Description: The insurance industry is in a constant state of transformation. As organizations adapt to the effects of COVID-19, undergo modernization efforts and implement new technologies, soft or “human” skills are becoming key differentiators for success. Skills such as communication, empathy, storytelling, leadership, problem-solving and more are separating the good from the great actuaries. Those who possess these skillsets can better translate data and most efficiently leverage systems and teams. At the same time, by taking a human approach to modernization efforts, leaders will be able to best engage and motivate their workforces, while building teams that will excel in the future of work.

Description: Long-term guarantees place unanticipated burdens on companies because of the degree to which the environment can change. These risks are compounded when combined with estimation of policyholder behavior, especially when solid experience data is not available. When risks are properly reflected, long-term guarantees do not always provide value to the customer in excess of the manufacturing cost. The product development actuary is challenged to compare customer value to company cost and use that measurement to identify novel ways to design products to better serve customers.

Description: Interview with Brett Dutton, the outgoing chair of the Retirement Section's Continuing Education Team. Brett discusses hot topics and recent developments in continuing education and ends with talking about the impact of his volunteer experience with the Society of Actuaries on his life.

Description: While intended to assist health plan actuaries responsible for stress testing and ORSA filings, this session will also be informative for actuaries interested in communicating the impact of potential catastrophic events for health plans to their management and board. It will begin with a discussion of event thresholds for stress tests and their impact on capital and financial statements. Presenters will take a detailed look at several catastrophic event case studies (historical and hypothetical) in the following areas: healthcare specific (e.g. pandemic, specialty Rx), financial institution/credit market, operational/business, strategic and multi-event scenarios.</

Description: Read the January 2020 issue of International News published by the International Section. Newsletters provide practical information for the working actuary, articles on trends that impact sections and news about section activities.

Description: Pat Renzi shared her career trajectory and lessons learned in life and work.

Description: Candace Woods, the chief actuary of Prudential, shared her career trajectory and lessons learned for work and life.

Description: The true value of any leader is measured by how much they are able to accomplish through the work of their team. Actuaries in leadership roles are no different. But, to get the most out of your teams, leaders must first focus on building a high-performance culture. One that rewards measurable success and challenges everyone to reach farther all the time. There is no easy path to building a high-performance culture, but the benefits of a leader’s efforts will pay substantial dividends for the team, the leader, and the company. This series of articles is intended to educate leaders of large and small groups on how to build a high-performance culture and achieve outstanding results.

Description: Our ability to think and act quickly serves us well on a day-to-day basis. When we're faced with long-term, impactful decisions, we need to think differently. The very behaviors that enable us to react quickly to our daily work can make us jump to the wrong conclusion when exploring new topics. Cognitive biases--systematic tendencies to derivate from rational calculations--can hinder our abilities to conduct open dialogue and process new and different opinions. A 'de-bias' strategic decision-making process can help take bias out of meetings and lead to better outcomes. The presenters will provide behavioral tools and insights to attendees who need to participate or lead discussions that are part of a big-bet decision.

Description: A compilation of reader responses is presented to a real life situation posed involving a management, leadership, or other business decision. This issue’s case study involved a difficult hiring decision faced by an actuarial manager.