UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Four students from the Penn State Smeal College of Business actuarial science program placed second recently at the Munich RE Cup Annual Case Study Competition at Munich RE’s office in New York City.
The Munich RE Cup is a premier North American-wide case competition in the actuarial field, providing students with an opportunity to develop and apply their analytical, presentation and problem-solving skills to real-world business problems.
The case topic was released in December 2023 and focused on how life insurance companies can manage growth and profitability using technology and reinsurance solutions. Students were provided information about a hypothetical insurance company looking to launch a new insurance product to take advantage of behavioral data from wearable devices, such as smartwatches. Students were asked to propose a pricing structure for this new product and provide a financial strategy for managing the capital strain involved with the new product launch.
Third-year actuarial science major Anthony Padula, along with teammates Matthew Bretz, Sean Gordon, and Olivia Lechthaler, all second-year actuarial science majors, had eight weeks to analyze the case and prepare an executive summary and presentation outlining their analysis and recommendations. In February, the four Smeal students learned they were among the six finalist teams selected to present their findings to a panel of judges at the competition. Each team had 30 minutes to present, followed by a 15-minute Q&A session with the judges.
The Smeal team was awarded a $7,000 prize, which was divided equally among the four team members.
“We are incredibly proud of our students for their outstanding performance in this competition," said Mandy Hammell, professor of practice in risk management and the team’s faculty adviser. “Their dedication, hard work, and ability to think critically and creatively set them apart.”