by Nick Ortner and Carlos Sanchez-Fuentes
In the May 2012 issue of The Independent Consultant, we offer articles that address practical aspects to appeal to the Entrepreneurial Actuaries Section (EAS) membership:
- Chairperson Kevin Pledge talks about case studies that feature entrepreneurial actuaries to be presented during conferences, with these studies expected to become part of the resource center. Kevin also draws your thoughts to election time and invites interested parties to serve on the section’s council and consider other available opportunities to get involved.
- Kevin M. O’Brien provides ideas on how to assess whether correspondence you receive may be an Internet scam and gives valuable, common sense tips on how not to fall prey to scammers.
- Steve Gareau addresses sales sensitivity, a skill that can help make the difference between building a successful practice and merely trying hard but not quite getting the business off the ground.
- Jay W. Vogt discusses the importance of starting every meeting off right and gives useful tips on how to keep those meetings productive.
- We invite the readers to share their views on actuarial entrepreneurship via an accompanying online survey. The survey will influence the content of future articles and potential discussions.
Our intention is to blend topics of interest to actuarial entrepreneurs with practical advice from those who have already been down that path. We continue to look for authors (actuaries or not) to contribute articles or letters to The Independent Consultant. We’re also interested in hearing more about the international perspective and the point of view of those who chose non-traditional paths.
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.