Longevity 20 Parallel Speakers

Tim Adair is a demographer and Principal Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne and an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow. Assoc Prof Adair leads a program of research that aims to advance knowledge about contemporary life expectancy trends and inequalities by strengthening the policy utility of mortality statistics. His work involves the application of innovative methods to linked data (multiple cause of death, morbidity, Census, health survey) to strengthen cause of death statistics, measure mortality from co-morbidities and leading risk factors, and quantify their socio-economic inequalities. His research program includes analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on life expectancy, the role of obesity in adverse cardiovascular disease mortality trends and widening inequalities in mortality risk.

Meitong Ai is an assistant professor at the School of Insurance, Central University of Finance and Economics. She received her Ph.D. in Applied Economics from Peking University, specializing in risk management and insurance, and was a visiting scholar at the University of Hamburg. Her research focuses on pension and life insurance demand

Kishore Ananda is a Senior Global Pricing Actuary at SCOR where he is Best Estimate lead, responsible for the review of all Best Estimate biometric pricing assumptions underlying SCOR’s global Life and Health offerings including Longevity, Mortality, Critical Illness and Disability. Prior to joining SCOR in 2020, Kishore spent close to a decade in Aon’s UK Risk Settlement Group and Demographic Horizon’s team specialising in both longevity modelling and the implementation of large longevity risk transfer transactions. Kishore assisted the CMI Mortality Projections Committee with its review of alternative projection methods based on state space models and Kalman filters. Before joining the actuarial profession, he worked as a post-doctoral research fellow specialising in General Relativity, cosmology, and the modelling of complex astrophysical systems.

Ayşe Arık is a senior lecturer at the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies at University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Prior to this, she held research and postdoctoral positions at Heriot-Watt University, UK, and holds a Ph.D. from Hacettepe University, Turkiye. Her research focuses on stochastic modelling of morbidity and mortality, socio-economic inequalities in health outcomes, and applications at the intersection of life insurance and financial mathematics.

She is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and the Actuarial Society of Türkiye, an active member of the International Actuarial Association’s Mortality Virtual Forum, and a board member of ASTIN/ERM.

Séverine Arnold is Professor in Actuarial Science at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Besides a PhD in Actuarial Science, she has a Certificate in Population Study from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Her research focuses on longevity risk/mortality modeling, with a particular interest in cause-specific mortality rates, and on social security financial systems and inclusive insurance.

With the University of York and Liverpool, she is currently building a Consortium of Excellence for the 17 Goals (C-17), that will serve as the premier hub for Academia, Industry, NGOs and Governments from all over the world to promote and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Drawing its strength from Actuarial Science and related disciplines, the Consortium will become an international driver of transformative research, of research-infused innovative learning and training as well as of modern policy, aimed to facilitate the UN's 2030 Agenda for a better world.

In addition to teaching and research, she was involved in social security projects with the International Labour Organization, is the Chair of the International Actuarial Association (IAA) Life Section Research Committee, a member of the IAA Mortality Virtual Forum and a member of the Social Security Sub-Committee of the AAE (Actuarial Association of Europe). She also represents the Confederation in the Swiss Occupational Pension Supervisory Commission. More recently, she started to collaborate with the International Labour Organization on projects related to inclusive insurance.

Deyu Bai is a PhD student at the Division of Banking and Finance, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, supervised by Wenjun Zhu and Zhimin Chen. He obatained his bachelor and master degree in Nankai University. His research focuses on climate risk, predictive analytics, and agricultural insurance.

Anne Balter is an Associate Professor at the Department of Econometrics and Operations Research at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. She is an active researcher in the fields of mathematical finance and insurance, with a particular focus on model uncertainty, robust investments, pensions and real options. She has provided useful insight in explaining and quantifying model ambiguity and its impact on financial investment. As Senior Fellow of Netspar - the Network for Studies on Pensions, Aging and Retirement - she contributes actively to the Dutch pension debate.

Andrew Cairns is Professor of Actuarial Mathematics at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh and at the Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences. He is well known both in the UK and internationally for his research in financial risk management for pension plans, life insurers and, more recently, renewable energy projects. In recent years, his research has focused on the modelling of longevity risk: how this can be modelled, measured and priced, and how it can be transferred to the financial markets. Amongst his work in this field, he has developed a number of new and innovative stochastic mortality models, most notably the CBD family. He has also worked extensively on inequalities in all-cause and cause of death mortality, and the evolving impact of Covid-19 on current and future mortality.

His research has received several international prizes including the Halmstad Prize in 2008, the Society of Actuaries Annual Prize in 2009 and the Robert I. Mehr Award in 2016. Much of his research is focused on delivering rigorous solutions to problems of practical importance. This has resulted in three highly-rated impact case studies for the UK's Research Excellence Framework (REF) and the award of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society's inaugural Impact Prize in 2022.

He is an active member of the UK and international actuarial profession: he qualified as a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries in 1993; he has held senior editorial roles at ASTIN Bulletin - The Journal of the International Actuarial Association (1997 to 2017) and Insurance: Mathematics and Economics (since 2023); and in 2005 he was elected as a corresponding member of the Swiss Association of Actuaries. From 2016-2020 he was Director of the Actuarial Research Centre of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. In 2016 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters.

An Chen holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Bonn and is currently a Chair Professor at the Institute of Insurance Science at Ulm University in Germany. She serves as a co-editor of the ASTIN Bulletin – The Journal of the International Actuarial Association, as an associate editor for Insurance: Mathematics and Economics and the Annals of Actuarial Science, and is a Series Editor for the “Springer Actuarial” book series. Additionally, she is the Vice President of the German Society for Insurance and Financial Mathematics (DGVFM). Her recent research interests include the design of pension savings products, as well as topics related to uncertainty, sustainable finance, and investment. Her work has been published in leading journals such as the Journal of Economic Theory, European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of Banking and Finance, ASTIN Bulletin, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Journal of Risk and Insurance, and the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization

Hua Chen is a Professor of Finance and Risk Management in the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa (UHM). Before joining UHM, he was an Associate Professor of Risk Management and Insurance in the Fox School of Business at Temple University. He holds a Bachelor’s degree of Computational Mathematics and a Master’s degree of Applied Economics. He received his Ph.D. degree in Risk Management and Insurance from Georgia State University.

Dr. Chen’s research interests include systemic risk and financial stability, corporate risk management, pension and longevity risk management, and insurance economics. His publications appear in the Journal of Risk and Insurance, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, North American Actuarial Journal, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, International Journal of Forecasting, among others. He is the Co-Editor in Chief for Asia-Pacific Journal of Risk and Insurance, an Associate Editor for the Journal of Risk and Finance, and serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Risk &Control and Risks. He was an Associate Editor for the Journal of Insurance Issues.

Yen-Chih Chen is a Professor in the College of Finance at Feng Chia University. He currently serves as the Director of the Bachelor's Degree Program in Financial Engineering and Actuarial Science, as well as the Director of the Center for Financial Technology Research at Feng Chia University. His research interests include risk management and insurance, social insurance and pension systems, and the design of innovative insurance products. He has published his work in several international academic journals and is actively involved in advancing financial technology applications in the insurance and social protection sectors.

Ze Chen is an Associate Professor at the School of Finance, Renmin University of China, and a researcher at the China Insurance Research Institute. He earned his Ph.D. in a joint program between KU Leuven (Belgium) and Tsinghua University, reflecting his strong academic foundation in finance and actuarial science. His research spans fintech, actuarial science, and quantitative risk management, with a focus on cutting-edge applications in insurance and financial markets. Dr. Chen has published extensively in leading international journals, including Health Economics, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Scandinavian Actuarial Journal, European Financial Management, and Methodology and Computing in Applied Probability.

Zhanhui Chen has extensive research interests in theoretical and empirical asset pricing, in connection with corporate finance, macroeconomics, FinTech and insurance. His recent work studies investment strategies, corporate financing, market volatilities, FinTech, Green Finance, longevity and weather risks. He has published in various top-tier finance journals such as the Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and Management Science. Professor Chen referees for many top economics and finance journals and takes part in various professional activities.

Kara Clark, FSA, MAAA, is a Senior Research Actuary at the Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute, where she provides staff leadership for strategic research initiatives in mortality and longevity. She has over three decades of experience as a healthcare actuary and analytics executive, with a career spanning consulting firms, corporations, and professional associations.

Before rejoining the SOA, Kara was a Partner at Oliver Wyman, where she led actuarial and strategic engagements for health plans, providers, regulatory agencies, and enablement companies. Her work focused on advancing value-based care, predictive analytics, population health, and outcomes evaluations. Previously, she held senior leadership roles at Walgreens, overseeing health analytics and clinical outcomes research, and at the SOA as the Managing Director of Strategy.

Kara is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. She earned an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a BA in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Ziv Cohen is an accomplished Business & Academic leader, and a seasoned executive and investment professional with a proven track record in M&A, investments (multi asset portfolio, including real estate, venture, securities, private equity ect.), raising funds, driving growth, and delivering exceptional results in public companies.

Prof. Cohen's reputation as a top-tier business leader is not limited to his financial achievements, and risk management capabilities, he has been recognized for his exceptional contributions to the industry and his role in transforming organizations.

Cohen's extensive network of institutional investors and his ability to cultivate strategic partnerships have been instrumental in driving investments and fostering long-term business success.

Over the past two decades, Prof. Cohen has held prominent positions in both the private and public sectors. In the private sector, he served in C-Level roles at leading institutional companies managing over $100 billion in assets, as well as in major insurance companies across the non-life, health, and life insurance sectors—where he led strategic planning and executed significant transactions. In the public sector, he headed the Insurance, Financial Companies, and Taxation Division of the Israel Securities Authority.

In addition to his accomplishments in the business world, Prof. Cohen is also a respected academic leader with a strong commitment to education. He possesses extensive experience as a professor of accounting and capital markets. Prof. Cohen's research mainly focuses on insurance, institutional investments, finance, risk management and accounting.

Prof. Cohen's ability to bridge theory and practice, as showcased through his practical expertise in finance, law, and business administration, allows him to provide a comprehensive and real-world perspective.

Prof. Ziv Cohen serves as Chairman of The Savoiris Group and holds academic appointments as Professor of Accounting and Finance at the Jerusalem Interdisciplinary College in Israel and at ESSEC Business School in France. He was previously active for many years at the Hebrew University School of Business, where he taught and played a key role in developing the capital markets field within the academic curriculum.

Valeria D’Amato is Professor of Financial and Actuarial Mathematics at the University of Salerno (Italy).  She holds a BA in Economics and a PhD in Financial and Actuarial Mathematics. She is currently Chair of the UNIS Actuarial SCHOOL, an international school on a wide range of actuarial topics, she is an Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow of Bayes Business School City University of London (UK), member of Academic Board – La Sapienza, Roma, member of the Solvency II Committee of Italian National Council of Actuaries.
Valeria has published extensively in Academic journals, including the Insurance Mathematics and Economics, The Annals of Applied Statistics, Annals of Operation Research, Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Application.
She acted as a consultant for banks and insurance companies.

Her specialties are Longevity Risk, Stochastic Models for projecting Mortality, Valuation of actuarial portfolios Pricing and Hedging Insurance Contracts, Derivatives’

Nana Ding is a doctoral candidate with a focus on social security actuarial science at Central University of Finance and Economics, under the supervision of Professor Zaigui Yang.

Nicky Drape: As Director of Life and Health Consulting at Crystallise, I work at the intersection of clinical evidence, insurance innovation, and longevity strategy. I support insurers, reinsurers, and pensions actuaries in developing and refining life and health products, bringing deep expertise in medical research, health trends, and digital health. My work spans protection insurance (including critical illness, income protection, and wellness-linked products), through to advising on longevity risk, morbidity modelling, and the future of healthy ageing. I sit on the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) Health and Care Board and have previously been active in a number of other different volunteer roles including the working parties on diabetes and antimicrobial resistance, and am an honorary fellow of the IFoA.

Eman Elmeaddawy is a 4^th year PhD student in Actuarial Science in the University of Lausanne (Unil), Switzerland.  The main theme of her PhD is cause-specific mortality in Europe. She got her Masters in Actuarial Management (with Distinction) from Heriot Watt University, UK. She is  also a nearly qualified actuary - only two subjects left to be a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) in the UK. She spent several years working in the Actuarial Department in the Financial Regulatory Authority in Egypt, where she reviewed actuarial reports for private pension funds and life insurance companies. She has a growing interest in actuarial research being applied in a practical professional context.

Dale Hall, FSA, MAAA, CERA, CFA, is the Managing Director of Research for the Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute.  In his role, Dale coordinates the SOA’s strategic research partnerships, oversees SOA experience studies, coordinates research across the SOA’s wide variety of actuarial practice areas and markets, and oversees the SOA’s development of professional development content.  He is a frequent speaker at global insurance and retirement industry meetings to highlight SOA research, including presentations to the NAIC and congressional committee testimony on pension plan mortality rates. He has appeared on behalf of the SOA in a variety of media outlets, including National Public Radio, C-SPAN, PBS, and National Geographic’s BREAKTHROUGH series, and hosts the SOA’s Research Insights Podcast.

Prior to joining the SOA in 2013, Dale spent over 20 years in the U.S. insurance industry, where he was active in industry actuarial committees and served as an adjunct professor in the actuarial science program at Illinois State University

Katja Hanewald is an Associate Professor in the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies at UNSW Sydney and the President of the Asia-Pacific Risk and Insurance Association (APRIA). Her research focuses on longevity trends, healthy ageing, and insurance strategies for ageing populations. She has published in leading journals in insurance, actuarial science, economics, and health. Katja serves as a Co-Editor of the North American Actuarial Journal, an Editor of the Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, and is a member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Risk and Insurance and the ASTIN Bulletin.

Pin-Xuan Ysonia Huang is a recent Master’s graduate in Economics with a Bachelor’s degree in Risk Management. With a growing interest in population issues and interdisciplinary research, she is especially drawn to studies situated in the Taiwanese context. Her academic training has helped her develop foundational skills in quantitative analysis and policy evaluation, which she continues to refine through research on environmental health, demographic change, and broader questions of social impact. Driven by curiosity and a commitment to deepening both her methodological and contextual understanding, she is now preparing applications for PhD programs.

Haoxuan Jiao is a PhD student in insurance at the School of Insurance, Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE), supervised by Zaigui Yang, with research in the field of actuarial science. His research interest is the calculation of basic pension benefits, and he mainly explores the accuracy of the findings through actuarial modeling

Malene Kallestrup-Lamb is an Associate Professor at the Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University. Moreover, she holds an external research fellowship at the Pension Research Centre (PeRCent), Copenhagen Business School and an international fellowship at the Network for Studies on Pensions, Aging and Retirement (NetSpar) in Tilburg. Malene's research significantly contributes to understanding the intricate dynamics between health economics, mortality, pension systems, and labor market forces.

Kai Kaufhold Founder and managing director of actuarial consulting firm Ad Res, Kai Kaufhold leads a team of actuaries and analysts who carry out research and provide consulting services to insurers, reinsurers, pension administrators and pension consultants. Ad Res specialises in modelling insurance and demographic risks, longevity, and reinsurance. Recent projects include research on Canadian mortality improvement trends, developing the new Canadian pensioner mortality tables, creating a geo-demographic Longevity & Mortality Index in the United Kingdom, and developing best-practice experience analysis tools to enhance life insurance valuation and pricing.

Prior to founding Ad Res, Kai led the European life retrocession business of Manulife Reinsurance, where he and his team supported reinsurance clients in all major European markets and developed a longevity reinsurance proposition for the UK pension risk transfer market. With close to 30 years of experience in life reinsurance and consulting, Kai is a speaker at international industry conferences and volunteers regularly for the Society of Actuaries in the US and the Singapore Actuarial Society. He is a fellow of the German actuarial association, DAV. He is based in Cologne, Germany, and earned his master’s degree in physics from the University of Cologne

Gene C. Lai is Professor and James J. Harris Chair in Risk Management and Insurance of the Department of Finance at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His publications have appeared in The Journal of Risk and Insurance (15) and Journal of Banking and Finance, among others. Dr. Lai has won numerous “best paper” awards. Professor Lai served as Chair of the Department of Finance and Insurance and Associate Dean at the University of Rhode Island and Chair of the Department of Finance and Management Science at Washington State University. He was Co-Editor of Risk Management and Insurance Review and Journal of Insurance Issues. He was Associate Editor for many journals, including The Journal of Risk and Insurance, which is the top journal in the risk management and insurance area. Professor Lai is Past President of the American Risk and Insurance Association, Past President of the Asia-Pacific Risk and Insurance Association, and Past President of the Western Risk and Insurance Association.

Yeonjae Lee, a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Economics with a focus on insurance at Beijing Technology and Business University. I earned my master’s degree in Finance from Sungkyunkwan University and my bachelor’s degree in Advertising from Peking University, where I specialized in risk management and insurance.

Runze Li is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Actuarial Science at the University of Melbourne. In her doctoral thesis, Runze is dedicated to developing methodologies for mortality nowcasting and forecasting, particularly applying mixed frequency sampling techniques. Her aim is to provide insurers and researchers with reliable real-time estimations of mortality rates, enabling informed decision-making based on up-to-date data.

Ben Lim is an Assistant Professor of Finance (Actuarial Science) at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research primarily focuses on the application of analytics to actuarial science. He is currently interested in life settlements, actuarial applications of neural networks, and discrimination-free pricing.

Tzuling Lin holds a Ph.D. in Finance from National Taiwan University and is currently a Chair Professor at the Department of Finance at National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan. Her recent research interests include the design of tokenization of life insurance policies, as well as topics related to mortality modeling, and longevity risk management. Her work has been published in leading journals such as the Journal of Futures Markets, North American Actuarial Journal, ASTIN Bulletin, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, and Scandinavian Actuarial Journal.

Yijia Lin is the V. J. Skutt Distinguished Professor at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. She earned B.A. degree in insurance and M.A. degree in finance and insurance both at Beijing Technology and Business University. Dr. Lin earned her Ph.D. in Risk Management and Insurance at Georgia State University. She is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA^®) Charterholder.

Dr. Lin’s research interests are in risk management, insurance, pensions, longevity/mortality securitization and actuarial science. She has published papers in the Journal of Risk and Insurance, the North American Actuarial Journal, the Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, the Journal of Management, and others. She is an Editor of ASTIN Bulletin and a Co-Editor of the North American Actuarial Journal. She also serves in the Editorial Board of the Journal of Risk and Insurance.

Dr. Lin won the Harold D. Skipper Best Paper Award from the Asia-Pacific Risk and Insurance Association in 2006, the Ernst Meyer Prize for University Research Work from the Geneva Association in 2007, the Annual Prize for the Best Paper Published in 2007 from the North American Actuarial Journal in 2009, the Brockett-Shapiro Actuarial Journal Award from the American Risk and Insurance Association in 2014, the Robert I. Mehr Award for a Literature Contribution Having a Ten-Year Impact in the Field of Risk Management and Insurance from the American Risk and Insurance Association in 2015, and the Early Career Scholarly Achievement Award from the American Risk and Insurance Association in 2016.

I-Chien Liu is an Associate Professor of the Department of Insurance and Finance at National Taichung University of Science and Technology in Taiwan. He earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Risk Management and Insurance at National Chengchi University in Taiwan. His research areas cover embedded options for insurance products, reverse mortgage, mortality modelling and longevity risk. He has published articles in the Journal of Risk and Insurance, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, and Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance-Issues and Practice.

Yanxin (Graham) Liu, Ph.D., ASA, is the N.Z. Snell Life Insurance Professor and Associate Professor of Actuarial Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He received his PhD in the departments of Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of Waterloo in 2016. His research focuses on mortality modeling, forecasting, and the management of mortality and longevity risks, as well as the pricing of mortality-linked securities.

Yanxin's work includes collaborative research projects like the development of two-dimensional mortality improvement scales for Canadian pension plans and insurers, and the comprehensive study of components of historical mortality improvements in the United States. He has published in top-tier actuarial and insurance journals, including Insurance: Mathematic and Economics, North American Actuarial Journal, and ASTIN Bulletin. In addition to his academic contributions, Yanxin organizes the Snell Seminar Series, fostering a platform for scholarly exchange and professional development in the field. He is also deeply involved in teaching, emphasizing the importance of equipping students with lifelong skills.

Xiaochuan Lu is a PhD candidate at the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies at UNSW Sydney. His current research focuses on survival analysis and individual-level mortality modelling.

Lingfeng Lyu is a Postdoctoral Fellow at CEPAR, UNSW. His research examines mortality, morbidity, and related risk factors in aged care and retirement. He builds actuarial models that incorporate demographic trends and uncertainty, analyses long-term care insurance, and informs policy on aged care, health, and retirement. Current projects include house-price modelling, assessing retirement welfare with home-equity release, financing aged care using home equity alongside pension income, and analysing the roles of long-term care insurance and superannuation in the aged-care sector.

Alexander O.K. Marin, PhD is a health economist specializing in healthcare expenditure dynamics, socioeconomic disparities, and the economic implications of population aging. His research integrates administrative register data and panel survey data with advanced econometric and machine learning methods to analyze healthcare utilization, cost dynamics, and long-term care systems. At Longevity 20, he will discuss the intersection of longevity, health expenditures, and policy implications for aging populations.

Andreas Milidonis is a Professor of Finance at the University of Cyprus. His publishes both in finance and risk management & insurance. He has published in leading finance journals such as Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial & Quantitative Analysis, and Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Banking & Finance. He has also published extensively in insurance and actuarial journals such as Journal of Risk & Insurance, ASTIN Bulletin and North American Actuarial Journal. Several of his articles have been awarded/shortlisted for prizes.

Andreas also has significant consulting experience (US, UK, Europe) in projects related to bank risk assessment (i.e. with the European Central Bank), risk management, insurance valuation, pension valuation,  and business analytics https://amilidonis.com/)

Jiacheng Min is a Ph.D. candidate in Actuarial Science at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on mortality modelling and longevity-risk projection in the context of climate change.

Yang Qiao is a Research Fellow at the Insurance Risk and Finance Research Centre (IRFRC) at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His research lies at the intersection of machine learning, actuarial science and quantitative finance. He is currently working on improving long-term mortality and longevity-risk projections, strengthening enterprise-wide risk management, and refining the pricing of innovative life- and health-insurance products. At IRFRC, he collaborates with interdisciplinary teams on climate-adjusted longevity modelling and sustainable risk-transfer solutions.

Zhi Qiao, doctoral candidate at Central University of Finance and Economics, with research directions in pension actuarial science and social security.

Roshan Tajapra is the Head of Longevity Research at SCOR, where he leads the team responsible for the best estimate demographic assumptions underlying SCOR’s global longevity offering. Roshan joined SCOR in 2018, having previously held positions at Prudential, Canada Life, and Legal & General. He has a particular interest in mortality trends and has spoken on the subject at various longevity conferences and industry webinars. He is also a member of the IFoA’s Diabetes Working Party Steering Group. Outside of work, Roshan is a keen cyclist, having swapped the busy London tube for a cycle into the office a few years ago.

Gayani Thalaogda is a PhD candidate at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and a research student at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR). Her research interests fall within the interdisciplinary areas of actuarial science and data science. Research interests include, valuation of guarantees embedded in variable annuities and longevity risk management.

Dr. Francesco Ungolo is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies at UNSW Sydney. He earned his PhD in Actuarial Mathematics from Heriot-Watt University, where he was supervised by Prof. Torsten Kleinow and Prof. Angus S. Macdonald. His research focuses on the statistical analysis of actuarial datasets with missing data, the development of stochastic mortality models, and the insurability of health risks for individuals living with chronic diseases.

Andrés Villegas is an Associate Professor in the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies at UNSW Sydney. He holds a PhD in Actuarial Science from Bayes Business School and specialises in mortality modelling, longevity risk, and actuarial applications of analytics. His work bridges academic research and industry practice, notably through the development of the widely used R package StMoMo. Andrés is the recipient of the 2024 SOA Actuarial Science Early Career Research Award and serves as Associate Editor of the Annals of Actuarial Science.

Chou-Wen Wang is a professor of the Department of Finance at National Sun Yat-Sen University, Taiwan. His original area of research focuses on derivative pricing and quantitative finance. Recently, he has developed interests in new areas, including stochastic mortality models, pricing mortality-linked derivatives, high-dimensional asset models, and mortality models with machine learning. His interdisciplinary approach and dedication to research have led to numerous scholarly publications in these fields.

Hsin-Chung Wang had 8 years working experience at the Cathay Life Insurance Company, the largest insurance company in Taiwan. He is a Professor in the Department of Statistical Information and Actuarial Science, Aletheia University. His major research interest is related to statistics and actuarial science, especially emphasizing on longevity risk and experience study (such as mortality rates and incidence rates). His research work appears in Insurance Mathematics and Economics, ASTIN Bulletin, North American Actuarial Journal and Journal of Population Studies.

Po-Lin is an Assistant Professor in Risk Management and Insurance at the University of South Florida. He holds bachelor degrees in applied mathematics and management science at National Chiao Tung University, master degree of math finance at Boston university, and PhD in risk management and insurance at the University of Georgia. Prior to entering academia, he worked at Cathay life Insurance Company in Taiwan and Cathay Conning Asset Management in Hong Kong, specializing product development and asset liability management (ALM), economic capital (EC) model development in particular. His completed SOA exams include P, FM, MFE, MLC, and C. His research interests include mortality modeling, asset liability management, inter-generational risk transfer, and textual analysis.

Yawei Wang is a PhD student at the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies at UNSW Sydney. He holds certifications including Associate of the China Association of Actuaries, Certified Financial Risk Manager, and Certified Public Accountant. His current research interests include retirement income product innovation and longevity risk management.

Yunyun Wang is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Finance and Statistics at Hunan University. She received her Ph.D. in Econometrics from the Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics at Monash University in 2024. Her primary research interests lie in actuarial science and econometrics, with a focus on insurance modeling, stochastic mortality modeling, and distributional regression. Her work has been published in leading actuarial journals, including Insurance: Mathematics and Economics and the Scandinavian Actuarial Journal.

Zijia Wang is an Assistant Professor of Actuarial Science in the Department of Finance at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include insurance risk modeling and quantitative risk management. She is also an Associate of the Society of Actuaries.

Jiamin (Jamie) Yan is a PhD candidate in the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies at UNSW Sydney. She obtained a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Economics in 2021 and a Master of Economics in 2023 from the Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE) in China. Her current research interests include financial decision-making, experimental and behavioural economics, and pensions.

Sharon S. Yang is a professor of department of Money and Banking and the director of financial research center at the college of commerce at the National ChengChi University (NCCU) in Taiwan. Sharon received her Ph.D. in actuarial mathematics at Heriot-Watt University in U.K. and her master degree in actuarial science at University of Iowa in the U.S.

Her research interests cover ESG/Sustainable Finance and Investment, Production Innovation, Pension Fund Management, and Risk Management. Her research appears in Insurance Mathematics and Economics, Journal of Risk and Insurance, Austin Bulletin, Quantitative Finance, and Journal of Derivatives. In addition to the academic experience, Dr. Yang shares her knowledge with many actuarial practices, the director of Taiwan Insurance Guarantee Fund, a reviewer of life insurance products for Insurance Bureau of Financial Supervisory Commission, a reviewer of structure notes issued with insurance products for Taiwan Financial Service. She also involves in many government and industry research projects regarding pension fund management, longevity risk, ESG investing and alternatives assets.

Yinan Ying is a Research Assistant Professor at the Institution of Insurance and Risk Management, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, She received her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Hong Kong. Dr. Ying’s research interests include pension, longevity risk management, health insurance, and others. Her publications appear in the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, among others.

Dr. Min-Teh Yu is a Distinguished Professor of Finance at National Tsing Hu University. He has held numerous prestigious positions, including Lifetime Chair Professor at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and Distinguished Professor of Finance at National Taiwan University. Dr. Yu also served as President of Providence University and China University of Technology. He was dean of the College of Management at both National Chiao Tung University and Yuan Ze University, and he was the department chairman at National Central University. He was a Visiting Professor of Finance at Drexel University from 1997 to 1998. Dr. Yu earned his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University and a B.A. from National Taiwan University.

Dr. Yu’s primary areas of research and teaching include risk management and financial institutions. His work has been published in leading journals across multiple fields, including insurance, finance, accounting, and operations management. According to Google Scholar, Dr. Yu’s scholarly contributions have been cited over 2,200 times. He has been recognized as a Top Scholar by ScholarGPS in 2024 in the areas of: Insurance (0.5%) and Finance (1.5%).

Dr. Yu has provided consulting services to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, the Asian Development Bank, the Taiwan Residential Earthquake Insurance Fund, and the Far Eastern International Commercial Bank. He has received numerous grants and honors, including the Distinguished Research Award from the Taiwan National Science Council, the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Taiwan Ministry of Education, and the MacKay Canadian Studies Faculty Research Award. He has served as a trustee for Fu-Jen Catholic University, Providence University, St. Mary’s College of Nursing and Management, and Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages.

In recognition of his exceptional contributions, Dr. Yu was awarded the Benemerenti Medal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010. He has also held key leadership roles as the President of the Taiwan Risk and Insurance Association, President of the Taiwan Financial Engineering Association, and Board Director of the Taiwan Finance Association

Ching-Syang Jack Yue is a consultant, actuary, and professor in the Statistics Department at National Chengchi University in Taiwan. He previously served as president of the Taiwan Population Association and currently leads a Big Data research team at National Chengchi University. He is dedicated to applying statistical thinking and quantitative analysis to solving big data problems, with a particular focus on longevity research and its impact on financial management.

Kenneth Q. Zhou is an Associate Professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Waterloo. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and an Associate of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. Kenneth’s research interests include stochastic mortality modeling, longevity risk management, insurance data analytics, and Bayesian modeling and forecasting.

Yuxin Zhou is an Associate Lecturer at the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies, UNSW Sydney. He obtained his PhD in Actuarial Studies from UNSW Sydney. His current research interests include longevity risk management, long-term care (LTC) risk management, retirement products, risk sharing, mortality modelling, and multi-state health modelling. Yuxin has published in top actuarial journals, such as the Scandinavian Actuarial Journal, North American Actuarial Journal, and Annals of Actuarial Science. Prior to the commencement of his PhD, he obtained his Bachelor of Actuarial Studies (Honours Class 1) from UNSW Sydney.

Xiaobai Zhu is an Assistant Professor of Actuarial Science in the Department of Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries (ASA). He received his PhD in Actuarial Science from the University of Waterloo in 2019 and worked as an Assistant Professor at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics from 2020-2022. Xiaobai’s research interests include stochastic mortality modeling and hybrid pension design.

Lan Zou is  a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, advised by Tim Layton. She  continues to be a research fellow at the Institute of Insurance Economics, University of St Gallen.  Lan’s research interests lie in the intersection of health economics and insurance markets, with a focus on the Swiss mandatory health insurance market. She is particularly interested in the low-income individual behavior in the economic field