Monday
Indicators: Irish consumer confidence (May); UK services PMI (May); US composite PMI, services PMI (May), labour market conditions index (May).
Tuesday
Indicators: Irish services PMI (May), industrial production (Apr); Euro zone composite and services PMI (May), retail sales (Apr); German composite and services PMI (May); US economic optimism (Jun).
Wednesday
Indicators: Irish residential property prices (Apr); Euro zone retail PMI (May), GDP growth rate (Q1); UK house price index (May); German factory orders (Apr), construction PMI (May); US mortgage applications (Jun).
Meetings: Grad Ireland Summer Fair (RDS, Dublin 4).
Thursday
Results: Auto Trader Group, Dell Technologies, Verifone Systems.
Indicators: Irish inflation (May); UK consumer inflation expectations (Q2); German industrial production (Apr).
Meetings: ECB interest rate decision; Society of Actuaries Ireland annual conference (Convention Centre Dublin); Irish Brokers Association broker market day event (RDS, Dublin); Financial Services Ireland annual lunch (Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin).
Like much of the financial sector, Irish actuaries are fighting to keep up with seismic shifts in the regulatory landscape across insurance and pension sectors as well as the impact of low interest rates.
Just understanding how these affect the pensions, life and non-life insurance areas is a challenge and the finer points will be examined at the Society of Actuaries Ireland (SAI) annual convention on Thursday.
“It’s regulation,” says Brian Morrissey, a council member of the SAI, of the dominant theme this year. “No matter where you go, you are tripping over existing and new regulations coming from Europe and these all have to be implemented and complied with.”
In May, companies began filing data under the long-awaited Solvency II regulatory regime, a complicated system that has dominated the insurance sector and actuarial profession for the last couple of years. Detailed work is still required to fully embed the new reporting obligations under the Solvency II framework.
Life insurers are now feeling the impact of regulatory revisions, with an onus on companies to deliver greater transparency to customers on investment and savings products as part of the sales process from next year. The coming 12 to 18 months will see a similar focus for customers buying other insurance products in terms of improved transparency and comparability.
The International Financial Regulatory Standard (IFRS) 17 is also on the horizon – the new insurance accounting standard, due to come into force in 2021, requires plenty of work in the build-up given its complexities for actuaries and accountants.
Another significant theme of this week’s conference will focus on areas beyond the traditional sectors where actuaries can bring value including data analytics, risk management and banking.
Friday
Indicators: Irish construction output (Q1); UK construction orders (Q1), construction output (Apr), manufacturing production (Apr), industrial production (Apr).
Meetings: “Path to GDPR: Practical Steps to Take” seminar on forthcoming general data protection regulations legislation (Royal College of Physicians, Kildare Street, Dublin 2); “ESRI Budget Perspectives” conference examining budget-related policy (ESRI, Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2); Goodbody Funding the Future of Aviation” conference (Ballsbridge Park, Dublin)
In an era of low fuel prices and the development of emerging markets, the future of the aviation sector is looking set to soar. Ireland is well placed to take advantage, given its intimate role in the leasing sector and its links to Ryanair and IAG.
And as Norwegian Air begins to shake things up with its highly anticipated low cost flights to the US, much attention is shifting toward exactly how the industry will shape itself over the coming decade.
On Friday, Goodbody will attempt to answer many of the questions by facilitating industry representatives at its “Funding the Future of Aviation” conference in Dublin.
“At the volume level in terms of people flying, the future looks very clear – there has been a growing worldwide fleet and a growing worldwide demand for flights,” said Joe Gill, organiser of the Goodbody event.
“While there is this underlying growth, it’s a tricky industry. It’s reasonably high risk and volatile but we seem to have a knack in Ireland for creating leaders of the industry who know how to make money.”
Central to Friday’s proceedings will be a discussion led by Kostya Zolotusky, managing director of capital markets and leasing for Boeing Capital, on the subject of long-term forecasting models for plane supply around the world.
Kevin Toland, the outgoing chief executive of the DAA, which administers Dublin Airport, will discuss what airlines are looking for in the future in terms of services. There will also be talks on other aspects of the industry including from Willie Walsh of IAG and Aengus Kelly of AerCap who will consider the role of leasing in the future.