Artificial Intelligence
Independence Holding Company Announces 2020 Third-Quarter and Nine-Month Results
STAMFORD, Conn., Nov. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Independence Holding Company (NYSE: IHC) today reported 2020 third-quarter and nine-month results.
Financial Results
Net income of $8,688,000, or $.59 per share for the three months ended September 30, 2020 compared to $6,142,000 or $.41 per share, diluted, for the three months ended September 30, 2019. Net income was $13,387,000 or $.90 per share, diluted, for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 compared to $21,716,000 or $1.45 per share, diluted, for the nine months ended September 30, 2019. In the third quarter of 2020, the Company recorded an arbitration award of $3,664,000 net of legal expenses and income taxes.
The Company reported revenues of $113,220,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2020 compared to revenues for the three months ended September 30, 2019 of $95,165,000. The Company reported revenues of $324,522,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 compared to revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 of $284,469,000. The increase in revenues primarily relates to an increase for the Paid Family Leave business and higher premium volume in our pet insurance business.
Chief Executive Officer’s Comments
Roy T. K. Thung, Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are pleased with the increases in net income and revenues for the quarter, especially in light of the significant expenses we have incurred in ramping up in this quarter and for the nine months in order to be prepared for the majority of our senior sales, which will occur in the fourth quarter as a result of the 2021 Annual Enrollment Period (“AEP”). For decades, IHC has been known for its disciplined profitable underwriting results in niche health and disability policies produced by its three insurance companies: Madison National Life (“MNL”), Standard Security Life (“SSL”) and Independence American Insurance Company (“IAIC”). While all three continue to produce exceptional underwriting results in group disability, New York statutory disability (“DBL”) and paid family leave (“PFL”), pet insurance and ancillary health products, over the last several years we have made significant inroads into distribution in two of the fastest growing insurance markets: seniors and pet parents. With respect to our highly profitable disability division, MNL has delivered consistently exceptional underwriting results which we believe will continue in 2021 and beyond. SSL is one of the leading writers of DBL and PFL insurance with approximately $115 million of premiums on an annual basis. We will realize another significant increase in premiums next year as the New York Department of Financial Services has raised rates on PFL by 89% for 2021.
We are very excited by the progress we have made in, and the prospects for, our pet insurance division. Pet insurance is one of the fastest growing types of coverage, yet there remains tremendous growth potential as less than 2% of pets are insured in the United States, compared to 25% or more in many European countries. Pet insurance is now one of the most requested employee benefits, and work-site insurers are taking note. This is demonstrated by the acquisition last year by MetLife, Inc. (“MetLife”) of PetFirst Healthcare, LLC (which uses IAIC its underwriter) and the recent purchase by Aflac Incorporated of an approximate 9% stake in one of the largest pet insurers in the United States for $200 million. We believe that IHC is very well-positioned to take advantage of this trend as a result of our product expertise and the TailTrax app. We currently have agreements in place to partner with well-known insurers to offer PetPartners’ pet insurance through their work-site distribution, and we are in discussions with several more. In order to prepare for this potentially material growth, we are making significant investments in our pet infrastructure in order to handle the expected volume.
Our pet division will underwrite an aggregate of $117 million of annualized written premium (approximately 200,000 dogs and cats) by the end of this year and we expect continued significant growth in 2021 and beyond. Our compound annual growth rate in earned premium will be 48% from 2018 to 2020. Our pet division is comprised of two sub-divisions, both of which use IAIC as their underwriter: (i) PetPartners, our “controlled” distribution and administrator, which has an exclusive relationship with The American Kennel Club (“AKC”) and is rapidly expanding through partnerships to access well-known brands (commonly referred to as “white-labeling”) and (ii) our managing general agency distribution under which IAIC serves as the underwriter for three well-known companies: MetLife, Figo Pet Insurance and Pets Best Insurance Services, LLC. Our distribution is quite varied; we sell through breeders, employee benefit platforms, affinity partners, white-label partnerships with financial institutions (including well-known insurance companies), direct-to-consumer comparison shopping sites (also known as aggregators), and veterinary offices. In 2021, our pet division will also accelerate its generation of non-risk revenue through the newest brand asset to the Pet Division, TailTrax, an all-inclusive subscription-based app with Tele-Vet and other high-touch engagement features. This app will be available without charge to insureds of PetPartners. In addition, we will begin in 2021 to generate revenues from our site Petplace.com, which is one of the leading sites for veterinarian-curated pet information with one million visitors per month.
Finally, we have invested heavily to ramp up our stand-alone InsureTech agencies by deploying cutting-edge technology systems, marketing and data science initiatives, online portals, and robust agent training platforms that help match consumers with the healthcare policy and carrier that best fits their needs. Collectively, our agencies have approximately 13,000 contracted agents that utilize our platforms to quote and enroll products from both IHC and major third party carriers. This division is comprised of: (i) our senior sales agents and career advisors who harvest mostly proprietary leads generated by our marketing technology, (ii) our health call center agents who focus on serving the needs of consumers under the age of 65, including USAA and other affinity group members and their families; this unit provides Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) coverage, Short Term Medical, Hospital Indemnity, and many other ancillary health policies, and (iii) our Independence Brokerage Group agency (“IBG”) and web-based entity (WBE) that provide a platform for independent agents to sell ACA and ancillary health plans to individual consumers and small groups. Our call center has grown from 57 licensed agents at the end of 2019 to 170 agents at the start of open enrollment in 2020, the vast majority of whom currently serve our senior division. Our organic lead development and routing systems have scaled significantly, and continue to grow with the development of fully owned lead generation brands, tools and routes. We’re confident that the rapid advancements in our marketing technology division (“MarTech”) will fuel continued agent growth and consumer engagement during the key enrollment periods of 2021.
We are now in the midst of the 2021 AEP, which began on October 15, 2020. Our senior division agents focus on selling Medicare Advantage (“MA”) as well as IAIC’s Medicare Supplement and ancillary senior products. MA is one of the fastest-growing health insurance products in the country. We are proud of how far we have come in 2020, and we are well positioned to continue to expand our senior call center for the 2022 AEP. Our under-age 65 call center will benefit this year from the growth in the number of ACA carriers and an improved financial position arising from a generally higher rate of commission income. IBG is the primary source of specialty health sales for IAIC. Agents utilizing our WBE placed over 250,000 members in individual ACA plans (as well as IAIC’s off-exchange ancillary products like dental, critical illness and accident medical coverage) in 2020, making it one of the leading agent-driven platforms in the market. We are in the process of upgrading the site to provide a more intuitive consumer workflow, allowing our agents to help clients who want to enroll with minimal agent interaction.
Mr. Thung added, “IHC has a very strong balance sheet with no indebtedness and a very substantial amount of free cash at the corporate level and significant excess capital in our insurance companies. Our book value was $31.90 per share at September 30, 2020. IHC increased its annual dividend to $.44 per share in 2020, which is the sixth increase since December 2014 when the annual dividend paid to the stockholders was $.07 per share. Our overall investment portfolio continues to be very highly rated (on average, AA) and has an effective duration of under three years. Year–to-date, the Company has repurchased 239,784 shares, for $7,352,000, including 36,377 in connection with a tender offer in May 2020, and is still repurchasing shares on a daily basis as the market permits at these prices up to the maximum allowable, so as to provide liquidity to the market. In conclusion, we have made, and are continuing to make, material investments in ramping up our pet and senior marketing divisions, which has impacted our earnings. We believe these investments should drive significant accretion in shareholder value”.
About The IHC Group
Independence Holding Company (NYSE: IHC), formed in 1980, is a holding company that is principally engaged in underwriting, administering and/or distributing group and individual specialty benefit products, including disability, supplemental health, pet, and group life insurance through its subsidiaries (Independence Holding Company and its subsidiaries collectively referred to as “The IHC Group”). The IHC Group consists of three insurance companies (Standard Security Life Insurance Company of New York, Madison National Life Insurance Company, Inc. and Independence American Insurance Company). We also own the following agencies: (i) PetPartners, Inc., our pet insurance administrator; (ii) IHC Specialty Benefits, Inc., a technology-driven full-service marketing and distribution company that focuses on small employer and individual consumer products through its call center, career agents, and Independence Brokerage Group; and (iii) The INSX Cloud Platform through My1HR, our wholly owned Web Based Entity. Our InsureTech division is comprised of our call centers, field and career agents, in-house MarTech artificial intelligence capabilities and domains, including www.healthedeals.com; www.healthinsurance.org; www.medicareresources.org; www.petplace.com; and www.mypetinsurance.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements and information contained in this release may be considered “forward-looking statements,” such as statements relating to management’s views with respect to future events and financial performance. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience or from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic conditions in the markets in which IHC operates, new federal or state governmental regulation, IHC’s ability to effectively operate, integrate and leverage any past or future strategic acquisition, and other factors which can be found in IHC’s other news releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. IHC expressly disclaims any duty to update its forward-looking statements unless required by applicable law.
INDEPENDENCE HOLDING COMPANY
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
September 30, 2020
(In Thousands, Except Shares and Per Share Data)
Three Months Ended | Nine Months Ended | |||||||||||
September 30, | September 30, | |||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||
REVENUES: | ||||||||||||
Premiums earned | $ | 100,124 | $ | 86,453 | $ | 294,865 | $ | 254,189 | ||||
Net investment income | 2,793 | 3,964 | 9,172 | 12,094 | ||||||||
Fee income | 3,872 | 2,938 | 12,062 | 10,833 | ||||||||
Other income | 6,361 | 880 | 7,490 | 5,443 | ||||||||
Net investment gains | 70 | 930 | 933 | 2,556 | ||||||||
Net impairment losses recognized in earnings | – | – | – | (646 | ) | |||||||
113,220 | 95,165 | 324,522 | 284,469 | |||||||||
EXPENSES: | ||||||||||||
Insurance benefits, claims and reserves | 49,827 | 41,398 | 158,474 | 128,927 | ||||||||
Selling, general and administrative expenses | 52,684 | 44,348 | 149,237 | 127,083 | ||||||||
102,511 | 85,746 | 307,711 | 256,010 | |||||||||
Income before income taxes | 10,709 | 9,419 | 16,811 | 28,459 | ||||||||
Income taxes | 1,977 | 3,248 | 3,219 | 6,482 | ||||||||
Net income | 8,732 | 6,171 | 13,592 | 21,977 | ||||||||
(Income) from noncontrolling interests | (44 | ) | (29 | ) | (205 | ) | (261 | ) | ||||
NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO IHC | $ | 8,688 | $ | 6,142 | $ | 13,387 | $ | 21,716 | ||||
Basic income per common share | $ | .59 | $ | .41 | $ | .91 | $ | 1.46 | ||||
WEIGHTED AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING | 14,670 | 14,879 | 14,763 | 14,919 | ||||||||
Diluted income per common share | $ | .59 | $ | .41 | $ | .90 | $ | 1.45 | ||||
WEIGHTED AVERAGE DILUTED SHARES OUTSTANDING | 14,720 | 14,941 | 14,799 | 14,985 | ||||||||
As of November 4, 2020, there were 14,637,850 common shares outstanding, net of treasury shares.
INDEPENDENCE HOLDING COMPANY
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In Thousands)
September 30, | December 31, | |||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||
ASSETS: | ||||||||||||
Investments: | ||||||||||||
Short-term investments | $ | 1,133 | $ | 50 | ||||||||
Securities purchased under agreements to resell | 78,313 | 107,157 | ||||||||||
Fixed maturities, available-for-sale | 419,284 | 384,974 | ||||||||||
Equity securities | 3,760 | 3,747 | ||||||||||
Other investments | 8,068 | 15,208 | ||||||||||
Total investments | 510,558 | 511,136 | ||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | 21,677 | 21,094 | ||||||||||
Due and unpaid premiums | 29,096 | 26,244 | ||||||||||
Due from reinsurers | 357,635 | 362,969 | ||||||||||
Goodwill | 75,891 | 60,165 | ||||||||||
Other assets | 84,730 | 72,695 | ||||||||||
TOTAL ASSETS | $ | 1,079,587 | $ | 1,054,303 | ||||||||
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY: | ||||||||||||
LIABILITIES: | ||||||||||||
Policy benefits and claims | $ | 174,114 | $ | 164,802 | ||||||||
Future policy benefits | 199,195 | 201,205 | ||||||||||
Funds on deposit | 141,212 | 140,951 | ||||||||||
Unearned premiums | 15,865 | 7,282 | ||||||||||
Other policyholders’ funds | 11,693 | 12,049 | ||||||||||
Due to reinsurers | 3,432 | 5,016 | ||||||||||
Accounts payable, accruals and other liabilities | 64,403 | 61,049 | ||||||||||
TOTAL LIABILITIES | 609,914 | 592,354 | ||||||||||
Commitments and contingencies | ||||||||||||
Redeemable noncontrolling interest | 2,413 | 2,237 | ||||||||||
STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY: | ||||||||||||
Preferred stock (none issued) | – | – | ||||||||||
Common stock | 18,625 | 18,625 | ||||||||||
Paid-in capital | 124,354 | 122,717 | ||||||||||
Accumulated other comprehensive income | 3,918 | 1,212 | ||||||||||
Treasury stock, at cost | (76,686 | ) | (69,724 | ) | ||||||||
Retained earnings | 397,005 | 386,864 | ||||||||||
TOTAL IHC STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | 467,216 | 459,694 | ||||||||||
NONREDEEMABLE NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS | 44 | 18 | ||||||||||
TOTAL EQUITY | 467,260 | 459,712 | ||||||||||
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY | $ | 1,079,587 | $ | 1,054,303 | ||||||||
CONTACT: Loan Nisser
(646) 509-2107
www.IHCGroup.com
Artificial Intelligence
IBM, Government of Canada, Government of Quebec Sign Agreements to Strengthen Canada’s Semiconductor Industry
Up to $187M CAD to be invested to progress expansion of chip packaging capacity and capabilities and to strengthen R&D at IBM Canada’s Bromont plant
BROMONT, QC, April 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM), the Government of Canada, and the Government of Quebec today announced agreements that will strengthen Canada’s semiconductor industry, and further develop the assembly, testing and packaging (ATP) capabilities for semiconductor modules to be used across a wide range of applications including telecommunications, high performance computing, automotive, aerospace & defence, computer networks, and generative AI, at IBM Canada’s plant in Bromont, Quebec. The agreements reflect a combined investment valued at approximately $187M CAD.
“Today’s announcement is a massive win for Canada and our dynamic tech sector. It will create high-paying jobs, invest in innovation, strengthen supply chains, and help make sure the most advanced technologies are Canadian-made. Semiconductors power the world, and we’re putting Canada at the forefront of that opportunity,” said the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
In addition to the advancement of packaging capabilities, IBM will be conducting R&D to develop methods for scalable manufacturing and other advanced assembly processes to support the packaging of different chip technologies, to further Canada’s role in the North American semiconductor supply chain and expand and anchor Canada’s capabilities in advanced packaging.
The agreements also allow for collaborations with small and medium-sized Canadian-based enterprises with the intent of fostering the development of a semiconductor ecosystem, now and into the future.
“IBM has long been a leader in semiconductor research and development, pioneering breakthroughs to meet tomorrow’s challenges. With the demand for compute surging in the age of AI, advanced packaging and chiplet technology is becoming critical for the acceleration of AI workloads,” said Darío Gil, IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research. “As one of the largest chip assembly and testing facilities in North America, IBM’s Bromont facility will play a central role in this future. We are proud to be working with the governments of Canada and Quebec toward those goals and to build a stronger and more balanced semiconductor ecosystem in North America and beyond.”
IBM Canada’s Bromont plant is one of North America’s largest chip assembly and testing facilities, having operated in the region for 52 years. Today, the facility transforms advanced semiconductor components into state-of-the-art microelectronic solutions, playing a key role in IBM’s semiconductor R&D leadership alongside IBM’s facilities at the Albany NanoTech Complex and throughout New York’s Hudson Valley. These agreements will help to further establish a corridor of semiconductor innovation from New York to Bromont.
“Advanced packaging is a crucial component of the semiconductor industry, and IBM Canada’s Bromont plant has led the world in this process for decades,” said Deb Pimentel, president of IBM Canada. “Building upon IBM’s 107-year legacy of technology innovation and R&D in Canada, the Canadian semiconductor industry will now become even stronger, allowing for robust supply chains and giving Canadians steady access to even more innovative technologies and products. This announcement represents just one more example of IBM’s leadership and commitment to the country’s technology and business landscape.”
Chip packaging, the process of connecting integrated circuits on a chip or circuit board, has become more complex as electronic devices have shrunk and the components of chips themselves get smaller and smaller. IBM announced the world’s first 2 nanometer chip technology in 2021 and, as the semiconductor industry moves towards new methods of chip construction, advances in packaging will grow in importance.
“Semiconductors are part of our everyday life. They are in our phones, our cars, and our appliances. Through this investment, we are supporting Canadian innovators, creating good jobs, and solidifying Canada’s semiconductor industry to build a stronger economy. Canada is set to play a larger role in the global semiconductor industry thanks to projects like the one we are announcing today. Because, when we invest in semiconductor and quantum technologies, we invest in economic security.” — The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
“This investment by IBM in Bromont will ensure that Quebec continues to stand out in the field of microelectronics. An increase in production capacity will solidify Quebec’s position in the strategic microelectronics sector in North America.” — The Honourable Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Minister responsible for Regional Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Metropolis and the Montreal region
About IBMIBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. More than 4,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in semiconductors, AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service. Visit www.ibm.com for more information.
Media ContactLorraine BaldwinIBM [email protected]
Willa HahnIBM [email protected]
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Artificial Intelligence
HITACHI ACQUIRES MA MICRO AUTOMATION OF GERMANY IN EFFORT TO ACCELERATE GLOBAL EXPANSION OF ROBOTIC SI BUSINESS IN THE MEDICAL AND OTHER FIELDS
HOLLAND, Mich., April 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Hitachi Ltd. (TSE: 6501, “Hitachi”) has signed a stock purchase agreement on April 26 to acquire all shares of MA micro automation GmbH (“MA micro automation”, headquartered in St. Leon-Rot, Germany) from MAX Management GmbH (a subsidiary of MAX Automation SE). MA micro automation is a leading provider of robotic and automation technology (robotic SI) including high-speed linear handling systems, high-precision assembly lines, and high-speed vision inspection technology for Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia, for EUR 71.5M million. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2024, pending completion of the customary regulatory filings. After the acquisition is completed, MA micro automation will join JR Automation Technologies, LLC (“JR Automation”), a market leader in providing advanced automation solutions and digital technologies in the robotic system integration business for North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia as a continued effort to expand the company’s global presence.
MA micro automation is a technology leader for automation solutions within micro-assembly. Through its state-of-the-art proprietary high-speed and high-precision automation know-how, combined with unique optical image inspection capabilities, MA micro automation serves high-growth med-tech automation end-markets, covering the production, assembly, and testing medical and optical components including contact lenses, IVD and diabetes diagnostics consumables, and injection molding for medical use. The company was established in 2003 through a carve-out from Siemens*1 and since 2013 has been part of the MAX Automation group.
JR Automation is a leading provider of intelligent automated manufacturing technology solutions, serving customers across the globe in a variety of industries including automotive, life sciences, e-mobility, consumer and industrial products. With over 20 locations between North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia, the leading integrator offers nearly 2 million square feet (185,806 sq. m) of available build and engineering floorspace. This acquisition allows JR Automation to further grow and strengthen both the company’s geographical footprint and their continued commitment on expanding support capabilities within the European region and medical market vertical.
“MA micro automation provides engineering, build and support expertise with established capabilities in complex vision applications, high-speed and high-precision automation technologies. When integrated with JR Automation’s uniform global process and digital technologies, this partnership will further enhance our ability to deliver added value and support to all of our customers worldwide and continue to grow our capabilities in the medical market,” says Dave DeGraaf, CEO of JR Automation. “As we integrate this new dimension, impressive talents and abilities of the MA micro automation team we further enhance our ability to serve our customers, creating a more robust and globally balanced offering.”
With this acquisition, Hitachi aims to further enhance its ability to provide a “Total Seamless Solution*2” to connect manufacturer’s factory floors seamlessly and digitally with their front office data, allowing them to achieve total optimization and bringing Industry 4.0 to life. This “Total Seamless Solution” strategy links organizations’ operational activities such as engineering, supply chain, and purchasing to the plant floor and allows for real time, data-driven decision-making that improves the overall business value for customers.
Kazunobu Morita, Vice President and Executive Officer, CEO of Industrial Digital Business Unit, Hitachi, Ltd. says, “We are very pleased to welcome MA micro automation to the Hitachi Group. The team is based in Europe, providing robotic SI to global medical device manufacturing customers with its high technological capabilities and will join forces with JR Automation and Hitachi Automation to strengthen our global competitiveness. Hitachi aims to enhance its ability to provide value to customers and grow alongside them by leveraging its strengths in both OT, IT, including robotic SI, and “Total Seamless Solution” through Lumada*3’s customer co-creation framework.”
Joachim Hardt, CEO MA micro automation GmbH says, “Following the successful establishment and growth of MA micro automation within the attractive automation market for medical technology products, we are now opening a new chapter. Our partnership with Hitachi will not only strengthen our global competitive position, but we will also benefit from joint technological synergies and a global market presence. We look forward to a synergistic partnership with Hitachi and JR Automation.”
Outline of MA micro automation
Name
MA micro automation GmbH
Head Office
St. Leon-Rot, Germany
Representative
Joachim Hardt (CEO)
Outline of Business
Automation solutions within micro-assembly
Total no. of Employees:
Approx. 200 (As of April 2024)
Founded
2003
Revenues (2023)
€ 46.5 million
Website
*1
“Siemens” is a registered trademark or trademark of Siemens Trademark GmbH & Co. KG in the U.S. and other countries.
*2
“Total Seamless Solution” is a registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. in the U.S. and Japan.
*3
Lumada: A collective term for solutions, services and technologies based on Hitachi’s advanced digital technologies for creating value from customers’ data accelerating digital innovation. https://www.hitachi.com/products/it/lumada/global/en/index.html
About JR AutomationEstablished in 1980, JR Automation is a leading provider of intelligent automated manufacturing technology solutions that solve customers’ key operational and productivity challenges. JR Automation serves customers across the globe in a variety of industries, including automotive, life sciences, aerospace, and more.
In 2019, JR Automation was acquired by Hitachi, Ltd. In a strategic effort towards offering a seamless connection between the physical and cyber space for industrial manufacturers and distributers worldwide. With this partnership, JR Automation provides customers a unique, single-source solution for complete integration of their physical assets and data information, offering greater speed, flexibility, and efficiencies towards achieving their Industry 4.0 visions. JR Automation employs over 2,000 people at 21 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.jrautomation.com.
About Hitachi, Ltd.Hitachi drives Social Innovation Business, creating a sustainable society through the use of data and technology. We solve customers’ and society’s challenges with Lumada solutions leveraging IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products. Hitachi operates under the 3 business sectors of “Digital Systems & Services” – supporting our customers’ digital transformation; “Green Energy & Mobility” – contributing to a decarbonized society through energy and railway systems, and “Connective Industries” – connecting products through digital technology to provide solutions in various industries. Driven by Digital, Green, and Innovation, we aim for growth through co-creation with our customers. The company’s revenues as 3 sectors for fiscal year 2023 (ended March 31, 2024) totaled 8,564.3 billion yen, with 573 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 270,000 employees worldwide. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s website at https://www.hitachi.com.
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Artificial Intelligence
$10 million Artificial Intelligence Mathematical Olympiad Prize appoints further advisory committee members
D. Sculley, Kevin Buzzard, Leo de Moura, Lester Mackey and Peter J. Liu appointed to the advisory committee for the Artificial Intelligence Mathematical Olympiad Prize.
LONDON, April 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — XTX Markets’ newly created Artificial Intelligence Mathematical Olympiad Prize (‘AIMO Prize’) is a $10mn challenge fund designed to spur the creation of a publicly shared AI model capable of winning a gold medal in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).
XTX Markets is delighted to announce the appointment of five further advisory committee members. This group brings great expertise in machine learning, including D. Sculley, the CEO of Kaggle; Lester Mackey, a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and a Macarthur Fellow; and Peter J. Liu, a research scientist at Google DeepMind.
Prolific mathematicians Kevin Buzzard, who achieved a perfect score in the International Mathematical Olympiad, and Leo De Moura who is the Chief Architect for Lean, the automated reasoning tool, also join the advisory group.
They join the existing advisory committee members Terence Tao and Timothy Gowers, both winners of the Fields Medal, as well as Dan Roberts, Geoff Smith and Po-Shen Loh.
The AIMO Advisory Committee will support the development of the AIMO Prize, including advising on appropriate protocols and technical aspects, and designing the various competitions and prizes.
Simon Coyle, Head of Philanthropy at XTX Markets, commented:
“We are thrilled to complete the AIMO Advisory Committee with the appointments of D., Kevin, Leo, Lester and Peter. Together, they have enormous experience in machine learning and automated reasoning and are already bringing expertise and wisdom to the AIMO Prize. We look forward to announcing the winners of the AIMO’s first Progress Prize soon, and then publicly sharing the AI models to support the open and collaborative development of AI.”
Further information on the AIMO Prize
There will be a grand prize of $5mn for the first publicly shared AI model to enter an AIMO approved competition and perform at a standard equivalent to a gold medal in the IMO. There will also be a series of progress prizes, totalling up to $5mn, for publicly shared AI models that achieve key milestones towards the grand prize.
The first AIMO approved competition opened to participants in April 2024 on the Kaggle competition platform. The first progress prize focuses on problems pitched at junior and high-school level maths competitions. There is a total prize pot of $1.048m for the first progress prize, of which at least $254k will be awarded in July 2024, There will be a presentation of progress held in Bath, England in July 2024, as part of the 65th IMO.
For more information on the AIMO Prize visit: https://aimoprize.com/ or the competition page on Kaggle: https://www.kaggle.com/competitions/ai-mathematical-olympiad-prize/
Advisory Committee member profiles:
D. Sculley
D. is the CEO at Kaggle. Prior to joining Kaggle, he was a director at Google Brain, leading research teams working on robust, responsible, reliable and efficient ML and AI. In his career in ML, he has worked on nearly every aspect of machine learning, and has led both product and research teams including those on some of the most challenging business problems. Some of his well-known work involves ML technical debt, ML education, ML robustness, production-critical ML, and ML for scientific applications such as protein design.
Kevin Buzzard
Kevin a professor of pure mathematics at Imperial College London, specialising in algebraic number theory. As well as his research and teaching, he has a wide range of interests, including being Deputy Head of Pure Mathematics, Co-Director of a CDT and the department’s outreach champion. He is currently focusing on formal proof verification, including being an active participant in the Lean community. From October 2024, he will be leading a project to formalise a 21st century proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem. Before joining Imperial, some 20 years ago, he was a Junior Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, where he had previously been named ‘Senior Wrangler’ (the highest scoring undergraduate mathematician). He was also a participant in the International Mathematical Olympiad, winning gold with a perfect score in 1987. He has been a visitor at the IAS in Princeton, a visiting lecturer at Harvard, has won several prizes both for research and teaching, and has given lectures all over the world.
Leo de Moura
Leo is a Senior Principal Applied Scientist in the Automated Reasoning Group at AWS. In his spare time, he dedicates himself to serving as the Chief Architect of the Lean FRO, a non-profit organization that he proudly co-founded alongside Sebastian Ullrich. He is also honoured to hold a position on the Board of Directors at the Lean FRO, where he actively contributes to its growth and development. Before joining AWS in 2023, he was a Senior Principal Researcher in the RiSE group at Microsoft Research, where he worked for 17 years starting in 2006. Prior to that, he worked as a Computer Scientist at SRI International. His research areas are automated reasoning, theorem proving, decision procedures, SAT and SMT. He is the main architect of several automated reasoning tools: Lean, Z3, Yices 1.0 and SAL. Leo’s work in automated reasoning has been acknowledged with a series of prestigious awards, including the CAV, Haifa, and Herbrand awards, as well as the Programming Languages Software Award by the ACM. Leo’s work has also been reported in the New York Times and many popular science magazines such as Wired, Quanta, and Nature News.
Lester Mackey
Lester Mackey is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, where he develops machine learning methods, models, and theory for large-scale learning tasks driven by applications from climate forecasting, healthcare, and the social good. Lester moved to Microsoft from Stanford University, where he was an assistant professor of Statistics and, by courtesy, of Computer Science. He earned his PhD in Computer Science and MA in Statistics from UC Berkeley and his BSE in Computer Science from Princeton University. He co-organized the second place team in the Netflix Prize competition for collaborative filtering; won the Prize4Life ALS disease progression prediction challenge; won prizes for temperature and precipitation forecasting in the yearlong real-time Subseasonal Climate Forecast Rodeo; and received best paper, outstanding paper, and best student paper awards from the ACM Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation, the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, and the International Conference on Machine Learning. He is a 2023 MacArthur Fellow, a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, an elected member of the COPSS Leadership Academy, and the recipient of the 2023 Ethel Newbold Prize.
Peter J. Liu
Peter J. Liu is a Research Scientist at Google DeepMind in the San Francisco Bay area, doing machine learning research with a specialisation in language models since 2015 starting in the Google Brain team. He has published and served as area chair in top machine learning and NLP conferences such as ICLR, ICML, NEURIPS, ACL and EMNLP. He also has extensive production experience, including launching the first deep learning model for Gmail Anti-Spam, and using neural network models to detect financial fraud for top banks. He has degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Toronto.
About XTX Markets:
XTX Markets is a leading financial technology firm which partners with counterparties, exchanges and e-trading venues globally to provide liquidity in the Equity, FX, Fixed Income and Commodity markets. XTX has over 200 employees based in London, Paris, New York, Mumbai, Yerevan and Singapore. XTX is consistently a top 5 liquidity provider globally in FX (Euromoney 2018-present) and is also the largest European equities (systematic internaliser) liquidity provider (Rosenblatt FY: 2020-2023).
The company’s corporate philanthropy focuses on STEM education and maximum impact giving (alongside an employee matching programme). Since 2017, XTX has donated over £100mn to charities and good causes, establishing it as a major donor in the UK and globally.
In a changing world XTX Markets is at the forefront of making financial markets fairer and more efficient for all.
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