Joseph Paesani, FSA 1988, MAAA

Self–Employed Consultant, New Venture Actuary, Broomall, PA

Brief description of the type of work you currently do:

New venture development and consulting in the areas of actuarial services, marketing, personal risk management, coaching and leadership / executive development

Primary Area of Practice:

Nontraditional

Other Areas of Practice / Interests:

Risk Management

Professional Background:

I'm a self–employed consultant that works primarily in marketing and new venture development in the areas of personal risk management, coaching, consulting, and leadership/executive development. As an entrepreneur my experiences have largely been in non–traditional fields, but I've been able to build a successful business applying actuarial disciplines and sound business management to these endeavors. Prior to this I worked for 20+ years in the financial services industry, most recently serving as senior officer within the GE Financial Assurance companies with extensive strategic and business management experience. My corporate experience spanned traditional industries of life, pension, and health in areas such as valuation, reinsurance, and product development. Ultimately this evolved into New Venture development, marketing, and organizational development. I've had extensive leadership experience building and managing units, teams, and departments, maximizing impact with limited resources, and leveraging other resources, with a track record for strategic planning/implementation, growth and results.

Volunteer Experience:

My primary volunteer experience has come through the Actuary of the Future (AOF) initiative. I served on the original AOF task force, which led to the creation of the current AOF Section. I served on the original AOF Section Council, and last year completed a term as Section Council Chair. I am also a member of the Management & Personal Development Section and Personal Actuary Task Force. I've written articles and have spoken at meetings, primarily on topics that impact the future of our profession.

Vision Statement:

A significant challenge facing the profession and our Board is sustainability–sustaining the execution of our plan. Our strategic plan is bold and proactive, venturing into areas previously untapped, to achieve the SOA's vision for actuaries to be the leader in managing risks. We've made tremendous strides in building our brand and strengthening our profession's future. It's vital that we continue to build on this going forward. As our brand awareness increases, we need to ensure that we deliver what we promise, and proactively address challenges from doubters and other professions currently claiming to practice in actuarial arenas.

The Board must continue to be a leader in further building our brand and delivering value to our key stakeholders. This includes assessing our progress realistically and modifying the plan as needed. It also includes continually reinforcing objectives and progress to our members, while recognizing the many facets of our profession (practice areas, credentials, backgrounds) and sometime differing goals, priorities, and concerns. It's imperative that the Board recognizes these in measuring performance against the plan and developing future strategies. How the SOA's leadership reacts and responds over the next couple of years, as well as the sections, committees, and members, will be critical in continuing to sustain and build on our progress to date. We're off to a great start but there's still much to do to achieve the vision.