Katy An and Darshan Purmessur attended the Empowering Tomorrow: Young Actuaries Leadership and Career Development Seminar in November, hosted by the Young Actuaries Initiative and the German actuarial association (DAV). Read their impressions of the two-day event that brought together young actuaries from across Europe and beyond.
In November I had the privilege of attending the 2025 Young Actuaries Initiative (YAI) Leadership and Career Development Seminar at the Munich Re offices in Munich, Germany.
It was an immensely inspiring and community-building experience, connecting with talented young actuaries from 16 countries and facilitating a rich exchange of global ideas.
Over the two days, we explored a wide range of topics: from hearing industry leaders share their perspectives on what drives success, to developing our communication skills through a storytelling and engagement workshop. We also delved into the technical side of our profession with sessions on international reserving and the evolving and potential role of GenAI in actuarial work.
The YAI’s aim is to empower young actuaries to step into leadership roles within their organisations and associations, while embracing innovation to help shape the future of the profession. I left feeling inspired and grateful for the opportunity to form such meaningful professional and personal connections and look forward to collaborating with these new friends and colleagues worldwide.
A huge thank you to the YAI, DAV (German Association of Actuaries Aktuarvereinigung) and Institut des actuaires for organising and coordinating this exceptional event, and to the IFoA for sponsoring my participation. It was also a pleasure to attend alongside Darshan Purmessur FIA CERA, representing the IFoA together at such a memorable event. It was an experience that I will truly cherish.
Katy An AIA C.Act is an Actuarial Consultant with Barnett Waddingham.
For me, the standout moment of the seminar was how practical and grounded the sessions were. The discussions weren’t theoretical; they reflected the real challenges we face in our day-to-day work. My favourite session was the one on international reserving which opened up an honest conversation about issues we all grapple with, such as pipeline premium reserving and handling underwriting-year reserving when working with treaty data. Comparing approaches with actuaries from so many different markets was genuinely enriching and gave me new ideas I can take back to my own practice.
Alongside the technical content, the leadership and communication workshops pushed me to reflect on how I engage with teams and stakeholders. The balance between personal development and technical depth made the programme incredibly impactful.
The seminar was also a powerful reminder of how global our profession has become and how much we can learn from each other when we step outside our usual environments. Coming from Mauritius, it was energising to hear how different associations support their young members, and to see that many of the challenges we face are shared across markets.
I am very grateful to the YAI, DAV, Munich Re, and the IFoA for making this opportunity possible. Attending with Katy made it even more special, and I’m proud that we were able to represent the IFoA together.
Darshan Purmessur FIA CERA is an actuary at QED Actuaries and Consultants in Mauritius.
The French Institut des actuaires and the Deutsche Aktuarvereinigung started the Young Actuaries Initiative as a networking hub, a hotbed of ideas, a facilitator of contacts and an organiser of events.
