Description: Overview of a recent visit to silicon valley and how the learnings from this trip can be applied in an insurance setting.

Description: Discusses a wide range of issues related to financial decision making and aging. Includes discussion of cognitive decline, fraud and poor decisions. Brings in role of technology and tools.

Description: An argument for a lifelong study of the humanities for personal and intellectual development, as well as some advice to get started.

Description: This article sheds light on the various ways machine learning can uncover patterns within data to add unique value and insights to businesses.

Description: Recent advances in mortality modeling have enabled applicant-specific quantification of mortality risk in life insurance applicants using laboratory and physical measurements. Relative to more conventional underwriting, this approach identifies a small population of significantly under-priced policy and a much larger, cross-subsidizing group whose risk is presently overestimated. Applicants placed in the highest percentile by this scoring methodology are more than 10X as likely to die in a given period as their demographic peers, and represent approximately 5% of short-term claims. Implications for product design are substantial in both the short- and long-term, as the possibilities for adverse selection grow, and the opportunity for fully individualized pricing raises the more distant prospect of products with as many rate classes as applicants.

Description: Feature article discussing the importance of business connections when trying to get a board position.

Description: Over the last decade, the actuarial career has gained significant attention of entry level job-seekers as it continues to be one of the consistently top rated jobs in the market. There are different avenues to break into the profession, but one of the most common is through an Actuarial Student Program, where a company formally supports the exam progress of individuals through paid study materials, exam fees, and time off to study. Most programs also include an emphasis on development of leadership and communication skills. As the recruiter for MassMutual’s Actuarial Student Program, I get the opportunity to regularly share with candidates why I believe a student program is such a powerful springboard for a successful actuarial career. Profiled in the article is two actuarial students and one recent actuarial student program “graduate” to highlight the value a student program can bring to one’s professional development.

Description: A compilation of reader responses is presented to a real life situation involving communication (or lack thereof) between two young actuaries.

Description: Tom Toale discusses the importance of behavioral economics

Description: Refocus, the premier life insurance industry conference, will be celebrating 10 years of continuous growth. The next conference will be in March 2016. This interview discusses how the founding committee members evolved the conference from a Reinsurance focus to a broader focus.