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Edition

SOA At Work: SOA Establishing New Section

The SOA At Work

SOA ESTABLISHING NEW SECTION

By Greg Heidrich

THIS MONTH'S COLUMN highlights an accomplishment of which we're particularly proud—the successful launch of our new Pathway to Membership section of the Web site. Our candidates have long needed a clearer description of the path to an SOA designation, as have our members who are mentoring the next generation of the profession. In its new strategic plan, the SOA identified our candidates as key stakeholders for the organization. Developing practical, helpful tools like this to make the journey a little easier and a lot clearer is one of the ways we meet our commitment to serving candidates. The feedback so far has been uniformly positive—candidates like it and tell us it's a great improvement!

We're also announcing the effort to form a new SOA Section, the Social Insurance & Public Finance Section. The SOA Board of Directors recently approved the petition to form a new Section prepared by a number of members interested in research and education on social insurance programs and systems such as publicly funded health care programs, Social Security, workers compensation, public employee retirement systems, unemployment insurance and other topics. All members are urged to look at this proposal and consider joining this important new effort.

Finally, as always, we have a number of important and very interesting educational programs for members. Particularly in the current economic climate, every professional should maintain a strong commitment to professional development and to adding new skills and knowledge. I urge you to participate in as many SOA programs as you possibly can.

—SOA Chief Executive Officer Greg Heidrich

 

SHARE WIDGET ADDED TO SOA WEB SITE

The SOA has now added the social media tool "Share" to its Web site. The Share widget allows visitors to easily bookmark and share every page of the site. The new widget can be found on the left–hand side of SOA.org, directly under the existing "Find A Section" widget.

Once you hover over the Share widget, a box will appear displaying the options available for sharing the page. To share, select one of the social bookmarking and sharing services listed. You can bookmark, share or e–mail the link to a friend. If you cannot find the service you would like to use, click on the "More" link to see additional services.

SOA ANNOUNCES INTERACTIVE PATHWAY TO MEMBERSHIP ON SOA.ORG

To further enhance candidate understanding of the newly redesigned Education system, the Society of Actuaries is pleased to announce the addition of an interactive Web tool—Pathway to Membership. The Pathway to Membership is intended to clearly display the requirements for attaining a designation—ASA, CERA or FSA; it also offers suggestions about the order in which they might be approached. Be the first to check out the new Pathway to Membership Feedback can be sent to education.web.feedback@soa.org.

PLEDGE TO JOIN THE NEW SOCIAL INSURANCE & PUBLIC FINANCE SECTION

With the need to develop research and share information on the topics of social insurance programs and their related finance, the Society of Actuaries is establishing a new professional interest group, the Social Insurance & Public Finance Section. Professionals working in enterprise risk management, health, pension or academia are invited to pledge to join the Section, which will explore relevant topics and trends related to social insurance and public finance.

The section aims to develop consistent, high quality continuing education opportunities and sponsor fundamental research into evaluating and managing social insurance programs, including public pension plans, government funded health plans, workers' compensation insurance and unemployment insurance. Of particular immediate interest is the impact of the Baby Boomer generation and other trends on current social insurance programs. You can pledge to join this Section by going to www.soa.org, clicking on Professional Interests, About Professional Interests and then the Join a Section link on the right side of the page.

THE ACTUARIAL PROFESSION IN THE NEWS

Producersweb.com Features Column by FSA The Web site posted a column by Mike Boot on risk management and longevity risk.

Advisor Today Quotes FSA Claude Thau discussed long–term care insurance in this article, which offers advice on how LTCI can help protect a client's wealth.

Chicago Tribune Risk Assessment Article Features FSA The piece, with quotes from Noel Abkemeier, appeared in online publications across the country.

Military.Com Garners Input from FSA Jack Luff was interviewed for this article on life expectancy for active duty military personnel and reservists.

Businessweek Interviews FSA For Risk Article This piece highlights ways risk management can help today's businesses through tough economic times and features insight from Max Rudolph.

To view all of these articles, visit ImageofTheActuary.org and click on Actuaries in the News.

 

SOA EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

 

HEALTH SPRING MEETING
June 8–10
The Westin Harbour Castle
Toronto, ON Canada

MARKET CONSISTENT EMBEDDED
VALUE WEBCAST
June 16

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT SYMPOSIUM
June 29–30
Hyatt Century Plaza
Los Angeles, CA

MODERN PRICING METHODOLOGIES
June 30–July 1
Hyatt Century Plaza
Los Angeles, CA

44TH ANNUAL RESEARCH CONFERENCE
July 30–August 1
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI

HEALTH PRICING BOOT CAMP
August 10–11
Renaissance Seattle Hotel
Seattle, WA

HEALTH VALUATION BOOT CAMP
August 11–12
Renaissance Seattle Hotel
Seattle, WA

US GAAP AND IASB TOPICS SEMINAR
September 7–9
InterContinental Grand Stanford
Hong Kong