Breaking new ground: McMaster’s debut at the Munich Re Cup

Dr. Anas Abdallah had full confidence in his team of four Actuarial and Financial Mathematics students who came together to compete in the 10^th annual Munich Re Cup.

Under his guidance, Derek Kusmenko, Acacia Lio, Anu Kumar, and Woojoo Kim collaborated to tackle a real-world actuarial case study.

The Munich Re Cup, a North American-wide case competition, offered the students an opportunity to apply their analytical, presentation, and problem-solving skills to a real-world business problem.

For the first round of the competition, the team investigated a financial problem and crafted an executive summary outlining how the solution would benefit the overall financial position of the company. Despite initial reservations about their chances in the competition, Derek recalled the excitement he felt when he received an email announcing that the team secured one of the six final coveted spots in the full case competition on March 5^th, 2024.

With the excitement came nerves. Everyone on the team was nervous. So they spent countless hours at Thode Library fine-tuning their solution and practicing their presentation skills in preparation for the big day in New York City.

Munich Re allowed the team to book their plane tickets early, so they spent the weekend before the competition exploring the Big Apple. The team got to visit the Statue of Liberty, the Central Park Zoo, Brooklyn Bridge, and Times Square. And they didn’t leave without making sure they had time to shop. Derek says the time they spent together gave them a chance to bond so they were more comfortable with each other when it was time to present.

On competition day, the team was chosen as the first among six to kick off the presentations at the Munich Re office on Madison Ave. They presented for 30 minutes in front of a panel of six judges. “It was quite daunting at first, but we got through our presentation and questions successfully. When we were done, it was cool to listen to the other groups and see how our solutions compared,” said Derek. “The judges only presented the top two teams, so we were unsure of where we placed in comparison to the other groups. We were just proud to be there.”

Everyone on the team brought different experiences to the table. Each team member has a different co-op background, ranging from property and casualty actuarial pricing to insurance underwriting. And it was a bonus that Woojoo competed in the Co-operators case competition the year before.

Derek felt honoured to have been asked by Dr. Abdallah to get involved in the competition. It was the first time that students from McMaster would be participating in the competition. “Making it to the finals in New York City was so thrilling,” said Derek.

Dr. Abdallah expressed being incredibly proud of his team, emphasizing the value of experiential learning. “As I always tell my students, ‘The true value of education lies not just in the knowledge you gain but in the experiences you embrace and the challenges you overcome.’ Their performance in this competition exemplifies the benefits of stepping beyond the classroom and engaging in real-world problems.”

The Munich Re Cup originated in 2015 and began as a Canada-wide actuarial business case competition. The competition has grown to be the premier North American actuarial case competition, open to students in Canada and the United States.