to ensure harmonisation and interoperability between them?
• How will these standards impact insurers (including those active in both the EU and jurisdictions that adopt IFRS S1 & S2)?
• What actions should insurers take to prepare for reporting under these standards?
• Identifying and addressing data, systems and process gaps
• Possible future developments – early discussions on sector specific standards

Moderator:
Josh Geer, Staff Writer, InsuranceERM

Panellists:
Caitlin Wagner, Senior Policy Adviser, Prudential Regulation, Association of British Insurers (ABI)
Dr. Ronita Ram, Associate Professor in Accounting, Henley Business School, University of Reading & Member, UK Endorsement Board's Sustainability Working Group & Academic Advisory Group
Philippe Angelis, Manager Corporate Reporting and Sustainable Finance, Insurance Europe
Gemma Sanchez-Danes, Sustainability Reporting Leadership Team, EFRAG

Panel Discussion: Market insight - How have analysts, investors and external stakeholders responded to the first year of reporting under IFRS 17?

• Are investors and analysts getting the insights they need and expected from insurers? Which investor presentations have provided the most informative and helpful content to understand IFRS 17 impacts?
• From an investor and analyst perspective – Is IFRS 17 impacting the underlying business and strategy, cost of capital or dividend paying capacity of insurers?
• How well are insurers explaining the complexities in their results including the financial impact of the CSM, discounting and risk adjustment calculations?
• Are accounting policies in disclosures sufficiently granular and well explained to enable users to understand the approach taken for each material line of business?
• How are firms bridging between IFRS 17 and Solvency II reporting and profit patterns and do these meet investor and analyst expectations?
• Will IFRS 17 succeed in making insurance more comparable to other sectors?

Moderator:
Chris Cundy, Managing Editor, InsuranceERM

Panellists:
Anthony Silverman, Director, AM Best Rating Services
Dominic O'Mahony, Head of Insurance Equity Research, BNP Paribas Exane
Nasib Ahmed, European Insurance Research Analyst, UBS
Will Keen-Tomlinson, Vice President – Senior Analyst, Moody's Investors Service

Panel Discussion: What does business steering and performance measurement in the IFRS 17 era look like?

• How will IFRS 17 KPIs and metrics be used for business steering and performance measurement?
• Which KPIs will become most important to management?
• Improving forecasting, analysis and understanding of IFRS 17 results
• How will IFRS 17 metrics be used in capital models and calculations?
• What are the challenges to produce reconciliations between the IFRS 17 operating profit and Solvency II capital generation metrics and understand the differences between them?

Moderator:
Vinaya Sharma, Actuary and Managing Director, Quantitative Risk Management

Panellists:
Simen Gaarder, Group Chief Actuary, Gjensidige Forsikring ASA
Eduardo Serrano Rueda, Head of Reserving, VidaCaixa
David Wilson, Financial Reporting Director, Aegon UK

Panel Discussion: Leading a finance and business transformation that adds value and responds to the demands of the new reporting environment

• To what extent has IFRS 17 implementation been a catalyst for wider transformation initiatives across finance and related functions including actuarial, IT, planning and risk?
• Where are firms focusing their efforts and resources to unlock the most value?
• Is there the appetite and resources to tackle a large-scale business transformation whilst simultaneously resolving IFRS17 remediation issues?
• How are insurers looking to leverage emerging technology and automation solutions to streamline processes across finance, actuarial and related functions?
• What role will AI applications play in the financial reporting process – what are the challenges and opportunities here?

Moderator:
Paul Walsh, Senior Staff Writer, InsuranceERM

Panellists:
Arnold van Welsum, Senior Programme Manager IFRS 9/17 and 1 Finance (Finance Transformation), Achmea
Mark Spencer, Partner, Accounting and Corporate Reporting Advisory Leader - Financial Services, BDO
Stephen Hainsworth, Chief of Finance Transformation, Group Finance, Prudential plc

Closing Remarks