Contingencies - January/February 2018

a series of validations on the submissions, aggregates the results, updates the status tracker, and sends email notifications as process milestones are achieved or issues arise.

The company has achieved a number of significant results, including:

■ Actuaries can now focus on exceptions, reviewing model results identified by the robot as being outside of predefined tolerances.

■ Cycle times are shorter because the robots operate on a 24/7 basis and submissions outside of business hours are immediately processed.

■ Rework is minimized because each work step is consistently executed and automatically documented.

■ Key review and decision points have been incorporated where human judgment is needed; in some instances, signoffs from the process owner are required before the robot will proceed to the next milestone.

RPA was similarly effective in performing quarterly analysis across 20 property and casualty reserve segments. Despite the use of reserving software, the reserving process was inefficient, with significant time spent on manual activities such as data preparation prior to the selection of assumptions.

To improve the efficiency and controls, RPA took on data preparation subprocess tasks, including:

■ Copying and pasting prior-year data to current spreadsheets;

■ Aggregating and copying current evaluation data to the latest diagonal;

■ Uploading the triangles and other data into the reserving software;

■ Setting initial assumptions based on the prior evaluation selections process; and

■ Exporting initial results into data visualization and reporting software.

Just like a human, the robot worked across multiple plat-
forms—including Excel (with macros), reserving software, and
data visualization tools—providing additional information for
better decision-making and allowing actuaries to focus on the
selection of assumptions and interpretation of results.

In this situation, implementing RPA led to:

■ 25 to 30 percent productivity gains and overall cycle time reductions;

■ Improved controls; and

■ Earlier and better insights into emerging trends and business implications.

Automation in Context: Driving to Holistic Solutions

It’s important to recognize that RPA is one of a variety of technologies that can be leveraged to drive automation in finance, risk, and actuarial functions. Further, it’s only one element of broader modernization and transformation initiatives. Those programs may also involve:

■ Rationalization of modeling, valuation, and analysis systems, and migration to next-generation platforms;

■ Centralization of modeling, valuation, reserving, and other critical functions;

■ Enhanced data management practices, including big data techniques, and the embedding of analytics throughout the value chain;

■ New sourcing strategies, including using resources in low-er-cost offshore locations and/or outsourcing to third-party providers;

■ Adopting new or updated talent management strategies; and Companies seeking to boost their returns on transformation and automation investments and enhance the value that the actuarial segment can bring to the business should consider their options holistically and decide which tool, or combination of tools, is right for their unique circumstances and objectives.