Welcome to the IFoA Middle East in-person event 2026.
Join us in Dubai on 28 October for a full day of dynamic discussions, insightful sessions, and networking opportunities. Under this year鈥檚 theme, 鈥�Insuring through uncertainty: Resilience, risk and opportunity in the Middle East鈥�, regional experts, risk professionals, and actuarial peers will gather to address the rapidly evolving financial, technological, and regulatory landscapes.
Watch this space: a full list of featured speakers and detailed session abstracts will be updated shortly.
It鈥檚 an opportunity to:
- Gain valuable insights: Discover emerging trends and risk developments impacting financial services and risk management across the Middle East and globally.
- Build your network: Connect with fellow actuarial professionals, global thought leaders, and key decision-makers in a vibrant, face-to-face setting.
- Advance your career: Elevate your career prospects, broaden your technical knowledge, and master professional skills to stay ahead of the curve in today鈥檚 rapidly evolving business environment.
Please note: The venue will be officially confirmed on the website soon. Registered candidates will be notified immediately of any changes, should they occur.
To secure your ticket, please use the button below to book via the standard member portal. Non-members without an IFoA account will be prompted to create a free user login to finalise registration. Those with a previous IFoA account will need to reset their password.
Featured speakers
Event chair
Shivash is Managing Partner at Lux Actuaries and Consultants in the UAE and the General Manager of Lux Actuaries Saudi. With over 15 years of experience as a qualified Fellow specialising in non-life insurance, Shivash has been a prominent figure in the GCC actuarial landscape since 2009. He holds a unique distinction of being registered with all GCC insurance regulators.
Shivash was a founding member of the Gulf Actuarial Society and is the current Chairperson of the IFoA Strategic Middle East Member Committee. He is also a member of the KSA Insurance Authority Actuarial Subcommittee.
Sohail Ali is Managing Director & CEO of Kaf Insurance (Egypt), where he has led a post-acquisition turnaround, scaling revenue 12x and driving Egypt's first end-to-end digital life insurance product.
Sohail has 25+ years' experience across the UK, Egypt, Bahrain and Nigeria in investment, pensions and life insurance and held CEO and board roles at AXA Mansard, CIL/AXA Life Egypt, and Legal & General Gulf Takaful.
He is Chairman of the IFoA Middle East Conference Organising Committee for 2027, previous board member of the Egyptian Society of Actuaries and occasionally lectures and provides input to the actuarial science programme at the American University in Cairo.
Olaf Brock is the Managing Director and CEO of Hannover ReTakaful and the Bahrain Branch in Ma-nama since January 2024. Olaf joined Hannover Re in 1999 and has previously held various leadership positions in the area of finance and accounting.
Olaf is a member of the board of the Bahrain Insurance Association and chairperson of the Legal and Compliance Committee.
Olaf is a member of the founding group of the European Chamber Bahrain (ECBH). The chamber is a non-profit organisation (NPC). It will be duly incorporated by the law of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and will be established for purposes of enhancing the economic and trade relationship between Europe and the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Olaf is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hannover Finance (Luxembourg) S.A., a finance holding company, established in 2001 by Hannover Re, Germany, to issue bonds, designated to strengthen the capital basis of the Hannover Re Group.
Olaf is a member of the Board of Directors of Hannover re Foundation, which was created as a private foundation in 1991 to mark the 25th anniversary of Hannover Re. Its mission initially focuses - and still does - on promoting contemporary art and culture in the region. The foundation has lent its support not only to art but also to projects in the field of sustainability. The aim is to contribute to intergenerational justice and to leave a world worth living in for future generations.
In addition to the foundation's board of directors, the Hannover Re Foundation has established two boards of trustees in line with the funding priorities of art and sustainability, which implement the foundation's ideas in concrete projects in the respective areas. Olaf is the chairman of the board of trustees for art.
Mr El Zoheiry has been in the insurance market for more than 37 years. He also gained experience of professional indemnity insurance in the US market. Starting as a Technical Manager with ACE Egypt in 2001 he has been the Managing Director of GIG Egypt since 2005.
Jennifer is a member of the IFoA AI and Emerging Technologies Practice Board. She is a council member of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland, where she chairs the AI and Data Science Committee and Gender Pipeline Working Group.
Jennifer is Executive Director, Group CFO and Chief Actuary at Acorn Life in Ireland. She is a board member of Vhi, Ireland's state-owned health insurer. Jennifer is a graduate of University College Dublin in Actuarial and Financial Studies. She holds an MSc in Data Analytics and an MSc in Sustainability Leadership.
Hatim has a rare combination of being a Fellow actuary and certified accountant as well as an enterprise risk practitioner.
He is the Managing Director of BADRI Management Consultancy and along with a team of over 200 employees, BADRI is working as regulatory actuary for over 35 companies in the GCC region. Apart from helping companies meet the regulatory requirement he is helping his clients optimise profitability by enhancing their ERM, analytical and operational processes. He has over 20 years of experience in health, general insurance and life industries, where he has developed his core expertise in actuarial, actuarial pricing, underwriting, IFRS17 implementations, claims management and risk management functions.
He was recognised as the Rising Star in the MENA Insurance Industry in 2018 and Young Leader in MEIR Awards in 2021 due to his contributions to the development of the sector. He was also awarded a Presidential Award for Institutional Courage and Professional Integrity given by the President of IFoA in 2024. BADRI was also honored with the SOA 2024 Employer Spotlight Societal Purpose Award, an inaugural recognition launched as part of the Society of Actuaries鈥� 75th-anniversary celebrations.
His experience from working with multinational and blue-chip companies including ADNIC, Tokio Marine Middle East, Allianz EFU Health Insurance and Ernst & Young Actuarial Services in Pakistan, where he was responsible to manage the Middle East and Asian insurance market has helped him achieve excellence in multi dimensions.
Max McKechnie is a Global Market Strategist based in Dubai. He is responsible for generating research-driven analysis on the global economy and markets and communicating this to clients. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan Asset Management Max spent eight years as an officer in the British Army. He holds a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University and an MBA from Exeter University.
Ahmed Nasef is a seasoned insurance executive with more than two decades of experience across the Middle East insurance industry, including extensive leadership and board-level roles with leading international and regional insurers. His career spans underwriting, technical operations, business development, commercial lines, reinsurance, and executive management across multiple markets in the region.
Ahmed began his career with ACE Egypt, now Chubb, in 2003, initially focusing on property and casualty underwriting before expanding his responsibilities across accident and health, marine, and engineering lines. Over the years, he progressed through several senior roles and was appointed Head of Technical and Operations, building a strong foundation in both the technical and operational sides of the insurance business.
In 2015, Ahmed joined AXA General Insurance Company 鈥� Egypt as Technical Director, where he played a key role in establishing and developing the company鈥檚 property and casualty, motor, and health businesses. His responsibilities included building the technical teams and operating structure, while also supporting business development and overall portfolio growth. He was appointed Executive Board Member and CEO 鈥� P&C in 2016, before becoming Managing Director and CEO of the company in 2017.
Ahmed later joined RSA Middle East in 2022 as Deputy CEO for the Middle East region, with responsibilities spanning operations across the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. Following the merger of NLGIC and RSA Middle East and the formation of Liva Group, Ahmed was appointed by the Group Board as Group Chief Commercial Lines and Reinsurance Officer. In this capacity, he oversaw commercial lines and reinsurance operations across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait.
Ahmed currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity United, where he leads the company鈥檚 strategic direction, business transformation, and growth agenda in the UAE. Drawing on his extensive regional and technical experience, his focus is on strengthening Fidelity United鈥檚 market position, developing more relevant and customer-focused insurance solutions, advancing operational and digital capabilities, and building a sustainable platform for long-term growth.
Throughout his career, Ahmed has combined deep technical insurance expertise with commercial and strategic leadership. His experience across both multinational and regional organisations gives him a broad perspective on underwriting, distribution, reinsurance, customer experience, and the evolving needs of businesses and policyholders across the Middle East.
Amrita Pattni heads up the IMEA analytics 鈥� actuarial and cat modelling team since February 2026, after 15 years in the UK P&C analytics property team where she headed up the team in the ultimate two years. Her role involves providing strategic direction and oversight for delivering key client solutions during renewals, RFPs, and bespoke analytical projects.
Her expertise covers advanced reinsurance pricing, combining technical actuarial analysis with market insights, reinsurance optimisation, and capital modelling to evaluate and enhance the capital efficiency of various reinsurance programmes.
Since joining Guy Carpenter in September 2010, Amrita has progressively expanded her role to include both technical analytics and client brokerage, becoming a trusted advisor to her key clients. She is an expert-level user of MetaRisk庐, Guy Carpenter鈥檚 proprietary stochastic modelling platform, and has been instrumental in client licensing and implementation services to maximise its value.
Amrita holds a BSc in Actuarial Science and an MSc in Actuarial Management. She qualified as 天美MV with the UK IFoA in 2014. With over 15 years of experience at Guy Carpenter, she combines strong academic credentials with deep industry expertise, making her a recognised leader in reinsurance analytics.
Hash is Managing Director at Gemcorp Capital, where he leads the firm鈥檚 global insurance capital and investment solutions business. Headquartered in London, Gemcorp Capital is a global private markets investment company operating across 25+ countries.
Based in Riyadh, Hash has over 25 years of experience across insurance and financial services, including actuarial advisory, investment strategy and capital solutions. During his career, he has advised leading insurers, sovereign wealth funds and pension funds across the UK, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Prior to joining Gemcorp, Hash held senior leadership roles across the industry, including as a Partner at BADRI. Earlier in his career, he held senior positions at Aon, WTW, Marsh and PwC.
His focus is on connecting capital markets with global insurance markets, recognising insurance capacity and capital is essential for enabling economic activity, and underpins long term economic development, especially for the high growth markets that Gemcorp operate in.
He holds a degree in Mathematics from the University of Bristol and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (UK).
IFoA President
Paul Sweeting is President of the 天美MV. He is also a director of Tawuniya Insurance, the Middle East's largest insurance company. Until recently, he was a senior advisor at the Hassana Investment Company, having previously been its Chief Risk Officer. Before this, Paul had a wide-ranging career in pensions, life insurance, investment and academia.
Paul is an Honorary Professor of Actuarial Science at the University of Kent and a Visiting Professor at Heriot-Watt University Dubai. He is a Fellow of the 天美MV, for whom he has acted as a volunteer for many years. He also helped design and write the textbook for the profession鈥檚 Enterprise Risk Management subject.
Paul has chaired a number of actuarial boards, committees and working parties, and served as Honorary Secretary for the Institute of Actuaries prior to its merger with the Faculty of Actuaries. Paul is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, the Royal Statistical Society and the Royal Society of Arts. In addition, he is a Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary and a CFA Charterholder. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Bristol.
Schedule
| Activity | Time | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | 09:00 - 09:30 |
Read more |
|
Morning coffee, arrival registration, and delegate badge collection. |
||
| Welcome | 09:30 - 09:45 |
Read more |
|
Opening remarks and event introduction by IFoA President Paul Sweeting. |
||
| Session 1 | 09:45 - 10:30 |
Beyond the crisis: A macro update on the trends shaping the global economy
Read more |
|
Max McKechnie, Global Market Strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, will provide a macroeconomic outlook focused on the structural trends shaping the global economy. The session will look beyond current geopolitical developments to examine the forces shaping the global economy, including AI, investment, demographics and the evolving balance of global economic leadership. Speaker Max McKechnie, Vice President, J.P. Morgan Asset Management |
||
| Refreshment break | 10:30 - 11:00 | |
| Session 2 | 11:00 - 12:00 |
How global capital markets can support higher regional (re)insurance capacity
Read more |
|
How global capital markets can play a key role in expanding regional (re)insurance and risk capacity, and making 鈥樷�檜ninsurable鈥欌�� risks insurable again, especially given current market disruptions. Speakers Hasham Piperdy, Gemcorp Capital |
||
| Speaker changeover | 12:00 - 12:05 | |
| Session 3 | 12:05 - 13:05 |
CEO panel
Read more |
|
Speakers Alaa El Zoheiry, GIG Egypt |
||
| Lunch | 13:05 - 14:00 | |
| Session 4 | 14:00 - 15:00 |
AI and emerging technologies: Update from the new IFoA practice board
Read more |
|
An update from the new IFoA practice board on the evolving role of AI and emerging technologies, including key developments, opportunities and challenges for the actuarial profession, and what these changes may mean for practitioners and the wider industry. Speakers Jennifer Loftus, member of the IFoA's AI and Emerging Technologies Practice Board |
||
| Speaker changeover | 15:00 - 12:05 | |
| Professional Skills | 15:05 - 16:05 |
Professional judgement in an uncertain world
Read more |
|
Actuaries are frequently required to exercise professional judgement in situations where the right course of action is not clear. Commercial pressures, evolving technology, regulatory expectations and competing stakeholder interests can all test how we apply our professional responsibilities in practice. In this highly interactive case study session, participants will work through a realistic professional dilemma, debate possible courses of action and consider how the Actuaries鈥� Code can help guide decision making. The discussion will explore each of the 6 principles of the code, recognising that different perspectives can lead to different responses. Rather than searching for a single 'right' answer, the session will challenge participants to think critically about how they would respond when professional principles meet real-world pressures with an outcome aimed at strengthening the judgement and confidence needed to navigate difficult situations and maintaining trust in the actuarial profession. Highly interactive case-study workshop (qualifies for 1 hour of Professional Skills CPD). Hatim Maskawala, MD, Badri |
||
| Closing remarks | 16:05 - 16:15 |
Read more |
|
Summing up the day鈥檚 insights and closing remarks. |
||
| Networking | 16:15 - 18:30 |
Read more |
|
Please join us for a drinks reception, providing an opportunity to continue the conversation and network with fellow attendees. |
||
Pricing and booking information
| Members | |
| Non-members |