August 2012

Issue Notes from the Editor

 

by Nick Ortner and Carlos Sanchez-Fuentes

In the August 2012 issue of The Independent Consultant, we again offer articles to address practical and topical aspects to appeal to the Entrepreneurial Actuaries Section (EAS) membership:

  • Chairperson Kevin Pledge revisits the EAS’s structure and the needs met and services provided by the EAS, along with drawing your attention to the upcoming EAS Council elections.
  • Larry Stern offers up the first of a two-part article on how he got to where he is today and how his 50+ year career as an entrepreneur has evolved (teaser alert – the last 35+ years are coming in November 2012!).
  • Jay W. Vogt continues his discussions related to productivity, this time focusing on a framework for making smart choices with how you manage your time.
  • In the last newsletter, we invited readers to share their views on actuarial entrepreneurship via an online survey. Here, we summarize responses to a number of the questions and encourage ongoing reader feedback.
  • Following up on past conference sessions sponsored by the EAS related to starting a business, we include two interviews with entrepreneurs who discuss their business experiences –Chris Hause of Hause Actuarial Solutions and Phil Gold of GGY AXIS – with more such interviews coming in future newsletters.

We seek to blend topics of interest to actuarial entrepreneurs with practical advice from those who have already been down that path. In that spirit, we continue to look for authors (actuaries or not) to contribute articles or letters to The Independent Consultant on a wide spectrum of topics – the door is really open on any and all topics that may be relevant to actuarial entrepreneurs!

Nick Ortner, FSA, MAAA, is product development manager – Group Markets for National Guardian Life Insurance Company in Madison, Wis. He may be reached at njortner@nglic.com or 608.443.5280.

Carlos Fuentes, FSA, MBA, MS, is vice president and chief actuary at Delta Dental of Rhode Island. He may be reached at cfuentes@deltadentalri.com.