Marketplace Relevance–Actuarial Pioneers

Are you an actuarial pioneer? Do you know someone who is? If so, the Society of Actuaries and the Actuary of the Future Section would like to hear from you.

In conjunction with the Society of Actuaries, the Actuary of the Future section recently broadened an initiative to identify and publicly feature actuaries who are expanding the boundaries of actuarial practice or practicing in nontraditional, innovative areas. The project is in direct support of our sections' mission to identify and promote new opportunities, skills and new ways of thinking to help actuaries excel on their career journeys.

To review profiles of potential actuarial candidates, a committee of the Actuary of the Future section council has been formed. We are looking for actuaries who have blazed a trail for other actuaries by creating a new application for actuarial science or who are among the first to apply the actuarial skill set in a nontraditional setting. Over the past few months, we have heard from some impressive actuaries who are doing some remarkable work.

To date, we have reviewed almost 50 profiles of potential pioneers and have been impressed and inspired by what we have seen. We have heard from individuals expanding the field of personal actuarial work, a major initiative of this section about which you can find more in this newsletter and an important developing area of opportunity for actuaries. We have heard from individuals working in non-traditional financial service roles and from actuaries advocating public policy. We have learned of actuaries who are expanding insurance markets globally and at least one actuary expanding insurance markets to man's best friend and other pets. In short, we have found many of you who are stepping outside of traditional actuarial roles and expanding professional opportunities available to actuaries. We hope you will find these stories as inspiring as we have.

Feature articles and interviews with the actuarial pioneers will appear in The Actuary magazine as well as online at imageoftheactuary.org and in the Image Watch e-newsletters. This fall, the Actuary of the Future section is renovating our Web site; actuarial pioneers will also be featured on our enhanced and improved website. The first group of pioneers have already been identified and featured. We also hope to highlight, in some way, actuaries performing in non-traditional or different roles that may not necessarily be pioneering, but are noteworthy nonetheless. For those interested in non-traditional future career paths–or those just interested in hearing about some of the exciting things your colleagues are doing–make your way to any of the sources mentioned above.

If you have an interesting story to tell–or know someone who does–log on to the image of the actuary Web site, and let us hear from you. We very much look forward to hearing your story and sharing the details of your pioneering work with fellow actuaries and potential clients.