My First Internship Experience
As an Actuarial Science student in my 2nd year, I did a 4 month internship at Sun Life Malaysia, from September to December 2019. I was placed in the Valuation and Financial Reporting team.
In the insurance companies, there are three general actuarial teams, which are Pricing, Valuation and Product. The Valuation team is responsible for determining the reserves for an insurance company, which ensures that the company has enough funds to pay for expenses and claims that the company anticipates it will have to pay in the future.
Before I share about my internship experience, let me introduce Sun Life Malaysia.
Sun Life Malaysia is one of the insurance companies in Malaysia, which located in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Chowkit, Kuala Lumpur. Located at a busy part of the city, it is surrounded by many high rise buildings and there were many food options available within walking distance. A LRT station is also located near the office building.
Internationally, Sun Life Malaysia is known as Sun Life, one of the largest life insurance companies in the world with a history spanning back to 1865 in Quebec, Canada. Currently, Sun Life is a leading financial provider in insurance, wealth and asset management solutions to clients worldwide. In 2013, a joint venture with Khazanah National Berhad and CIMB Group gave birth to what is known as Sun Life Malaysia today.
Sun Life Malaysia offers a wide range of conventional and takaful products distributed through various channels such as direct marketing, bancassurance, telemarketing, government and corporate businesses as well as affinity partners. The numerous types of products are tailored specifically to meet different needs. Each product includes several plans with different premiums, sum assured and riders available. Clients can choose their desired product based on different needs such as protection, retirement, health, investment and education.
On my first day of work, I was very nervous. I remember arriving an hour early and waiting in the parking lot until 8.30 am. Despite my nerves, the workers there were helpful and welcoming, which put me to ease. That afternoon, a welcoming lunch was held to welcome the new interns into the team, which presented the perfect opportunity to learn more about my future colleagues.
Besides that, there are also 4 other interns from UCSI university, 3 of which is did not know personally. After coming to Sun Life, we became fast friends and often have lunch together.
In the first week, I did not have much to do. I spent my time reading their Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which gave me a rough idea of what’s to come. I also did many ad hoc tasks as required such as printing and binding documents.
Afterwards, I received more and more tasks. I had the opportunity to work with several programs such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft FoxPro and others during my time here.
Firstly, I was tasked with reviewing the monthly Replacement of Policy (ROP) cases.
ROP refers to the act of lapsing or surrendering an existing policy and replacing it with another policy within a year after the original policy was discontinued, usually under the advice of an insurance agent that wants to earn more commissions. When a case is determined to be a ROP case, the agent responsible will not receive any commissions. It is assumed that the agent had misled the clients into thinking that replacing their policies will benefit them when reality, the clients will lose their accumulated cash value and their premium rate will increase. The organization incurs more losses too. By reviewing the ROP cases, I can help the organization determine the amount of commissions paid to its insurance agents.
By using Microsoft FoxPro, a database management system, I ensure that the policy data provided by the Operations Team is correct by checking with the data in the administration system. Then, I assess and provide preliminary commentary on whether each case is a ROP case or not on a case by case basis.
Besides, I carried out Experience Rating Refund (ERR) declarations.
ERR refers to the refund of a portion of premium to the policyholders whose claim experience turn out to be better than expected at the end of the scheme anniversary. By generating the yearly ERR rates, I can calculate the refund each scheme can receive based on its past experience. I also ensure that the monthly declaration target is reached and proper documentation is carried out.
First, I extract the required data using Benthic Golden32. Then, I run several macros in Microsoft Excel while referring to historical data from previous policy years to generate the yearly report and yearly rate. Finally, I update the new rates to the database using SQL Plus.
Moreover, I also perform User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for a new product.
UAT is the testing phase of a software system before it is implemented. I ensure that the valuation data generated from the system fulfils the requirements stated in the business requirement and product specifications for monthly reporting. Hence, the root causes of the errors in the data can be determined and potential future losses can be avoided.
I use Microsoft Excel to check whether the data in the system matches the data in the business requirement and product specifications manual, using various Excel functions such as SUMIFS, VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, IFERROR, INDEX, MATCH and conditional formatting. After identifying the errors, they are sent to the IT department for further checking.
Besides work, the team also has a work-life balance. During lunch time, the Valuation team and the Product team would often gather and play board games together. One of their favourite games to play was “Wolf Kill”.
Basically, the purpose of the game is that the Gods and Villagers must kill all the Werewolves, and the Werewolves must kill all the Gods or all the Villagers. Every day, each player takes turns to speak and everyone tries to find out who are the Werewolves in order to vote them out. Every night, the Werewolves can kill one player and the Gods can use their abilities. The Villagers have no abilities.
The game consists of 4 Gods, which are the Seer, Witch, Hunter, Knight or Guard, 4 Villagers and 4 Werewolves. Amongst the 4 Werewolves is the Wolf King, who has a similar ability as the Hunter.
The Seer can uncover a person’s identity every night. The Witch has a bottle of antidote and a bottle of poison throughout the game, which can be used to save one player and kill one player. The Hunter can kill one player when he is killed or voted out. The Guard defends one player from being killed at night by Werewolves. The Knight can uncover a person’s identity at daytime. If he is a good person, the Knight dies. If he is a Werewolf, the Werewolf dies.
Through this game, I got the chance to bond and break the ice with my colleagues and the other interns. Furthermore, soft skills such as observation skills and speaking persuasively and convincingly can be cultivated indirectly, too.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed my time at Sun Life. Besides having fun every day, I have also learned a lot new computer skills that will be useful for my career in the future. It was an eye-opening experience to be able to work alongside professionals in the field, who were always ready to lend a helping hand. With this internship experience, I am more prepared for what’s to come in the future.