Actuarial Data Science in the Swiss Association of Actuaries

What Actuarial Data Science in the Swiss Association of Actuaries does

Actuarial Data Science is a working group initiative of the Schweizerische Aktuarvereinigung (Swiss Association of Actuaries, SAA), established in 2018 and administratively hosted at the SAA's office c/o Swiss Re in Zurich. The working group develops educational content and resources at the intersection of actuarial practice and modern data science, targeting fully qualified actuaries and actuarial professionals who need to upskill in machine learning, statistical modeling, and big data applications specific to insurance. Its member base of approximately 16 contributors is drawn from major Swiss and international insurers (Swiss Re, Zurich Insurance, AXA Switzerland, Allianz Suisse, Vaudoise Assurances, AXIS Capital, UBS), analytics firms (QuantCo, AT Analytics, Essentia, Coalition Inc.), and academic institutions (ETH Zurich / RiskLab, Université de Lausanne), chaired by Prof. Dr. Patrick Cheridito.

The group's core offerings are organized around six product lines: 16 case-study tutorials combining academic papers on SSRN with executable code on GitHub (covering survival models, SHAP, privacy-preserving ML, NLP, CNNs, RNNs, LocalGLMnet, boosting, and French motor third-party liability claims); a curated directory of 40+ publicly available datasets categorized by actuarial use case; a reading list and course directory drawing on ETH Zurich, University of Lausanne, and University of Basel; a Regulatory/Ethics resource library covering EIOPA AI governance, BaFin guidelines, and ethics for trustworthy AI; the Data Science Après-midi presentation series; and a Reading Club hosted via the Zurich Data Science Meetup group. Distribution is entirely digital and free, with no commercial productization.

The business model is non-commercial: the working group operates as a volunteer professional association activity under the SAA umbrella, with all resources provided free of charge to support actuarial upskilling. There is no pricing model, no paying customers, no funding rounds, and no external equity or debt financing. The entity is not a privately held company and is not investable in the conventional PE/VC/M&A sense; its strategic value is institutional and reputational to the SAA and its member organizations rather than financial.

Name

Actuarial Data Science in the Swiss Association of Actuaries

Legal name

Schweizerische Aktuarvereinigung (Swiss Association of Actuaries)

Website

https://actuarialdatascience.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Actuarial Data Science is a volunteer working group of the Swiss Association of Actuaries that publishes tutorials, datasets, and courses on data science and machine learning for qualified actuaries across Swiss insurance and academia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Actuarial Professional Education

NAICS

Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Library Collections & Cataloging Services (Acquisitions, Metadata, Circulation) (EDAEAGAE)

Keywords

• Actuarial education
• Actuarial data science
• Machine learning tutorials
• Insurance statistical modeling
• Professional development

Headquarters

HQ city

Zurich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Professional Association Support: Funded as a working group of the Swiss Association of Actuaries (SAA). No commercial revenue generation - operates as a non-profit professional development initiative providing free educational resources to SAA members.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Actuarial Data Science working group develops and publishes free educational tutorials (16 case studies combining academic papers on SSRN with executable code on GitHub), curates a directory of publicly available datasets for actuarial data science, maintains a comprehensive resources library of books, lectures, and university courses, organizes Data Science Après-Midi presentations and Reading Club sessions, and provides regulatory and ethics resources. The offerings are provided free to members of the Swiss Association of Actuaries to support actuarial upskilling in data science, machine learning, and AI applications.

Product overview

Actuarial Data Science is a working group initiative of the Swiss Association of Actuaries focused on advancing data science knowledge and skills within the actuarial profession. The organization offers a portfolio of educational products centered around tutorials (16 case studies), a curated directory of publicly available datasets, comprehensive course and lecture materials from Swiss universities, regulatory/ethics resources, and professional development events (Data Science Après-Midi presentations and Reading Club sessions). These products work together to support actuaries in upskilling from traditional actuarial methods to modern data science and machine learning techniques applied to insurance problems.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Actuarial Data Science Tutorials Educational tutorials consisting of academic articles and corresponding executable code that demonstrate data science and machine learning methods applied to actuarial problems including pricing, reserving, mortality modeling, and risk management. 16 case studies available covering topics from GLMs to deep learning, hosted on SSRN (papers) and GitHub (code), free to SAA members.
• Publicly Available Data Sets Directory Curated directory of publicly available datasets suitable for learning and applying data science methods in actuarial contexts. Includes datasets for P&C pricing, life & health, mortality, telematics, finance, and reserving, maintained in CSV and Excel formats, with links to sources on Kaggle, OpenML, and other platforms.
• Books/Lectures/Courses in Actuarial Data Science Comprehensive overview of educational resources including foundational textbooks, university lecture materials from ETH Zurich, University of Basel, and Université de Lausanne, and professional courses offered by the Swiss Association of Actuaries.
• Regulatory and Ethics Resources Collection of publicly available articles covering regulatory, legal, and ethical topics related to AI and data science in insurance, including EIOPA AI Governance Principles, BaFin guidelines, discrimination-free insurance pricing, and ethics guidelines for trustworthy AI.
• Data Science Après-Midi Events Regular presentation series offering high-quality talks on relevant actuarial topics including machine learning applications, NLP, deep reinforcement learning, privacy-preserving ML, and telematics. Includes upcoming and past event recordings and materials.
• Reading Club Casual interactive sessions where actuaries and data scientists share experiences and discuss practical topics of interest. Hosted through the Zurich Data Science Meetup group.
• Foundations of Data Science Resources Curated learning materials on fundamental data science knowledge including books on mathematics/statistics, R and Python data science, neural networks, and key academic articles on statistical modeling and machine learning.
• Education Programs Directory Listing of university programs in Actuarial Data Science at Bachelor/Master level from University of Lausanne, University of Basel, and ETH Zurich, plus professional certification programs including CAS and MAS degrees.

Quantifiable outcome

• 16 actuarial data science tutorials published covering advanced topics from survival models to privacy-preserving ML
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability14 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Swiss Association of Actuaries (SAA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent organization of the Data Science Working Group. The working group is an official initiative of the SAA (Schweizerische Aktuarvereinigung) addressing topics of data science, data analytics, smart analytics and big data in the context of actuarial applications. Administrative office located at SAA headquarters c/o Swiss Re in Zurich.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Canadian Institute of Actuaries: Canadian national actuarial body providing credentialing, education, and member services. Comparable as a peer national actuarial association serving a single market, with similar educational-content and member-development functions.
• Deutsche Aktuarvereinigung (DAV): German actuarial association offering member education, research, and standards work. Comparable as a peer national actuarial society in a neighboring German-speaking market with overlapping insurance industry footprint.
• Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA): UK actuarial professional body with a broad education, research, and policy agenda. Comparable as a national actuarial association delivering curated learning resources, though it primarily serves UK and international members rather than Switzerland.

Direct peers

• Society of Actuaries (SOA): Largest US-based actuarial professional association offering education, research, and credentialing. Directly comparable as a membership organization that produces educational content and research for actuaries, including its own data science initiatives.
• American Academy of Actuaries: US professional association providing public-policy and professionalism guidance for actuaries. Comparable as a peer national actuarial body producing authoritative content, though it focuses more on policy advocacy than technical education.
• Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS): US-based professional body for P&C actuaries providing research, continuing education, and credentialing. Comparable as a national actuarial association that develops technical content and upskilling resources for its membership.

Broad incumbents

• International Actuarial Association (IAA): Global umbrella organization for actuarial associations worldwide. Comparable as a higher-order professional body producing educational standards, research, and policy guidance, though it operates across all actuarial domains rather than a single national market.

Emerging players

• DataCamp: Commercial online education platform specializing in data science and analytics upskilling. Comparable as a provider of curated tutorials, datasets, and learning paths in data science — the same broad domain the working group serves, but delivered as a paid SaaS product rather than a non-profit initiative.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/actuarial-data-science-in-the-swiss-association-of-actuaries

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Actuarial Data Science in the Swiss Association of Actuaries