Description: Summary of the excellent Abstract serve provided to M&PD section members

Description: This article is a review of the book by Joshua Foer. It covers the history of memory techniques, the way a human brain organizes memory, and various problems and successes in memory recall. The author starts by interviewing memory savants, and learns from them that the ability to perform seemingly impossible memory tricks is simply a matter of studying and practicing proven techniques used for millennia. This review suggests that actuaries can benefit greatly from some of these techniques despite the availability of electronic hand-held devices to recall facts because the person who does not need to rely upon such devices can have a huge perceptual advantage in executive presentations.

Description: The Stepping Stone issue 60, November 2015

Description: An actuary's 30-year career, from working for several major consulting firms, to leading his own firm, to becoming a sole-practitioner consulting actuary.

Description: This article, an Honorable Mention Essay for the Society of Actuaries' Entrepreneurial Actuaries Section 2010 Papers Competition, is a discussion of the various issues relating to measurement of data in healthcare. The author presents “a light hearted & tongue-in-cheek take on how healthcare is typically measured, and an entrepreneurial vision for a better world.” Noting that typically data is summarized in deterministic models that produce point estimates for analysis and decision making, the author’s vision presented in the paper “is that of a central repository of actuarially modeled distributions that can either be used as benchmarks or adapted to an organization's experience.”

Description: This article discusses how employers and employees often misunderstand the types of coverage they own, and argues that customizing insurance solutions can be a pragmatic solution. The authors note that typically an employer will provide a basic group insurance plan for all employees, and then discuss the advantages of customizing voluntary benefits to supplement core benefits, and how they can be targeted to specific groups.

Description: In this article the author provides guidance to owners of their own actuarial consulting firms, with respect to addressing issues around succession, control and ownership, and planning for retirement.

Description: This article is about how entrepreneur independent business owners can solve their day-to-day frustrations and problems with a simple and useful process for setting goals and building a plan to meet those goals.

Description: This article is a summary of a panel discussion, held at the March 2010 IAA Meeting in South Africa, which explored the dual roles of consulting actuaries as entrepreneurs and professionals. Topics covered include ethics and professionalism, conflict of interest, and management and communication skills, among others, representing views from small to large consulting firms in different countries.

Description: Article from The Actuary, February 1986 – Volume No. 20, Issue No. 2 talks about as deregulation has lurched forward, banks and thrifts as well as insurance agencies and marketing organizations have been examining the viability of joint ventures involving the sale of insurance through depository institutions.