Two years ago, the Actuarial Science Club at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign presented the first ever InsureTech symposium organized entirely by actuaries. This year, the Actuarial Science Club joined forces with the Illinois Risk Lab to present our first virtual symposium on March 27, 2021. 

The Risk Analytics Symposium 2021: Actuarial Innovations to Emerging Risks showcased the fascinating innovations of six distinguished actuarial researchers and leaders in the insurance industry. University of Illinois faculty members led our three panel discussions that included an audience-driven Q&A session, followed by gift card giveaways open to all attendees. Networking sessions were also incorporated throughout the day, with some networking booths open to all attendees, other networking booths designed specifically for either students or working professionals, and even a booth sponsored by Oliver Wyman.

Using the Cvent virtual event platform, the symposium was much more accessible and participation increased by 123.2% from the Actuarial Science Club’s InsureTech and Actuarial Modernization Symposium held in-person in 2019. Participants consisted of students, professors, and industry professionals from 32 universities and 10 companies encompassing over 12 different countries and 18 US states. Attendance was made up of 61% UIUC students, 20% academics and industry professionals, and 19% students from other universities. 

The Actuarial Science Club organizing committee for this event was led by Andrea Wilcox, the Actuarial Science Club’s current Workshops Chair. The Workshops Committee included three bright freshmen: Isabella Chang, Naomi Logan, and Daniel Polites. Tina Guo and Philip Song, the current Vice President Internal and President of the Actuarial Science Club, respectively, were also vital in the planning and execution of the Risk Analytics Symposium. The Actuarial Science Club organizing committee worked closely with the Director of Actuarial Science, Professor Runhuan Feng, and Assistant Professors Alfred Chong and Frank Quan, to bring this event to fruition.

The Actuarial Science Club and Illinois Risk Lab are very thankful to our speakers, attendees, and everyone who made the symposium not only possible, but a great accomplishment for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Actuarial Science program.

If you are interested in working learning more about our symposium, please feel free to contact us at vpinternal@asc-illinois.com or workshops@asc-illinois.com.