Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota
Presentation: The COVID-19 Pandemic: Updates and a Perspective
Dr. Osterholm will describe the epidemiology of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, describe the current status of COVID-19 in Minnesota, and describe what public health strategies can be used to reduce COVID-19 disease.
Dr. Osterholm is Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, a professor in the Technological Leadership Institute, College of Science and Engineering, and an adjunct professor in the Medical School, all at the University of Minnesota. He is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and the Council of Foreign Relations. In June 2005 Dr. Osterholm was appointed by Michael Leavitt, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to the newly established National Science Advisory Board on Biosecurity. In July 2008, he was named to the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center’s Academy of Excellence in Health Research. In October 2008, he was appointed to the World Economic Forum Working Group on Pandemics.
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Jeff Johnson, FSA, MAAA, Actuary, John Hancock Life Insurance Company
Presentation: The Voluntary D.I.E.T. - How to gain more than you lose and still feel great.
Jeff Johnson, Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, is one of IABA's founding members and has served the organization on its board of directors and as president twice. Currently Jeff is an officer at John Hancock Life Insurance Company where he is responsible for Life and Annuity product solvency issue identification, holistic understanding, solutioneering, education, escalation and advocacy. His primary focus is on actuarial aspects of regulatory activity concerning reserves, capital, reinsurance or governance using NAIC, federal and international lenses. Prior to joining John Hancock Life Insurance Company Jeff accumulated experience working for several fortune 500 companies in the areas of pricing, reserving, valuation and risk management. Jeff currently sits on the board of The Actuarial Foundation, and is vice-Chair of the American Council of Life Insurers Actuarial Committee. He is also a former board member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. He enjoys golfing, reading, and grand parenting with his wife Adrienne.
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Amy Kessler, Senior Vice President, Prudential Financial
Presentation: Longevity Risk and Covid-19: A Model for the Future
Nearly 200 years after Benjamin Gompertz published his landmark paper on human mortality, we are in the midst of a global pandemic that has once again proven the Gompertz law of mortality, while devastating communities and economies around the world. The Covid-19 pandemic also has significant implications for pension funds, insurance companies and actuaries who model and measure longevity risk in the global pension risk transfer market. In a crucial body of work that examined how Covid-19 may affect the future of mortality rates at higher ages, Amy Kessler together with Professor Andrew Cairns (Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh) and Professor David Blake (Cass Business School, London) developed a new model that will help pension funds and insurers properly assess liabilities in a post-pandemic world. In this presentation, Amy will provide a deep-dive into this exciting new research and address three important questions:
• How is Covid-19 impacting mortality among elderly populations?
• Will Covid-19 change the way actuaries measure liabilities?
• How is the current crisis impacting pension funds and the market for pension risk transfer?
Amy Kessler is senior vice president and head of Longevity Risk Transfer within Prudential’s Pension Risk Transfer business. In 2011, she led Prudential's launch of its longevity reinsurance product and, together with her exceptional team, has closed over $80 billion in international reinsurance transactions since, covering members of hundreds of pension funds in the United Kingdom, including British Airways and Rolls-Royce. Amy led the ground-breaking $28 billion captive longevity reinsurance transaction for British Telecom in 2014, which was named “Deal of the Year” by Risk magazine and earned Prudential top honors as “Reinsurer of the Year.” Amy’s work helps pension funds proactively manage longevity risk and create retirement security for their members. She was chosen as one of the “2014 Women to Watch” by Business Insurance magazine, and she was named to Institutional Investor’s “Pension 40” list—a ranking of the 40 most influential people in pensions—in both 2014 and 2015.
With 30 years of financial services experience, Amy’s capital markets expertise and in-depth insight into the innovative pension risk transfer transactions occurring globally make her a frequent speaker at conferences around the globe. She is currently leading the launch of Prudential’s longevity reinsurance solutions for Canada and the Netherlands. Before joining Prudential, Amy served as a principal at Bear Stearns and as Global Head of Pension ALM at Swiss Re in London.
Amy holds a Bachelor’s Degree in economics and a Master’s Degree in international economics and finance from Brandeis University, where she is a Member of the Board of Overseers of the International Business School and the 2013 recipient of the Dean’s Medal.
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