2024 President-Elect and Vice Chair Candidate

Darryl G. Wagner, FSA 1987, MAAA 1990
Principal
Deloitte Consulting LLP
New York, NY

• Message One
• Message Two

Message One

Hello! My name is Darryl Wagner, and I am honored and excited to be an endorsed candidate for SOA President-Elect and Vice Chair. I plan to build on the great work we're already doing at the SOA by amplifying our strategy. Together, we can expand our repertoire, introduce new voices, broadcast our message more loudly and clearly, and reach a wider audience. Ready to join me?

Composing a brighter actuarial future

I believe the SOA has a robust strategic plan. I also believe we, as a profession, are presented with significant challenges, including the responsibility to modernize what we do and how we do it, amidst our changing world. The continuing rise of new tools and technologies, such as AI, present many opportunities to be seized. Together we can leverage new and existing partnerships, innovative technologies and other enablers, and enhanced actuarial capabilities to deliver even greater value and impact. Accordingly, my vision is to Amplify the elements of the SOA strategic plan, both by making them bigger and better understood. I aspire for the SOA, in concert with the broader global actuarial profession, to Amplify the following three dimensions of the SOA strategic plan:

• Impact
  How we deliver value and purpose fulfillment to our stakeholders, our communities, and our society broadly, both now and in the future, leveraging AI and other enablers.
• Identity
  The current and future capabilities we prioritize and are known for, as well as how we are understood and valued by our stakeholders, current and future members, and collaborative partners.
• Intersections
  Those we collaborate with to make a difference, including other actuarial associations, actuarial educators, employers and clients, other industry and disciplinary players, and our SOA community itself.

I am committed to working with you and SOA leadership to drive progress on each of these fronts through deliberate action and initiatives:

• I am extremely proud of the Impact we deliver and the difference we make as a profession today. I will work to Amplify that Impact by championing timely and deliberate action to strengthen and reimagine the work and offerings of actuaries today, as well as cultivating new avenues through which actuaries add value and achieve societal purpose. This is clearly a collective effort, but I aspire for the SOA to “pour more fuel on the Actuarial Impact fire” by accelerating initiatives such as further harnessing our strong research capabilities and leveraging our deep and far-reaching relationships with actuarial employers and educators to facilitate and advance use case development, incorporating AI and other enablers, which help prove out and scale new and responsive ways of working for actuaries.
• The work we do as actuaries provides insight and guidance to help move the world forward. However, I am concerned that the fullness of our Identify, particularly when you think of it in terms of the Impact we have and can have, is not well enough understood by those we serve and seek to attract. I think we face that risk even among our current members. This is important as our sense of Identity is key to empowering our current membership to fully deliver on our potential, assisting our stakeholders in visualizing what actuaries can do for them and better guiding us in how to deliver on that potential, and helping our future members gain true understanding of the opportunity and sense of community they can find in the SOA. My commitment to Amplifying our Identity is to drive purposeful action around enhancing the skill sets of actuaries with the future in mind, more clearly articulating our identity to our stakeholders, and helping current and future members better “see” themselves in the SOA.
• Our Intersections are essential to Amplifying our Impact and Identity. The good news is that the SOA already has strong relationships with our collaborative partners and strong communities among our membership. One of my priorities as President-Elect will be to “lean in” personally to those relationships and communities, as I work with SOA leadership and members to strengthen and bring more focus and alignment to the work we do together to Amplify our Impact and Identity.

Why Am I the Right Leader for the SOA?

Speaking of identity, my result on personality tests is typically a combination of Integrator and Pioneer, reflecting my affinity and ability for both connecting with people and connecting people to each other and to initiatives and passions, as well as developing new and big ideas, often by “connecting the dots” of my own experiences along with those of others. Both these descriptions are consistent with how I operate both professionally and personally and reflect the essence of who I fundamentally am.

I also believe these traits are vital to my success as SOA President-Elect, especially now. I believe our profession is at an inflection point on multiple fronts. Navigating the current environment in a way that causes us to thrive both now, and in the future, will require new and big ideas to which our membership feels connected and committed. I believe I am genuinely and uniquely qualified to lead the SOA in this pivotal moment.

The future of the actuarial profession holds much promise and opportunity, and I am excited to work with you to further Amplify the beautiful music that actuaries make! I would be so honored to have your vote for SOA President-Elect. For more information on my background, qualifications, and vision for the SOA, please check out my Candidate Page and Video Message. Voting runs from August 19th – September 6th!

I would love to hear your thoughts, insights and suggestions regarding the SOA and the actuarial profession. Please don’t hesitate to connect on LinkedIn or reach out at dawagner@deloitte.com.

Message Two

Hello again!

Now that voting is underway, I encourage you to cast your vote for your SOA leaders and for the future of our profession! I would be honored to have your vote for SOA President-Elect and Vice Chair.

I am immensely proud of our accomplishments at the SOA and as a profession, and I’m thrilled about the possibilities that lie ahead! But I also believe we face significant risks and challenges as we move forward. Technology and other enablers will allow us to do what we do faster and more efficiently. These are productivity gains for us but could also lead to decreases in the size and relevance of our profession if we don’t, in parallel, identify and implement enhancements to the value we deliver. This would be a huge opportunity lost for our profession and for society at large, as I know there is so much more we can do to move the world forward, both in our current areas of influence and in wider fields.

Another significant challenge is attracting, engaging, equipping, and inspiring our current and future members to rise up to the future of actuarial work and impact. We need to continually connect our members to our expanding value proposition and make sure our future members fully appreciate the opportunity and community that awaits them in our profession. I believe we need to better articulate how becoming an actuary can offer career growth, community engagement, and social impact!

As President-Elect, I’m eager to continue building on the SOA’s robust strategic plan, embrace innovative technologies, attract new talent, and harness new opportunities. My vision for our future is to Amplify our Impact, our Identity, and our Intersections.

Impact:
Together, we can do more than just keep up with change—we can lead it. By embracing technologies like AI and venturing into new areas of practice and new ways of working, we'll not only modernize our field but also better serve our stakeholders and society.

Identity:
Our stakeholders look to us for help with some of their toughest challenges. Our members, present and future, trust us with their careers. I’m committed to making our profession a beacon for those driven to make a difference. Together, we can work to enhance and expand our stakeholder relationships while we attract, engage, and inspire a new generation of actuaries to see the significant impact they can have.

Intersections:
The future of actuarial science hinges on how well we integrate our expertise with our collaborative partners and emerging technologies. By further fostering connections among actuaries, academic institutions, and innovative organizations, we can exchange knowledge and create innovative solutions that propel our profession forward.

I am confident that I have the right experience and capabilities to the lead the SOA at this important moment. My volunteer experience, spanning over 35 years, has taken me from the classroom to the boardroom. I was honored to receive the SOA Presidential Award in 2015 and the SOA Outstanding Volunteer Award in 2019.

My overall experiences have uniquely prepared me for serving as President-Elect and Vice Chair of the SOA by helping me build:

• Perspective on the profession
  Gained by working in both industry and consulting, serving clients on six continents, collaborating both within my firm and among my clients with actuaries and other professionals of varied backgrounds, disciplines, experience levels, practice areas, and competencies.
• Global exposure and relationships
  Through my client work and volunteer experience, particularly with the International Actuarial Association, I have insight regarding the SOA’s global membership and the global positioning of the SOA.
• Connections to the SOA’s core competencies
  As a former exam committee member, a member of two university actuarial program advisory boards, a frequent “on-campus” presenter, SOA textbook author and IFRI POG member/instructor, I have valuable experience with the SOA’s core competencies of education and research.
• Focus on the future of the profession
  I helped develop Deloitte’s point of view and proposition around the future of actuarial work and will leverage perspectives gained from that experience as an SOA board member and President-Elect.
• Leadership experience
  Experiences from both my professional career and volunteer experience, including serving on the SOA Board, will be valuable as I take on this important leadership role for the SOA.

My experiences have shown me the importance of the work we do as a profession. They have also revealed how crucial our internal and external partnerships are. As an integrator of people and ideas, with a knack and passion for curiosity, questioning and listening, creativity, and communicating simply what I understand deeply, I look forward to working with you to further strengthen these relationships with the goal of unlocking our full potential and maximizing our impact.

We're at a pivotal moment in our profession's history. We have the opportunity to make it more robust, more inclusive, and more innovative. Join me, Darryl Wagner, in Amplifying our Impact. With your support, we can build on the beautiful music the SOA is already making by adding more verses, more voices, and broadcasting our message more clearly and loudly to a wider audience. It’s time to turn up the volume, SOA! Let’s get started.

For more information on my background, qualifications, and vision for the SOA, please check out my Candidate Page and Video Message. Voting closes September 6th!

I would love to hear your thoughts, insights and suggestions regarding the SOA and the actuarial profession. Please don’t hesitate to connect on LinkedIn or reach out at dawagner@deloitte.com.