by Nick Ortner
and Carlos Sanchez-Fuentes
In the February issue of The Independent Consultant, we offer several articles to appeal to the Entrepreneurial Actuaries Section (EAS) membership:
- Chairperson Kevin Pledge reflects on today's entrepreneurial environment and how the Entrepreneurial Actuaries Section (EAS) has responded and discusses future EAS initiatives.
- Beverly and Chris Amon provide the Eight Ds, a helpful checklist for closely-held and individually-owned businesses as they draft or review a buy-sell agreement.
- Nick Ortner highlights the ongoing preferred vendors' initiative to identify resources, provide a "one-stop shop" for entrepreneurial actuaries to access vendors that meet their various needs, and streamline the process to become a preferred vendor.
- George Chen and Michel van Hove–part of Strategos, a global strategy and innovation consulting firm–provide guidance on identifying and removing the barriers that may prevent innovation from taking place.
- Author and Peoplesworth founder Jay Vogt provides the first of two articles around the theme of client interaction, focusing on winning support with your clients in this issue.
Future themes for Jay's ultimate total of six articles (three series of two articles) include improving productivity and planning for growth. We've prioritized the presentation of these themes assuming that the entrepreneurial actuary first must be able to more effectively interact with clients to help land them and sustain and grow a business, before focusing on productivity with new and existing clients.
Please also note that we're always looking for authors to contribute articles to The Independent Consultant. Remember, EAS membership is not a prerequisite to become a published author in the newsletter, but if you're interested in becoming a member, just let us know. Enjoy the issue and we look forward to hearing from you!
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 Sanchez-Fuentes, FSA, MBA, MS, is vice president and chief actuary at Delta Dental of Rhode Island. He may be reached at cfuentes@DELTADENTALRI.com.