David Kirk
FIA, FASSA, FeASK, FNAS, CFA, CAIA, PRM
Managing Director, Milliman Africa
Cape Town, ZA
David Kirk is the managing director for Milliman in Africa. He specialises in risk and capital management, regulatory change and insurance strategy.
Experience
David has extensive experience in life insurance and broad exposure to property and casualty insurance and financial instrument valuations.
His technical expertise includes:
- Insurance financial reporting (IFRS, EV, MCEV, Solvency II, and SAM)
- Capital and risk management, including SAM/Solvency II
- Due diligence and M&A advice
- Appointed Actuary and Head of Actuarial Function services
- Specialist board consultant
- Micro insurance and parametric insurance
- Financial and actuarial model development and validation
- New market entry, market expansion and licence applications, including micro insurance licence applications
- Enterprise risk management framework development and readiness assessment
Prior to joining Milliman, David was practice leader of KPMG’s actuarial business in South Africa. The role included responsibility for practice development and management, from setting standards of practice to bringing in new clients to overseeing longer-term brand building.
His previous positions include partner at PwC in South Africa and actuarial analyst and consultant at Tillinghast-Towers Perrin.
Publications and Presentations
- How to talk about target capital levels
- Euler / Gradient approachs to capital allocation
- How and why insurers fail
- Systemic Risk for insurers - hot air or smouldering volcano?
- Hyper Selection - Can we? Should we?
- Actuaries and microinsurance
- Dividend Policy within Capital Management
- What is fair and who gets to decide?
- International Capital Adeuacy Standards and Solvency II
- IMAP preparation and submission
Professional Designations
- Fellow, Institute of Actuaries
- Fellow, Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA)
- Fellow, Actuarial Society of Kenya (FeASK)
- Fellow, Actuarial Society of Nigeria (FNAS)
- Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
- Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA)
- Professional Risk Manager (PRM)
Education
- BBusSci, Actuarial Science and Finance, University of Cape Town
Affiliations
- Actuarial Society of South Africa: member of Life Assurance Committee, Market Conduct subcommitee, and chair of SAM Phase 2 subcommitee.
- International Actuarial Association Life Section Board Member
- Professional Risk Managers’ International Association: Subject matter expert for the Insurance Risk Advisory Working Group.
Publications
Read their latest work
Article
Head of actuarial function
27 May 2025 - by David Kirk, Chris van der Merwe
We examine the role of the head of the actuarial function under South Africa’s regulatory regime, and suggest why insurers should consider outsourcing it.
Article
Global life and health insurance mergers and acquisitions (M&A)
15 May 2025 - by Ian Humphries, Katie Nelson, Tanner McKerlie, Chew Hou Ng, Sam Burgess, Stuart Reynolds, Ariel Hojman, Fernando Mesquida, Richard Taylor, David Kirk, Su Meng Lee
A review of 2024 and an outlook for 2025 and beyond, covering transactions in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa.
Article
Building effective ALM frameworks: A practical guide for emerging annuity providers
24 March 2025 - by David Kirk
We explore the range of ALM strategies for annuities at different levels of maturity and sophistication, from basic approaches to advanced techniques.
Article
Life insurance capital regimes and disclosures in Africa
28 February 2025 - by Rithik Antony, Adél Drew, Cameron Hollaway, Tebogo Khomo, David Kirk, Susan Melmed, Gaël Neuhaus, Ishkar Singh, Andi Tooke, Chris van der Merwe
With Africa moving toward risk-based supervision and capital frameworks, we review of life insurance capital regimes and disclosures for six countries.
Article
South Africa: Insurance industry update - February 2025
11 February 2025 - by David Kirk, Adél Drew, Gaël Neuhaus, Cameron Hollaway, Kerwyn Pillay
We cover four key issues for insurers in South Africa, including how to build climate resilience into the non-life industry.
Article
South Africa: Insurance industry update - November 2024
26 November 2024 - by David Kirk, Susan Melmed, Adél Drew, Chris van der Merwe, Gaël Neuhaus, Cameron Hollaway
In October 2024, Milliman hosted a breakfast for the South African insurance industry. We take a closer look at the topics discussed and highlight some of the key takeaways from the conversations.
Article
Reassessing SAM equity shocks: Is the current calibration still fit for purpose?
19 November 2024 - by Rithik Antony, Andi Tooke, David Kirk
For South Africa insurers, do prescribed equity shocks – under the framework for solvency assessment and management – still reflect the risks that carriers face?
Article
Ring-fencing capital gains, assessed loss recoverability and LACDT for South African insurers
29 October 2024 - by David Kirk
We look at the impact of ring-fenced capital losses in South Africa and how they can decrease loss-absorbing capacity of deferred taxes for insurers.
Article
Do South African government bonds have only negligible credit risk?
08 October 2024 - by David Kirk
To gauge the risk of South African government bonds, we examine the risks of country default, credit migration, and spreads.
Article
South Africa: Insurance industry update - August 2024
16 August 2024 - by David Kirk, Susan Melmed, Adél Drew, Gaël Neuhaus, Cameron Hollaway
Our insurance update for South Africa covers the latest regulatory issues, emerging risks, and the role of insurance in the Olympics.