Longevity analytics company Club Vita has consolidated its UK, US and Canadian operations under a sole parent company: Club Vita LLP. This move is in response to the growing international demand for longevity data.
At the same time, Club Vita is also parting ways with its founders. The company was founded in the U.K. in 2008 by pension consultant Hymans Robertson, LLP, its release said. Club Vita Canada was founded in 2015 by consulting actuarial firm Eckler. Club Vita U.S. was launched in 2019 as a joint venture.
Club Vita provides pension funds, pension plan advisors, insurers and reinsurers, and asset managers with data services to help them manage longevity data uncertainty. It describes itself as a “multi-disciplinary team, with a shared passion for ‘allowing the data to do the talking.’”
As a result of the merger, the firm now has more than 50 employees and deals with 400 pension funds, seven pension consulting firms and 25 insurers around the world. Club Vita focuses its research on solutions for transferring longevity risk from a pension fund to an insurer or reinsurer.
Similarities among the three countries
Group CEO of Club Vita LLP Jennifer Haid shared the rationale for the restructuring: Club Vita’s big data philosophy is the genesis of an international standard for longevity analysis. This philosophy “enables a wider range of analysis powered by cross-market insights,” she says.
The grouping is also statistically motivated. “From a statistical perspective, we’ve learned that the inter-country similarities in longevity patterns are more profound than their differences,” Haid says in the press release. She explained to Insurance Portal that the differences in the populations of the three countries involved in Club Vita have similar predictors, “associated with the lifestyles of people living in different postal codes.” “In light of this, by combining our teams of actuaries, data scientists and technologists we are more efficient and can dedicate more time to innovation,” she adds.
The founder commends his partners
Douglas Anderson, founder of Club Vita LLP and a partner at Hymans Robertson from 1998 to 2019, expressed his appreciation to Hymans Robertson and Eckler for their support since 2008. “Without their belief in our vision and investment, Club Vita would not have reached today’s milestone,” he says in the release.
Anderson also thanked Ian Edelist for making Club Vita Canada a leader in longevity analytics in Canada. He noted that Edelist “is stepping away now that Club Vita Canada is formalising its independence from Eckler.”
France Panneton, currently Head of Pension Strategy, Canada, will assume much of Edelist's duties outside the organization, Anderson told Insurance Portal. He added that other senior managers will take over Edelist's internal management duties and remaining responsibilities. Anderson said he will remain with the organization as chief visionary officer.
