Zamara offers a comprehensive array of actuarial services to corporate clients including insurance companies, medical providers, gratuity arrangements and retirement benefit schemes. Our actuaries have a depth of regional experience in modelling techniques, valuation as well as strategy for various entities.
Our actuarial services fall into three broad categories:
- Pension consulting
- Asset and Investment consulting
- Insurance consulting
Pension Consulting
Zamara offers a variety of services to retirement benefit schemes’ trustees and their sponsors, including:
- Actuarial valuations of Defined Benefit (DB) schemes and gratuity arrangements
- Actuarial reviews of Defined Contribution (DC) schemes
- Benefit design – whether establishing a new retirement benefits scheme or gratuity arrangement, or amending an existing one (including through collective bargaining)
- Employee benefit disclosures under various global accounting standards (including IAS, FAS and CICA) in accordance with global accounting standards
- Individual benefit calculations – non-standard pension benefit calculations to individuals
- Independent audit and verification of third party benefit calculations
- Actuarial modelling of an array of scenarios to model and project future cash flows for your retirement benefits scheme or other arrangements
- Modelling of benefit adequacy projections of future benefits for members of retirement benefits schemes to better predict member outcomes. We assist trustees and members in making early interventions (in terms of changes to contribution structures, retirement ages or member benefit expectations) to improve retirement outcomes for members
Asset and Investment Consulting
Our asset and investment consulting services assist trustees in navigating the complex world of investments in order for them to make informed decisions and fairly monitor and assess investment performance. We also provide similar services to SACCOs, endowment funds and high net worth individuals. Zamara’s asset and investment consulting services include:
- Development of investment policy, objectives and guidelines
- Implement an investment process for funds
- Setting the investment philosophy and objectives
- Devising a strategy to achieve these goals
- Selection of asset managers
- Developing and implementing appropriate investment mandates
- Monitoring manager performance and risk
- Monitoring investment performance and risk
- Asset allocation studies and review: This is a two-tier approach involving:
- Undertaking asset and liability studies covering liquidity and strategic asset allocation of the arrangement.
- Reviewing the adequacy of the current asset allocation within the agreed investment objectives and guidelines with consideration of market conditions.
- Manager research and selection
- Development of benchmarks and asset manager performance standards
- Performance measuring and monitoring
- Monitor compliance with relevant legislation and global best practice
Insurance Consulting
Zamara’s actuarial services to the insurance industry go beyond simply fulfilling statutory requirements and aim to provide significant business value and enhanced financial performance. We offer a full breadth of actuarial services to insurance companies, including:
- Statutory actuarial valuations of general and life insurance liabilities, including preparation of Financial Condition Reports
- Product design and pricing of new and existing products, including advising on appropriateness of terms and conditions, exclusions and reinsurance arrangements
- Embedded value and appraisal value calculations
- Transaction advisory services – For start-up insurers, mergers, acquisitions and commutation of insurance liabilities between two entities
- Capital modelling under risk-based solvency regimes
- Modelling and advisory services on risk-based statutory and economic capital
- Reinsurance optimization – selecting one’s reinsurance programs in line with one’s risk appetite and profitability objectives
- Implementation of Enterprise Risk Management to ensure that an insurer effectively manages its risks while achieving its strategic objectives
- Valuation and pricing of National and Public Healthcare schemes and products
- Training and implementation of IFRS 17, the new accounting standard on insurance contracts
- Asset Liability Modelling and preparation of Investment Policy Statements, where we ensure an insurer’s assets match the nature, term, currency and uncertain nature of their liabilities while taking into consideration the risk appetite of the Board of Directors
- Advising on the appropriateness of contribution rates and benefit structures of Post Retirement Medical Schemes
