Canadian
Institute
of
Actuaries
2007 General Meeting
Assemblée générale 2007
Montréal, Québec
L’Institut
canadien
des
actuaires
Non-Traditional
Actuaries:
Does it Open or
Close Doors?
Lisa DeVos, FSA, FCIA
Manulife Financial
2007 General Meeting
Assemblée générale 2007
Agenda
• Introduction
• What is a non-traditional actuary?
• Does it open or close doors?
• Risks, benefits, issues, opportunities
• Lisa’s role – AVP Operations,
Manulife Financial
• Scott’s role – Manager, Actuarial
Services, Pal Insurance
What is a
“non-traditional”
actuary?
2007 General Meeting
Assemblée générale 2007
Traditional Actuaries
• Number crunchers
• Responsible for financial aspects
of a company
• E.g. insurance companies – pricing
and valuation; pension consultants
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Non-Traditional Actuaries
1. A non-traditional role in an
insurance company or consulting
firm
• Senior management (Marketing,
Operations)
• Corporate Compliance
• Investments (Portfolio Manager
or Analyst)
• Actuarial Consultant
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Non-Traditional Actuaries (cont’d)
2. A traditional role in a company
other than a life insurance
company or a consulting firm
• Pension specialist in a fertilizer
company
• Member of an environmental
board
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Non-Traditional Actuaries (cont’d)
3. A non-traditional role in a
company other than life or
consulting
• Independent financial advisor
• Illustration software consultant
2007 General Meeting
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What are the Risks of moving to a
non-traditional role?
• Risk of failure
• May not be easy going back to a
traditional role after you’ve been out of
it for a while (i.e. don’t you wear SOX
on your feet?)
• Some may feel your new role is less
valuable than a traditional actuary’s
• You may not WANT to go back to a
traditional role!
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What are the Benefits of moving to
a non-traditional role?
• New and exciting challenge!
• Fairly easy to transfer your skills
(assuming you have strong
communication skills) & build new ones
• Can add a lot of value in other areas of
the company since you understand the
financial impact
• Will broaden your background
• Nothing to lose – can go back
• Opportunities for careers are endless!
2007 General Meeting
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What are the Issues that nontraditional actuaries need to face?
• Salary scale being supported
• Staying connected to peers e.g.
attending actuarial conferences
• Meeting on-going CPD
requirements
• How do we profile skillsets of
actuaries to non-traditional
departments or companies
2007 General Meeting
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Opportunities What are the
Opportunities for non-Traditional
Actuaries
• Pretty much endless!
• See the jobs listed previously in the
3 categories
• Your financial skills could be
applied to almost any business, so
you just need to sell them on it!
Lisa’s Role – AVP Operations,
Individual Insurance (Inforce)
2007 General Meeting
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• How did I get here?
• 1989 graduation from UWO &
started at Manulife
• 5 years actuarial student (life
valuation; group pensions pricing)
• 4 years individual life pricing (FSA
in 1995)
• 1998 – new “opportunity” which has
kept evolving
Scope/Responsibilities
2007 General Meeting
Assemblée générale 2007
• 70 people in KW and Halifax
• 4 direct reports
• 1 full actuary; handful of career ASA’s
• Budget of $6 Million
• Functions:
– Illustration Project Team
– Customer Service Team
•
•
•
•
•
Inforce Illustrations
Conservation
Special Case and Exceptions
Client Relations
Special Investigation Unit
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Assemblée générale 2007
Skills Needed
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Strong people leadership
Excellent communication
Business acumen
Excellent customer service
Adaptable to change
Strategic thinker
Strong organization/prioritization
Skills Needed (cont’d)
• Technical/actuarial an asset!
2007 General Meeting
Assemblée générale 2007
• Illustration systems
• Calcs; reasonability; CLHIA guidelines
• Exceptions/Client Relations cases
• Understanding financial impact
• Consider pricing, tax, reinsurance, etc.
• Managing my budget
• Planning, tracking, reconciling, etc.
• Metrics
• Regular reporting; unit costs
• Cost/Benefit Analysis
• New FTE’s; project approval
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Challenges
• People leadership
• Managing a remote team
• Managing a large inforce block after
merging with many companies!
• Having a systems team within the
business
• Inforce is second to New Business
• Constant pressure to reduce expenses
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How do I maintain my CPD?
• Important to me to maintain my FCIA
and FSA designations
• Fortunately, it’s important to Manulife
too
• If you work for a non-traditional
company, negotiate up front
• Perhaps harder to meet as nontraditional actuary but not impossible
(business management category adds
flexibility)
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Examples of how I earn CPD
Credits
• In-house training e.g. leadership
• Company meetings e.g. Senior
Management; Financial Forums
• Company Conferences
• On-the-job e.g. CLHIA illustration
guidelines
• CIA/SOA meetings and webcasts
• Doing a presentation!
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Paul Lorentz – Senior Vice
President, Group Savings &
Retirement Services
• Successfully held non-traditional
roles
• How does he add value?
• Important skills needed?
• Meeting CPD
• Going back to the “dark side”?
•
Agenda
Emerging Practice Areas (EPA’s)
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(aka Non-Traditional Actuarial roles)
•
What I do and how I got here
•
What is needed to succeed?
•
What keeps me awake at night?
•
Do EPA’s open or close doors?
•
Could / Would I go back?
“Traditional” actuarial roles
•
Insurance Company Head Office
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–
–
•
Consulting
–
–
•
•
Pricing
Valuation
Appointed Actuary
Pension
Group L&H
Reinsurance Company
Academia
“Traditional” actuarial skills
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•
“good with numbers”
•
Able to build spreadsheets / computer
models
•
Computer training for mainframe
applications / valuation systems was
helpful
The Actuary of the Past?
•
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•
2.3.3 The U.S. Task Force surveyed those actuaries who worked
closely with, or employed other actuaries in the U.S.A.. The U.S.
poll highlighted the view that actuaries:
- are bright problem solvers
- are narrow, unwilling to look at the broader picture
- are trained as individualists, and have poor management skills
- make things complicated
- are poor communicators with non-actuaries
- are ethical beyond reproach
- are defensive, arrogant and rigid
- are best prepared to put money and risk together
- need to increase public awareness of the profession
•
The Actuary of the Future
JIA 119 (1992) 13 - 44
2007 General Meeting
Assemblée générale 2007
A profession under pressure
•
1988 Jobs Almanac ranks Actuary #1
•
Industry consolidation
•
Professional services vs
Actuarial Opinion
Emerging Practice Areas
•
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Expert Witness
Software development
Asset / Liability management
ERM
Rating agencies
Investment banking
Sales & Marketing
Private industry
Political life
Etc…
What do I do?
•
Pal Insurance Services
•
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•
•
Working with affluent Canadians
Protecting wealth for future generations
Clients are worried about
•
•
•
Dying too soon
Living too long
Losing their good health
What do I do?
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Agent
Identify the risk
√
Define Product
√
Personal experience
√
√
√
Financial impact
Client agreement
√
Funding
√
√
√
Build policy
Close the sale
Actuary
√
√
What do I do?
•
Insurance Product Education
(Life, CI, DI)
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•
•
Clients
Accountants, lawyers, bankers, etc
Liaison with direct writer
•
Product development
Illustration and Large Case Marketing
Underwriting & Reinsurance
New Business
Legal department
Compliance
Customer Service
How did I get here?
•
Individual Life
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•
•
Group Insurance
•
•
Product development
Dividend Actuary
Valuation
Reinsurance
Marketing
Product development
Underwriting
Valuation
Marketing
Pension Consulting
How did I get here?
•
Professional activities
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•
SoA exam committees
Actuarial Resource co-ordinator
Lecturer UWO Stats & Actuarial Science
Volunteer activities
•
Church finance committees
Church Trustees
Parkwood Hospital Planned Giving
committee
Board of Directors – Original Kids theatre
The Actuary of the Future
2007 General Meeting
Assemblée générale 2007
•
•
2.2.4 In 1989, a task force of the Society of Actuaries
produced a valuable report on “The Actuary of the
Future”.
“exposure to economics, accounting and law makes
actuaries conversant with, but not experts in these
subjects … the combination of subjects studied (is) a
combination few other professions are likely to have
encountered”
•
The Actuary of the Future
JIA 119 (1992) 13 - 44
What actuarial skills do I use?
•
Product knowledge
–
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•
Actuarial knowledge
–
–
–
•
•
•
Pricing
Reinsurance
Economics
Demographics
Investments
Communication
Common Sense
Business savvy
2007 General Meeting
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What excites me about the job?
•
Role as educator
•
The “A HA” moment
•
Working without a net
What is required to succeed?
2007 General Meeting
Assemblée générale 2007
•
- problem solver / Can Do attitude
- see the broader picture
- co-operative outlook
- effective management and negotiation skills
- explain complicated concepts clearly, simply
- excellent communicator with non-actuaries
- ethical beyond reproach
- open minded, flexible, willing to listen
- seek solutions that are good for everyone
What keeps me awake at night?
•
Advisor misconduct
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–
•
Acts of omission and / or commission
CPD & “Actuaries of the Past”
What keeps me awake at night?
2007 General Meeting
Assemblée générale 2007
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The Society should develop career planning
prototypes for individual actuaries to develop
paths leading from where there are today to
new opportunities”
(Actuary of the Future Task Force (1991)- Society of Actuaries)
•
A professional culture that encourages actuaries
to trail blaze in new areas
(Vision 2020 TaskForce-Institute of Actuaries of Australia)
•
Develop opportunities for actuaries in new
areas
(Strategic Plan 4(d) - Canadian Institute of Actuaries)
Do EPA’s open doors?
2007 General Meeting
Assemblée générale 2007
•
The “public” doesn’t know what an
actuary is
•
“FCIA” opens doors
•
The rest is up to you
Do EPA’s close doors?
2007 General Meeting
Assemblée générale 2007
•
A recent job posting from a recruiter
–
Develop and manage inforce conservation programs
–
Manage credited rates and margins on inforce
business
–
Analyze and report results to senior management
–
Analyze and develop strategies for non-performing
blocks of business
–
Problem solving, strategic thinking and analytical
skills
2007 General Meeting
Assemblée générale 2007
Could / would I go back?
•
Of course I could
•
But Why?