Summer Internship
MEL KOAY
Hymans Robertson
 Independent pensions consultancy
 Four main business areas:
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Risk Modelling Consulting (RMC)
Actuarial and Benefits (A&B)
Investments
Third Party Admin (TPA)
 Four offices throughout the UK:
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Edinburgh
Glasgow
Birmingham
London
Application Process
Application Form
- Competency
- Motivational
- Commercial
Awareness
Assessment Centre
Online Tests
Telephone Interview
- Standard
Numerical Tests
- Competency
based
- Group exercises
- Personality
Profiling
Questionnaire
- Use STAR
approach:
Situational
Task
Approach
Result
- Verbal
reasoning and
analytical tests
- Final interview
- Written Exercise
Work Experience
 Eight weeks
 Risk Modelling Consulting (RMC)
practice, Edinburgh
 Worked with the Actuarial and
Benefits (A&B) practice
Work Experience
 RMC:
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Writing R code for my project
Running statistical tests on data
Finalizing a report on my results
End of placement presentation
 A&B:
◦ Calculating transfer values
◦ Valuation of liabilities and funding updates
◦ Sending e-mails to clients
Social
 End of months drinks
 Team lunches
 Actuarial and Benefits Team Away Day (Croquet)
 No distinct hierarchy between fresh graduates/interns and
experienced members
 Extremely supportive and friendly
Tips
 Research the company
 Be aware of what happens in the industry
 Use the STAR approach in application forms and interview
 TRIPLE-check your application
 GO FOR IT!
Thanks for listening.
TOO SHY TO ASK? SHOOT ME AN E -MAIL AT:
MSK31@HW.AC.UK
Yuki Sun
4th year BSc Actuarial Science
Validus Re
• Set up in 2005, a Bermuda based reinsurer specializing in short to
medium tailed re/insurance products, such as property, property
catastrophe, marine, aviation & aerospace, terrorism etc.
• Has offices in London, Dublin, Switzerland, US, Chile, Singapore,
Canada, Dubai, Sydney and Malaysia.
• Worked in summer 2014 and 2015 in the actuarial department. The
Bermuda actuarial team consists of 15 actuaries/actuarial analysts.
BFIS- Bermuda Foundation for Insurance
Studies
• Bermuda based non-profit foundation for students and professionals
in the insurance world.
• Offers networking events, scholarships and internships.
• Three-week internship which includes visits to 25 re/insurance and
brokerage companies- discussed and networked with actuaries,
underwriters, analysts, executives.
Application
• Validus Re- Got the opportunity through a networking event.
• BFIS- Attached with scholarship.
Internship experience- Validus
Summer 2015
• Created SQL queries for programs selection of pricing peer review purposes.
• Assisted in creating an Excel template with VBA macros for the Quarterly Actuarial Exhibits Report.
Completed the 2nd Quarter Actuarial Exhibits report.
• Updated trends and loss data for pricing models.
Summer 2014
• Created/improved SQL queries for data extraction and integration for existing Excel pricing
models.
• Improved Excel property pricing models by choosing new model parameters, updating data and
coding.
• Created an Excel tool that allowed the user to:
1.
Analyze and contrast different reinsurers’ loss triangles of short and medium tail lines of
business.
2.
Visualize trends and compare reinsurers’ performance in forms of bar charts, line graphs etc.
Explore reasons of lower/higher earnings and ratios in certain years.
Demonstrated the Excel tool to the actuarial team.
Software used
Internship experience- Validus
• Weekly seminars for students to explore other departments/business
lines within Validus.
• Very social environment.
• Study support for AIS (Associate in Insurance Services) of American
Property & Casualty Underwriters.
Internship experience- BFIS
• Visited 25 re/insurers and brokerage firms in Bermuda: Aon, Ace, Marsh, Validus Re,
Axis Group, XL, Allianz Risk Transfer etc. Explored business lines each company offer.
• Discussed hot topics within the non-life re/insurance world such as mergers &
acquisitions, convergence, cyber risk.
• Completed a pharmaceutical insurance case study:
- New pharmaceutical company preparing to launch its diabetes curing drug.
- Projected revenue for the first year from the drug is $50m.
- Preparing to go public with IPO.
- Has a factory in Miami.
- Seeking to insurer its risks.
• Attended the Bermuda Captive Conference.
Tips
• Go to networking events!!
• Ask what software is used in companies; learn and practice computer
software during your free time.
• Be a sponge- if you notice other actuaries at the firm use other
software, try to learn it if you have free time.
• Chat and network with colleagues in other departments.
Thanks!
Q&A Session
yuki1995@live.com
My Internship
Callum Cruickshank
27/10/15
Standard Life plc
• “Long-term investment savings business”
• Founded in1825
• Assurance company in UK, Ireland, Germany, Hong Kong, China, India
• 6500 employees
• £302bn assets under management (June 2015)
• Rivals: Legal & General, Aviva, Scottish Widows
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Confidential Restricted – Not to be disclosed beyond authorised roles within Standard Life group or authorised third parties
Why Standard Life?
• Edinburgh based
• 10 week internship
• Promising job prospects (10 out of 11 previous interns receiving offers)
• Generous student package (pass rate above industry average)
• Refined student programme
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Confidential Restricted – Not to be disclosed beyond authorised roles within Standard Life group or authorised third parties
Application Process
Application form
• Long!
• Plenty of competency based Q’s
Aptitude tests
• Numerical, pattern sequences
Phone interview
• More competency questions!
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Confidential Restricted – Not to be disclosed beyond authorised roles within Standard Life group or authorised third parties
Application Process
Assessment centre
• Taken out for dinner
• Case study
• Interview
• Conference chaos
• Strategic initiatives
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Confidential Restricted – Not to be disclosed beyond authorised roles within Standard Life group or authorised third parties
Work
• Treated like a grad!
• Solvency and risk calculations
• EXCEL
• Met over 20 senior actuaries
• Trips to investments and call centre
• Fantastic intern community
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Confidential Restricted – Not to be disclosed beyond authorised roles within Standard Life group or authorised third parties
In Review
• 4/4 grad offers
• The office is NOTHING like uni
• Glad it was 10 weeks!
• Made some great friends
• Confidence builder
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Confidential Restricted – Not to be disclosed beyond authorised roles within Standard Life group or authorised third parties
Tips...
• BE human
• BE prepared
• BE proactive
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Confidential Restricted – Not to be disclosed beyond authorised roles within Standard Life group or authorised third parties
Thanks!
Q&A Session
cc488@hw.ac.uk