Day 2 – Session C2: Micropensions for Sustainable Financial Security
Faris Rabidin, Principal Financial Sector Specialist, ADB
Mr. Faris Rabidin is the Principal Financial Sector Specialist for the ADB Financial Sector Group currently undertaking financial sector development efforts in Southeast Asia. A seasoned market development expert with extensive public and private sector experiences in banking, capital market, insurance, and pension with focus on policy, operations, risk management, data analytics and technology. Prior to ADB, he was the Board member of the Securities Commission Malaysia, PETRONAS and the Investment Panel member for the Malaysian Public Sector Pension Fund (KWAP) and sat on Malaysia’s National Debt and Liability Management Committee. He graduated from Heriot Watt University in Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics
Amlan Roy, Partner Lane Clark & Peacock LLP, UK
Amlan Roy is an experienced Global Macro-Finance Researcher & Thought Leader specialising in Global Macroeconomics & Demographics. His book “Demographics Unravelled” by Wiley Jan 2022 was mentioned by the FT as “one of the best new books in Economics” and “a must read” by Bloomberg Business Leaders year-end 2023. He is a keynote speaker and advisor who has engaged with institutional clients in the across 30+ countries He is a Partner at LCP and a Research Associate of London School of Economics’ Financial Markets Group and Systemic Risk Centre. He also is an elected Honorary Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.
He founded Global Macro Demographics in July 2021. Previously, at State Street Global Advisors (the 3rd largest global asset manager). he was Head of Global Macro Research and Senior MD with and prior to that he was Chief Retirement Strategist. He was MD and Head of Global Demographics & Pensions Research with Credit Suisse Investment Bank 1998-2016. In a prior role within CS, he developed global risk & allocation models as an expert on Financial Architecture during the Asian & Russian crises.
Amlan spent a decade in academia with a distinguished teaching career in the US and UK. He was UK ESRC Research Fellow, Ponders Fellow, a Boston University Doctoral Scholar and a Government of India National Scholar. He has a PhD and MA in Financial Economics from the University of Iowa, an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and an undergraduate Economics with Honours degree from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi
Parul Seth Khanna, Co-founder, Pinbox
Parul Seth Khanna is co-founder and director of Universal Pensions (formerly pinBox Solutions), a Singapore- and India-based pensionTech enterprise dedicated to building inclusive digital pension systems for developing countries. She also leads the microPension Foundation in India, an innovation and R&D hub focused on financial resilience solutions for low-income women and informal workers. Parul’s work spans Asia and Africa — from Rwanda, Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya to India, Bangladesh, and Papua New Guinea — where she has partnered with governments, regulators, and digital finance stakeholders to design retirement literacy tools, outreach strategies, and digital platforms for pensions and protection. She pioneered “gift-a-pension,” the world’s first ePension platform for domestic and blue-collar workers. She has co-edited 'Saving the Next Billion from Old Age Poverty: Global Lessons for Local Action' and 'Templatising microPensions for Africa'. Earlier in her career, Parul worked with the BBC World Trust, CNBC, and NDTV.
Preeti Chandrashekhar, President, Institute of Actuaries of India
Ms. Preeti Chandrashekhar is a seasoned insurance and pension leader with nearly 35 years of experience spread across industry and consulting. As the first elected women President of the Institute of Actuaries of India, her focus is on attracting bright young minds to the profession, collaboration and value creation for sustainable growth of
the profession.
Leadership Philosophy
A firm believer in developing a growth mindset, she constantly challenges the status quo for herself as well as her team. She firmly believes that today’s complex problems need a collaborative approach since one single profession cannot address the myriad of issues.
Education & Credentials
Preeti holds an M.Sc and M.Phil in Statistics from University of Delhi and is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Actuaries of India and Institute and Faculty of Actuaries UK.
She is a panel and committee member in several committees of the government and interacts with policy makers in matters relating to design and risk management relating to pension, social security and employee benefits in the macroeconomic context in India. She is often quoted in the media and has co-authored several papers in the areas of Pension and Enterprise Risk Management.
Key Achievements:
In her recent role at Mercer as the India Business Leader for Health and Wealth, she provided advice to companies on managing long terms costs and risks for employee benefits through actuarial advice, evaluating design alternatives for employee benefits, governance and risk management and communication strategies for better employee engagement
She has rich industry experience in areas of design and implementation of pensions and has worked extensively in the Actuarial valuation of Pension and Group Schemes, Pricing of Voluntary Retirement Schemes and Annuity products
She has program managed and implemented a DB to DC pension transformation program for a multinational Bank in SriLanka. As part of this, the work included assessing risks across various stakeholders including beneficiaries, engagement with employee groups, designing and implementation of employee communication.
At Infosys, she led a team of insurance experts in conceptualizing a solution on Risk Based Capital and Solvency 2 and has authored several papers on the subject.
She is a regular speaker at client and industry events of financial and actuarial issues and has been quoted several times in media. She has authored several international and national papers discussing issues relating to the insurance and pension industry.
Hamadah Othman, Director, Actuarial Partners Consulting
Syed Hamadah Othman is a respected expert in actuarial science, pensions, and financial management. He is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, United Kingdom. He is currently a Senior Partner at Actuarial Partners Consulting Sdn Bhd, a leading firm specializing in life insurance, general insurance, takaful, pensions, and investment consulting. He also serves as a Board Member of the Private Pension Administrator (PPA) in Malaysia, the central administrator for the Private Retirement Schemes. His extensive career includes significant leadership roles, such as Chief Executive Officer of the Pension Trust Fund (KWAP), Malaysia’s largest public sector pension fund, and Group Managing Director of Tabung Haji, a savings fund dedicated to assisting Muslims in Malaysia to save for the pilgrimage to Mecca. In his capacity as pension consultant, he has worked with the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) and Pension Trust Fund (KWAP) in areas such as benefit design, funding valuation and strategic asset allocation. His deep understanding of pension systems and his experience managing large-scale public funds make him a compelling voice on the future of pensions, particularly in exploring innovative solutions like micropensions for a broader demographic.