April,2019 - March,2022
Greetings from the new President
Hiroshi ShojiPresident
The Institute of Actuaries of Japan
At the board meeting held on March 20, 2019, by resolution, I was appointed as the President of IAJ effective from April 1, 2019. At this occasion, I would like to offer a few words of greeting.
In recent years, the needs of insurance and pension business and their business models have continued to evolve and diversify due to low birth rate, aging society and diversifying lifestyles driven by rapid technological advances. Currently, risk management frameworks are being implemented and refined. There are also active discussions regarding international economic value-based solvency regulations and accounting standards. I feel that these developments require actuaries a greatly expanded role and a higher degree of professionalism.
IAJ has been engaged in the initiatives which contributed to enhancing expertise of the actuarial profession over the years. For example, there are research and surveys related to data science, reinforcement of collaboration with universities and other institutions to invigorate academic activities. I believe that it is important to continue maintaining good professional standards, improve on our expertise and establish a system that will enable us to uphold the quality of our work such that we are meeting society’s expectations of actuaries. To fulfil this objective, we will continue to improve our examination and educational systems by providing education and training to our members for enhancing their knowledge and capabilities.
Year 2019 marks the 120th anniversary of the founding of IAJ. During this year, we will host the International Actuarial Association (IAA) meeting in Tokyo and the IAJ 120th Anniversary Annual meeting. In addition, the International Congress of Actuaries which takes place every four years, is decided to be held in Tokyo in 2026, and accordingly it is important that we need to be well-prepared in terms of both academic and planning aspects. In particular, I hope that we can further promote more academic activities and provide opportunities for actuaries to enhance their capabilities.
Lastly, I will do my utmost to further promote the development of IAJ and actuarial science and to further increase the presence of actuaries, for which I wish to have your valued support and cooperation.