Work

Automated number crunching to satisfy the appetites of regulators

The Opportunity

Collecting and curating the necessary data to meet the needs of regulators and other interested parties is often a complex, multi-stage process that must be accomplished in detail, on time and with painstaking accuracy. Software solutions can streamline, automate and accelerate data-processing, increasing transparency and minimising the risk of human error.
Our client, a multinational insurer, was required by regulators to share detailed monthly data showing its cash reserves to ensure that they are able to pay out when payments are made. Collating this data involves a variety of discrete tasks, some automated and others manual, with tight windows putting pressure on the reporting process. And with a new reporting standard which demanded even greater detail on the horizon, they needed a software solution that would deliver this detail with greater transparency and flexibility.

Our Approach

Working closely with the insurer’s actuarial team, our technical analysts quickly identified that the insurer’s existing technology solutions would not scale to meet the demands of the new reporting standard.
With no proven off-the-shelf systems available we recommended a bespoke build to replace a number of individual tools and manual, spreadsheet driven tasks. Firstly, we architected the software to optimise raw, number-crunching performance and designed it to reduce pressure on actuaries by enabling them to start the data-processing process sooner.
Finally we designed and built a user interface to provide actuaries with the freedom and flexibility they were used to, presenting the underlying complexity in a manageable way.

The Impact

Our software has enabled the insurer to comfortably meet its regulatory requirements, with transparency, flexibility and a 5x reduction in the time taken to complete key processes.
Highlights included the acceleration of a key set of calculations (previously a bottleneck) which previously took over 14 hours to complete and needed to be run multiple times. Despite now needing to handle 200x more data, the process completes in under three hours, giving greater operational flexibility and smoothing out actuaries’ workloads.
The software has also eliminated the risk of human error from large parts of the process thanks to extensive automation and with end-to-end visibility of calculations, the insurer can confidently meet regulators expectations of transparency.

Our Work

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