February 2013

In This Issue

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  • The Future of Business Analytics

    Executive Summary of White Paper by the Society of Actuaries’ Task Force Released Feb. 13, 2012.
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  • Letter from the Chair

    It is a great honor and privilege to serve as the chairperson for this year's Technology Section. Many hard working people have stepped into this role and have helped to continue the growth and development of our section, and I hope to do the same. ...
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  • Letter from the Editors

    I live 20 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. When actuarial exams were my life, I lived two miles from Long Island Sound. Yet over the course of a year, I found my way to the water only occasionally. Even with the burden of actuarial studies dispatched, it did not improve much. New ambitions filled those endless hours, year over year. ...
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  • R Corner – R and Excel

    I was asked by the editors of CompAct to describe why I use R in my actuarial models and compare that to my use of Excel. I use both software tools extensively, and the reason I choose one over the other is due to the modeling need. ...
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  • A Chainis Only as Strong as Its Weakest Link

    It is quite common to see a powerful, robust actuarial system surrounded by many Excel workbooks. Excel is powerful, flexible and cost effective; actuaries can easily develop Excel solutions to handle their daily challenges on a timely basis. However, Excel is a desktop product, which typically requires more user involvement. ...
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  • Is this Significant? On Communicating Numbers and Fake Precision

    A group of actuaries were at a conference being held in Hartford. As part of the conference entertainment, they went to the Connecticut Science Center's dinosaur exhibit, accompanied by a guide. ...
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  • The Future of Business Analytics

    Business analytics--What is it? Where is it going? These are questions we will be discussing in this article. ...
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  • Excel 2010 Advanced Skills Survey

    I have been using Excel 2013 since its customer preview was first released. It has some great enhancements, but I hadn't really appreciated them until I started working in a financial institute which is still using Excel 2003. I suddenly realized how incapable I was without all of the great features Microsoft has added to Excel in the last 10 years. ...
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  • Articles Needed

    Your help and participation are needed: Articles, book reviews and other information on technology useful to actuaries are needed!
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  • Legal Information

    By CompAct Newsletter Published by the Technology Section Council of the Society of Actuaries This newsletter is free to section members. Current issues are available on the SOA website. To join the section, SOA members and non-members can locate a membership form on the Technology Section web page. Th
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  • Non-Endorsement Statement

     
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