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CEPAR researchers recognised with ICA 2018 Best Paper Award

Mar14
Mengyi and Jennifer

CEPAR researchers Dr Jennifer Alonso-García and Dr Mengyi Xu have been recognised with Best Paper Awards for papers to be presented at the upcoming International Congress of Actuaries (ICA) 2018, held from 4 - 8 June in Berlin, Germany.

CEPAR Senior Research Associate Dr Jennifer Alonso-García receives the 2018 ICA Best Paper Award for her research on “Saving Preferences in Retirement: The Impact of Mandatory Annuitization, Flexibility and Health Status”, co-authored by Hazel Bateman, Johan Bonekamp, Arthur van Soest and Ralph Stevens.

In her paper, Dr Alonso-García explains the impact of pension policy design and health status on saving preferences in retirement. The results of her bi-national experimental survey reveal insights into the saving preferences of Australians and the Dutch.

“Our results suggest that individuals in Australia and the Netherlands currently consuming conservatively during retirement do so primarily to save for health-related expenses and to be able to enjoy life at later stages of retirement,” Dr Alonso-García points out.

“To better meet the needs of increasingly heterogeneous retirement cohorts, insurance product providers should take these insights into consideration.”

Besides the ICA 2018 Best Paper Awards, the International Actuarial Association (IAA) also awards best papers in special subject areas.

In the IAA Health section, CEPAR Senior Research Associate Dr Mengyi Xu receives the 2018 ICA IAAHS Best Paper Award for her research on “Demand for Annuities and Long-Term Care Insurance with Recursive Utility: Impact of Housing”, co-authored by fellow CEPAR researchers Jennifer Alonso-García, Adam Shao and Michael Sherris.

Dr Xu investigates the impact of housing wealth on the demand for life annuities and long-term care insurance in a lifecycle framework. The results presented in her paper explain how homeowners' demand for products that insure against key retirement risks differ from that of non-homeowners, and have practical implications on the offering of retirement products.

Both papers are presented at ICA 2018, held from 4 – 8 June 2018 in Berlin, Germany. Around 2,000 actuaries, academics and high-ranking representatives from the international insurance and financial industry as well as related institutions are expected to attend the Congress.