Two CEPAR researchers have won the prestigious Melville Financial Services Prize from the Institute of Actuaries of Australia for their research into how regulators and regulatory requirements impact prices for longevity insurance products in the form of life annuities.
Professor Michael Sherris, Dr Katja Hanewald (pictured) along with Maathumai Nirmalendran, a recent UNSW Honours graduate now with Finity Consulting, won the award for their paper A Comparison and Economic Analysis of International Solvency Regimes for Annuity Markets.
Sherris, Hanewald and Nirmalendran received the award for their presentation and paper at the Actuaries Institute Financial Services Forum held in Melbourne from 30 April - 2 May. The President of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia, David Goodsall, presented the award at a gala dinner in Sydney last night.
The trio said they were honoured to receive the accolade. "This was an unexpected surprise. There were many high quality papers and we are delighted to have won. This award is a great recognition for the research that we are conducting at CEPAR and, in particular, it is recognition by the Actuaries Institute. We would like to thank the Institute for its ongoing support of academic research that contributes to current issues," Professor Sherris said.
"It is important to take up issues of interest to industry while at the same time produce high quality research that will contribute to the academic literature and our understanding of critical issues," Dr Hanewald said.