2009
		15th Regional Social Security, Pension & Provident Fund Conference
		16th Regional Pension & Provident Funds Conference for Cyprus & Greece
2008
		Social Insurance Diploma
2007
		Regional Pension & Provident Fund Conference for Cyprus & Greece 2007
		11th Regional Pension & Social Insurance Conference
2006
		Social Insurance Diploma
		Role of the disabled workshop
		10th Regional Pension & Social Insurance Conference
		Cypriot Actuary in the Arab World
		GCC Pension Funds and Social Insurance Workshop
2005
		Retirement Benefits Workshop
		Actuarial Diploma
		9th Regional Pension & Social Insurance Conference
2004
		Regional Pension & Social Insurance Conference for Cyprus & Greece
		1st Insurance Training Course for Saudi Nationals
		1st Insurance Job Fair Riyadh - KSA
		1st Regional Conference for Insurance Executives (Mergers & Acquisitions)
		8th Regional Pension & Social Insurance Conference (Planning for Reform, Sustainability and New Challenges - UAE
		Compliance with Lebanese Insurance Regulation - Workshop
		IICE courses
2003
		8th Diploma Program
		7th Regional Pension & Social Insurance Conference (Their Rights & Wrongs) - Lebanon
2002
		6th Regional Pension & Provident Plans Conference - Cyprus
		The Muhanna Mathematics Award of Excellence
		Workshop on Professionalism - Lebanon
		7th Diploma Program
2001
		5th Regional Pension & Provident Plans Conference - Oman
		2nd Regional Seminar on The Role of the Actuary in the Economy - Lebanon
		2nd Insurance Supervisors Workshop - KSA
		6th Diploma Program
2000
		4th Regional Pension & Provident Plans Conference - Bahrain
		1st Regional Seminar on The Role of the Actuary in the Economy - Jordan
		5th Diploma Program

1999
		3rd Regional Pension & Provident Plans Conference - Cyprus
		4th Diploma Program

1998
		2nd Regional Pension & Provident Plans Conference - Cyprus
		1st Insurance Supervisors Workshop - Cyprus
		3rd Diploma Program
1997
		Insurance Supervision Seminar - Lebanon
		2nd Diploma Program
1996
		On the board of directors of a Life Insurance Company Seminar - Cyprus
		1st Diploma Program
1994
		Insurance Supervision and Regulation Seminar - Cyprus
		Diploma Program (one full year)
1993
		1st Regional Pension Plans Conference - Cyprus

Compliance with Lebanese Insurance Regulation - Workshop

IICE Courses

8th Diploma Program

General

7th Regional Pension & Social Insurance Conference (Post Conference)

The Muhanna Mathematics Award of Excellence

7th Diploma Program

2nd Regional Seminar on The Role of the Actuary in the Economy - Lebanon

5th Regional Pension & Provident Plans Conference - Oman

6th Diploma Program

The Economic Development in the Arab World Warrants Actuarial Expertise

1st Regional Seminar on The Role of the Actuary in the Economy

A seminar on The Role of the Actuary in the Economy is presented on 24 May 2000 by the Muhanna Foundation, in association with the Insurance Regulatory Commission of Jordan.

Actuaries are the mathematicians and problem-solvers of the business world and in the field of social protection. They are best known historically for their role in the financial management of insurance companies and pension institutions. Their roles include estimating the future costs of contingent liabilities in order to advise on sound premium rates or contribution levels, monitoring the quantum of future liabilities, advising on the management of assets to meet those liabilities and using dynamic modelling techniques to evaluate the potential impact of risks which may be faced in the future.

Opening Remarks

Dr. Basil Hindawi, Director General of the Insurance Regulatory Commission of Jordan said: “ Jordan needs 60 to 80 qualified actuaries. He stressed on the role of the actuaries in the financial institutions. The IRC will be working extensively with actuaries advising the insurance sector. Moreover, the IRC is planning to cooperate with international actuarial organizations in authorization of actuaries in Jordan.

HE Mohamad Halaiqah, Minister of Industry and Trade of Jordan said: (his speech was delivered by Dr. Hindawi) “ The financial sector reflects the economic development of a nation. The actuarial expertise is among the important indicators that must be used in evaluating financial strength.

Ibrahim Muhanna, Chairman of the Board, Omnimu Group of Companies, Lebanon, said: “He recommended to Jordanian universities to introduce Actuarial education into their programs. He also urged the private sector to interact with the universities by financially supporting specific programs or providing scholarships to students as well demanding of them a better educational delivery system.

Speakers

Catherine Prime, President of the International Actuarial Association said: “The actuarial discipline addresses longer term finance provision to cover life needs on an individual, national and international basis. Areas particularly important on the global scene in the year 2000 are pensions and social security, health care finance, insurance, investment and capital market infrastructure.”

Today actuaries are increasingly active in all types of financial institution, applying their mathematical and business skills to liability evaluation, investment management and evaluation, corporate finance, risk management, investment performance measurement and to the design, pricing and risk management of new financial instruments (e.g. options and futures).

Chris Daykin, Government Actuary of the United Kingdom and a former President of the Institute of Actuaries, said: “Actuaries are people who can make financial sense of the future. They can play a vital role in the protection of policyholders of insurance companies and members of pension funds. Millions of policyholders and pension scheme members around the world rely on the work of actuaries for their financial security, ensuring that policyholder reasonable expectations are met.”

In the field of social protection, actuaries advise on the financial soundness of social security schemes, including those organized as public schemes at the national level, schemes sponsored by individual employers or groups of employers, and commercial products which meet similar needs, such as individual account funded personal pension schemes. Actuaries are also closely involved in many countries in the financing of health care and in demographic issues.

The actuarial profession has had a long tradition of playing a public interest role, particularly in the protection of policyholder interests in life insurance companies and the interests of members in pensions and social security.

Actuaries also advise regulators to ensure that the companies they supervise are managed soundly and that they will be able to meet their future liabilities.

Actuaries also support management and shareholders and help them to develop and run profitable businesses with a proper understanding of the risks and how to mitigate them.

All of these are areas where actuaries have a role to play in Jordan - increasingly so in the future as the financial markets become more sophisticated and social protection becomes more diversified.

Ibrahim Muhanna, Chairman of the Board, Omnimu Group of Companies, Lebanon, said: “There is an urgent need to develop the actuarial profession in the Arab World. At the present time there are only about 0.2 actuaries per million active population in the Arab World, compared to 4 per million in the developing nations and 16 per million in the Western World. There is a growing demand for actuarial skills but hardly any local supply. We want to encourage young people to take up the actuarial profession as a career. They will find it pays very well and offers a very satisfying career professionally.

Curtis Huntington, Director of the Actuarial Program at the University of Michigan, USA said: “Actuarial education is now converging at a global level. Universities have an important part to play in this and universities in the Arab World should think seriously about establishing actuarial programs. They can expect to get plenty of encouragement and support from established universities offering such programs and from the International Actuarial Association.”

Actuaries are an essential profession in a modern economy and urgent steps need to be taken to promote and develop the profession in Jordan.

Other Facts

1. Actuaries in the modern sense have been around for over 200 years, from their early beginnings in England in the middle of the 18th century. However, some of the mathematical techniques – for example combining mortality tables with compound interest to estimate the cost of an annuity for life – were discovered over 300 years ago

2. There are about 35,000 actuaries worldwide, most of whom are members of actuarial associations which belong to the International Actuarial Association (IAA). The IAA was established in 1895 as an organization of individual actuaries, but was reconstructed in 1998 as an association of actuarial associations. It now has over 40 associations as Full Members. To be admitted as Full Members they must have a code of conduct and appropriate disciplinary process, as well as being committed to implement by 2005 a set of guidelines on minimum educational requirements for individuals to be admitted as fully qualified in their association.

3. Actuarial professional training is built on a foundation of mathematics, statistics, probability, economics and finance. In many countries universities teach actuarial science as an important and popular discipline.

4. Several associations, including the Faculty and Institute of Actuaries in the United Kingdom and the Society of Actuaries in North America, offer examinations to qualify as an actuary in centers all around the world. Other countries have their own local professional examinations and many universities offer courses in actuarial science.

5. An actuarial summer school will be held (in English) at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon from 14 August to 1 September 2000 as the start of a one year program of introductory study for those interested in finding out more about pursuing an actuarial career.

6. The Muhanna Foundation is a non-profit foundation dedicated to education and the development of knowledge in actuarial and related fields in the countries of the Middle East. It organizes conferences and seminars, provides actuarial education programs and encourages quality in the teaching of mathematics and related subjects in universities in the region.

Mr. Muhanna said that the Seminar was very successful. "The level of the discussions was high while the contribution of the 100 participants from Jordan and 14 visiting actuaries from around the world was enthusiastic and valuable."

It is expected that the 5th Regional Conference will be held in Greece late this year and the 6th in Oman early next year.

Through Proper Regulations and Supervision Pension Benefits are Safe

4th Regional Pension Plans and Provident Funds Conference

The Muhanna Foundation together with the Government Actuary of the U.K. organized on January 17 & 18, 2000 in Bahrain 4th Regional Conference on Pension Plans and Provident Funds.

The Conference, which focused on the Future of Social Insurance, was opened by HE the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of the State of Bahrain. It was attended by internal and external auditors, accountants, investment consultants, officials from ministries, government and semi-government organizing, banks, universities and Social Insurance Organizations.

People want to secure their future and want to make sure that once they retire, they shall have enough money to live a comfortable life. For this reason, it is very important that they select in time the Pension Plan or Provident Fund most suitable for them.

The Government Actuary of the U.K. Mr. Chris Daykin analyzed the various problems, with regard to the social insurance, that many countries are facing as well as the various solutions to the problems given by those countries.

Mr. Peter Lockyer presented his ideas on the investments of the Provident and Pension Funds and the need for a careful investment of these Funds, using appropriate models, whilst taking into consideration not only the investment portfolio but also the obligations of the Funds.

Ibrahim Muhanna, Managing Director of i.e. Muhanna & co. ( Actuarial Services) compared the Pensions and Provident Plans and discussed the developments of these plans in the USA.

Mr. Jamal Mitwasi. IT Manager Social Security of Jordan, exposed the audience to the complexity of integrated systems and their importance. He also covered issues as imaging.

Both Mr. Andrew Young, Directing Actuary at the GAD discussed the relevance of actuarial reviews, assumptions used. Moreover Mr. Young stressed on the importance of the actuarial review to understood by non actuaries.

Mr. George M. Psaras, the Managing Partner and Actuary of Muhanna and Co. discussed the fully funded approach to Pension Funds. Since one of the problems that the funds are facing is the pay as you go financing system.

During the Conference, the solutions given by various countries were discussed i.e. the introduction of fully funded Pension or Retirement Plans and the partial funding of Social Insurance Pension. The Conference also examined the for and against of the Provident funds as pans with defined contributions and of the Pensions Plans as plans with defined benefits.

Mr. Muhanna said that the 4th Regional Conference on Pension Plans and Provident Funds was very successful. "The level of the discussions was high while the contribution of the participants, from Bahrain, Cyprus, Greece, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and the U.K. was enthusiastic and valuable."

It is expected that the 5th Regional Conference will be held in Greece late this year and the 6th in Oman early next year.

4th Diploma Program

The 1999-2000 Actuarial Program of the Muhanna Foundation was successfully launched with a three week residential phase in Nicosia, Cyprus which drew to a close on 10 September. Eight students participated, from Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Under the next, distance-learning, phase of the program the participants will study on their own, preparing and submitting regular assignments, before attending the final residential review and examination phase in the summer of 2000.

The program, which received financial sponsorship from international reinsurance companies Cologne Re, ERC Frankona Re, and Swiss Re as well as from the Parent Sponsor of the Foundations, i.e. Muhanna & co, is an important initiative to raise awareness of the actuarial progression throughout the countries of the Middle East, where up to now there have been very few qualified actuaries. In the future there will be a growing demand for actuaries in all branches of insurance, as well as in pensions and social security, and there is an urgent need to encourage more mathematically able people in the region to consider a career as an actuary.

The Muhanna Foundation program provides an introduction to actuarial studies. Students who successfully complete the program will be encouraged to pursue their studies further on a university-based actuarial program or through taking the examinations of the international actuarial professional bodies, the Faculty & Institute of Actuaries (based in the UK) or the Society of Actuaries (based in the USA).

Actuaries are the professionals who "make financial sense of the future" as the Institute of Actuaries by-line went for its 150th anniversary, celebrated last year. Actuaries are key financial advisers in the financial institutions such as insurance companies, in finance and investment , and in pensions and health care financing.

The teaching faculty on the program included university teachers form the UK and the USA, a staff actuary from the Institute and actuaries and other experts from Cyprus and Lebanon. Subjects covered included Financial Mathematics, Probability and Statistics, Actuarial Mathematics, Modelling, Economics, Investment and Asset Management and Professionalism.

The Future of Social Security Funds

3rd Regional Conference on Pension Plans and Provident Funds

The Cyprus based company ie Muhanna & co. together with the Government Actuary of the U.K. organized on Thursday 9 September in Nicosia the 3rd Regional Conference on Pension Plans and Provident Funds.

The Conference, which focused on the Future of Social Insurance, was attended by actuaries, internal and external auditors, accountants, investment consultants, officials from ministries, government and semi-government organizing, banks, universities and Social Insurance Organizations.

People want to secure their future and want to make sure that once they retire, they shall have enough money to live a comfortable life. For this reason, it is very important that they select in time the Pension Plan or Provident Fund most suitable for them.

The Government Actuary of the U.K. Mr. Chris Daykin analyzed the various problems, with regard to the social insurance, that many countries are facing as well as the various solutions to the problems given by those countries.

George M. Psaras, the Managing Partner and Actuary of Muhanna and Co. discussed the complete financing of the Pension Funds, since one of the problems that the funds are facing is the pay as you go financing system.

Mr. Hugh Sutherland presented his ideas on the investments of the Provident and Pension Funds and the need for a careful investment of these Funds, using appropriate models, whilst taking into consideration not only the investment portfolio but also the obligations of the Funds.

Dr. Curtis Huntington, Director of the Actuarial Science Department at the University of Michigan compared the Pensions and Provident Plans and discussed the developments of these plans in the USA.

During the Conference, the solutions given by various countries were discussed i.e. the introduction of fully funded Pension or Retirement Plans and the partial funding of Social Insurance Pension. The Conference also examined the for and against of the Provident funds as pans with defined contributions and of the Pensions Plans as plans with defined benefits.

Mr Psaras said that the 3rd Regional Conference on Pension Plans and Provident Funds was very successful. "The level of the discussions was high while the contribution of the participants, from Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the U.K. and the USA was enthusiastic and valuable."

It is expected that the 4th Regional Conference will be held in Bahrain early next year.

2nd Regional Pension & Provident Plans Conference - Cyprus

3rd Diploma Program

Insurance Supervision Seminar - Lebanon