Description: Negotiation - it's not just for buying a car! Actuaries negotiate every day at work, whether it's getting buy-in to change a critical assumption or a more reasonable timeline to complete a project. This workshop will be led by an instructor specializing in executive education and will offer techniques you can use to be more effective in your day-to-day life.

Description: Learn various ways that actuaries are an making an impact on social issues such as healthcare, public health and climate change. Do you ever wonder if the actuarial profession is doing more than making bottom line revenue for its employers? Hear directly from multiple actuaries who are following their vocation by utilizing their actuarial skills to address real societal issues.

Description: When you hear the word 'feedback,' do you cringe? Do you want to give a colleague advice but don't want it to backfire? There are good reasons why no one likes to get or give feedback. But how do we deliver better outcomes at work without it? In this session, learn why legendary Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry was a master at driving excellence and what you can learn from his approach. You'll learn why traditional feedback methods fail and how criticism actually inhibits learning. We'll dig into recent feedback trends and the old standbys to understand why they might not work for you. Using coaching techniques and the latest thinking, learn how to talk through issues, share your reactions and inspire team members and colleagues to excel. You'll leave this session armed with tools and techniques to have more productive conversations with your boss, team members and colleagues.

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: As life span increases, there are many implications for actuaries and other professionals. The structure and content of Continuing Education (CE) must adapt to meet the needs of professionals with the strong probability of living to age 100, but also recognizing that for an increasing percentage of professionals, their productive work life will extend far beyond the current conventional retirement age. </p><p>This session will include content that is apropos for both more 'mature' actuaries who will face life decisions in the near future, as well as offer career guidance for younger actuaries preparing for longer work lives. It will conclude with suggesting that the SOA create a new, exclusive section specifically to address the needs and interests of older actuaries: We've Lived to 100 Actuaries. The SOA already has a program called Living to 100, which deals with the implications of a longer life span for the general public. Some of the new centenarians will be SOA members who will work far beyond the historical retirement age of the past. The purpose of this session will be to introduce the new 5-Stage lifetime work model so that actuaries can both individually and as a professional group, design CE for the realities of longer careers and life spans. In order to be professionally productive and happy as life expectancy grows, there are many changes that will have to take place in the continuing education of professionals--and actuaries are NO exception to this rule! </p><p>While this presentation will help 'mature' actuaries prepare for their longer careers and 100th birthdays, there are also serious implications and opportunities for younger actuaries that are best recognized and addressed long before reaching professional maturity in order to prepare for and enjoy a healthy and active actuarial career, as well as remain a productive and happier senior citizen.

Description: Under the new reporting regimes actuaries have the opportunity to become leaders for all aspects of cash flows and related insights, rather than just the reserve change line on the income statement, to help educate the organization and informed business decisions. This session will provide practical examples and scenarios where actuaries take on leadership roles to drive reporting compliance and organizational changes; as well as provide an opportunity to discuss what didn’t work as well when it came to deploying new technologies to the valuation and pricing teams.

Description: The SOA launched the Actuarial Innovation &amp; Technology Strategic Research Program earlier this year, focusing on projects in which technology is being used in actuarial work. The presenters will highlight reports from the program including a review of the Top Actuarial Technologies of 2019, the growing use of cloud computing and its impact on furthering and deepening actuarial analyses, and the growing innovative approaches using non-traditional data sources for risk selection and segmentation and its intersection with industry regulation. An overview of this new SOA research initiative and key findings from recently released reports will be covered.

Description: "Any number of disruptions can threaten one's career path - whether it's caused by volatility in an industry, changes in the market, business strategies, an acquisition, a layoff or personal situations such as child birth or a health crisis. This panel of successful women will share their experiences with disruption, how it affected their careers, how they managed through it, and what they learned from it. No job is 100% immune from career-altering situations. Even the most successful professionals must be prepared for, confront and adjust to changes that can impact their career. Attendees will hear from women who faced a range of career-altering situations and gain insight and ideas to keep your career where you want it."

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.