Darin G. Zimmerman, FSA 1995, MAAA

Senior Vice President & Chief Actuary, Transamerica Reinsurance, Charlotte, NC

Brief description of the type of work you currently do:

I am responsible for pricing policy development and pricing assumption review. I am also responsible for accounting and valuation policy development for statutory, IFRS, European Embedded value, and market consistent embedded value

Primary Area of Practice:

Life Insurance

Other Areas of Practice/Interests:

Reinsurance, Valuation and Financial Reporting, Product Development

Professional Background:

I have a very broad background in the life and annuity insurance practice area. I have worked for small, medium and large companies, that were organized as privately held, mutual and stock companies, respectively. I also worked as a consultant for a number of years before finding my niche in reinsurance. I've also done pricing, product development, and valuation work for fixed, variable, and equity indexed annuities; fixed and variable UL; term; whole life; endowments; joint life; and have had exposure to a variety of health products such as DI, Critical Illness, hospital cash, and others.

Volunteer Experience:

I have served as Chair of the SOA Life Insurance Financial Reporting Council and as Chair of the AAA Life Financial Reporting Committee. I have served on a POG (Project Oversight Group) for a financial reporting research project. And I have presented at SOA meetings, seminars and webinars in the US and internationally at least once a year for the last decade. I have also written or contributed to a number of articles in the Financial Reporter as well as practice notes published by the AAA.

Vision Statement:

The fallout from the current financial crisis will affect all entities that deal with risk, which is all entities. A major challenge for actuaries will be to make the most of the opportunity this presents to guide and inform all industries regarding the benefits of sound Enterprise Risk Management programs. The SOA has made great strides in developing the CERA designation, but now we must promote the value of these tools to the broader business community. As businesses emerge from the bunker mentality of just trying to survive they will once again focus on improving their competitive positions and improving shareholder value. There will be enormous pressure to "do something" about risk. Our challenge is to make sure these companies and organizations do something effective about risk. Our profession is uniquely qualified to provide these services. In the recent past the SOA has run an effective image campaign that has communicated the value and professionalism that actuaries possess. Now is the time to advertise what we can do beyond pricing insurance or valuing liabilities.