Students from Saïd Business School were winning finalists of the Society of Actuaries’ 2018 Student Case Study Challenge.
The students' success entitled the School to a grant of US$1,000.
Run only once every four years, the competition takes place at a large conference – this year held in Berlin – which brings together actuary bodies from across the globe. The team consisted of 2017 MBAs Mercy Akoth, Kenichi Oka, Tina Yang and Erin Connors, who contributed a diverse range of both cultural and professional backgrounds.
Each team was given a case study to analyse and then prepare a report on a proposed long-term social programme. The School’s team were recognised for their work in balancing minute technical detail with the bigger picture.
Being a member of the Society of Actuaries, it was Tina who first discovered the competition. As representatives of the School, she wanted the team to be as diverse as the student body. ‘We are all from different countries and backgrounds and those of us who are actuaries are all in different fields,’ she said.
One of the most useful experiences from the MBA was the Global Rules of the Game module. In this class, they studied a range of case studies, giving them an understanding of how to apply business theory in real-world situations – lessons that could be readily applied to the competition.
The project opened up surprising experiences for the team, especially in regard to working together remotely – team member Kenichi even found himself coding on a Croatian beach. Erin explained: ‘We were working on the project over our break and we were all in different countries and different time zones.’
The Society of Actuaries (SOA) is the world’s largest actuarial professional organisation with more than 30,000 members.
