Abraham S. Gootzeit, FSA 1980, MAAA, CLU, ChFc

Vice President, New Initiatives Team, RGA Reinsurance Company, Chesterfield, MO

Brief description of the type of work you currently do:

Responsible for identifying new business opportunities; our unit incubates, researches and test markets new concepts and ideas.

Primary Area of Practice:

Life Insurance

Other Areas of Practice / Interests:

Reinsurance

Professional Background:

During my 35 year actuarial career, I've held several positions within the Insurance industry, primarily as a consultant. For the last two years at RGA, I've been leading a small team responsible for new initiatives; my job is to help identify new business opportunities in a mature market where my employer already has a large market share. Our unit incubates, researches and test markets concepts and ideas–we recommend the survivors for implementation. This nontraditional role allows me to use many business and technical skills I've learned:

• My team and I need to think creatively; we motivate others to work nontraditionally.
• We use a wide array of actuarial and technical skills to assess the viability of various initiatives.
• We interact with client companies and other outside publics to assess the market readiness of the concepts we're working on.
• We need to move initiatives forward by working with our associates; it's my job to motivate "others" with full-time jobs that are not in my unit.

Before RGA, I worked for 4 years as a consultant with Aon, spent 15 years with Towers Perrin (managing the St. Louis Tillinghast practice for 10 of those years), was VP and Product Development Actuary for 10 years at American General, and started my career at Unity Mutual Life.

I am pleased to have worked with so many wonderfully talented people throughout my career as an actuary. Thank you SOA.

Volunteer Experience:

• Elected member of the SOA Board of Directors, 2005–2008:
• As a participant on the Member Value Strategic Action Team, I helped draft parts of the SOA's current Strategic Plan.
• While I was the SOA Board Partner to the Long Term Care Insurance Section, I worked with the Section leadership to expand the LTC Section Council to include non-SOA members.
• Member of the SOA Admissions Committee.
• SOA Product Development Section: Elected council member 2002–2005, Chair 2004–2005. My involvement with the Section Council helped the Product Development Symposium grow content and attendance. We also greatly increased sponsored research projects.
• SOA Committee on Life Insurance Research: Member, 2002–2004.
• Member of the "Career Pioneer" program of the SOA Actuary of the Future Section, 2003–2004.
• SOA continuing education events: Presented, organized and moderated at more than 30 events beginning in 1985.
• Member of Task Force of the Actuarial Standards Board of the American Academy of Actuaries responsible for drafting Actuarial Standard of Practice No. 18 on Long-Term Care Insurance.
• Member of American Council of Life Insurers Task Force on IRC Section 7702 issues.
• Member of Task Force of American Academy of Actuaries responsible for reviewing reserves for guaranteed minimum death benefits for variable annuities.
• Author of articles published in professional journals and newsletters, including The Actuary, Product Matters, The Financial Reporter, Life Insurance Selling, The National Underwriter, and Emphasis.

Vision Statement:

Actuaries are facing a major challenge of increased competition–reflecting the rapidly changing business environment, encroachment from other professions, the perception that actuaries lack key business skills, and others. The SOA can be a change-agent in the fight to increase the number and quality of actuarial opportunities, as well as effectively training (and re-training) our members. This is captured in the Strategic Plan in a number of places, particularly in Cultivate Opportunities and Transfer Knowledge.

With the active support of the SOA Board, actuaries can thrive in an environment of increased competition.