What Does an Approved Actuary Actually Do? | Insights from a Life Insurance Expert

In this episode of In Focus, we sit down with Louis van As, Consulting Actuary at Insight Life Solutions, to explore the evolving world of life insurance, actuarial consulting, and financial risk. Louis shares his journey from Cape Town to Ireland and back, reflecting on the experiences that have shaped his career across life insurance, pensions, statutory reporting and actuarial consulting. Drawing on work throughout Southern Africa, Ireland and the Middle East, he offers valuable insights into the diverse regulatory environments and industry challenges that have influenced his approach to consulting. Together, we discuss what it takes to become a South African approved actuary, the significance of IFRS 17 and embedded value reporting and how emerging challenges such as climate risk, capital management and artificial intelligence are reshaping the future of insurance. Louis also shares how Insight Life Solutions is developing innovative actuarial tools and dashboards to help insurers make smarter, data-driven decisions, while reflecting on the future of actuarial consulting in an increasingly complex and rapidly evolving industry. Whether you're an actuary, insurance professional, student or simply curious about the future of financial risk management, this episode offers valuable insights from one of the industry's experienced consultants. Connect with Louis LinkedIn: https://za.linkedin.com/in/louis-van-as-0a1586216 Follow Insight LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/insight-actuaries-&-consultants/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insight_za/ Website: https://www.insight.co.za/