2018 Board Member Candidate
Janet E. Duncan, FSA 2014, MAAA, FCAS
University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB)
Lecturer (Part-time)
Santa Barbara, CA
Election Message
I have two primary areas of interest in being on the Board. One is to continue to promote the SOA’s General Insurance (GI) Track. I have extensive experience as a P&C Actuary and feel I am well-qualified to continue the work I have done in advancing FSA credentials for the GI Track. The second is to advance actuarial education more generally to ensure that all actuaries are able to meet the needs of employers, clients and the public. I want to build on recent changes to enhance the education process (addition of predictive analytics to the ASA and Certified Actuarial Analyst credential).
Brief description of current work
I retired from CNA in 2014 and since then have been a part-time Lecturer at the University of California at Santa Barbara. I teach Fundamental Actuarial Concepts (introduction to P&C insurance) and Actuarial Research (directing small student groups through real-world employer-sponsored projects). In this role I help to educate the next generation of young actuaries, not only in technical subjects but to prepare them for the actuarial workplace with courses that also emphasize presentation, communication and teamwork skills. And I actively seek real-world employer sponsored projects which allows me the opportunity to meet with employers to learn what they are working on and what skills they are seeking. I look forward to expanding my contribution to the education of actuaries of the future.
Primary Area of Practice
Property/Casualty
Bio
I am a credentialed actuary with over thirty years of property/casualty financial analysis experience, including commercial and personal lines reserving and pricing, actuarial opinions, US and international financial reporting, capital modeling, planning, and management reporting. I have worked as a consulting actuary (PricewaterhouseCoopers) as well as an insurance company actuary (CNA, XL Capital, and Aetna). I was the regional UK/Europe CFO at XL Capital and an Appointed Actuary at CNA, XL Capital and PricewaterhouseCoopers. My strengths include analytical and project management skills, leveraging information technology to improve processes and efficiencies, organization and staff development, teamwork, and communication. I am versatile, committed, and enthusiastic.
Additional Information
Within the SOA I served on the Strategic Planning Task force that developed the current Strategic Plan (2015-16) and represent the SOA on an NAIC Task Force to evaluate job skills needed for a P&C Appointed Actuary. I continue to be actively involved in other related aspects of the NAIC’s P&C Appointed Actuary initiative. I have served on the General Insurance (GI) exam committee for the last three years (currently Vice Chair of Ratemaking and Reserving exam) and was recently appointed General Officer (GO) for the GI Curriculum Committee. I am also the SOA’s GI representative to the International Actuarial Association (IAA) and a member of the SOA GI Research Committee which gives me exposure to a diverse group of actuaries and insights into both domestic and international issues.
In addition to SOA participation, I am currently (since 2013) on the AAA/CAS Opinion Seminar Committee which sponsors an annual seminar preparing appointed actuaries to sign NAIC property/casualty opinions. I have also, upon request, performed ad-hoc peer reviews of AAA Committee on Property/Liability Financial Reporting letters to the NAIC and Casualty Actuarial Task Force. In past years, I served on the CAS Committee on Reserves, CAS Committee on Professionalism, and CAS Exam Committee.
I have also reviewed and/or edited materials for the SOA’s textbook on General Insurance Financial Reporting, the IAA’s Risk Book, and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors’ (IAIS) core curriculum module on Non-Life Financial Reporting.