Description: A preview of the Society of Actuaries’ 2010 Health Meeting, June 28-30, at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida.

Description: Over the last several decades, mortality trends and life expectancies in developed countries have been improving and are expected to continue to improve in the future. This paper discusses issues of longevity risk and volatility faced by small defined-benefit DB pension plans in Canada and outlines the opportunities available for entrepreneurial insurance companies interested in providing solutions to address these issues.

Description: Topic 2 of Project Management: Sticky Situations discusses the potential dangers associated with requested changes after the project scope has been finalized.

Description: This column highlights the articles contained in the August 2010 issue of The Independent Consultant.

Description: This article looks at Enterprise Risk Management - ERM - and how executive compensation’s disconnect from long term stock performance has been a contributor to the current financial crisis. The author discusses the “Stock Performance Protection Plan,” or SSSP, and how it can encourage executives to buy into ERM. The author further discusses his plan, and the provisional patent he recently received.

Description: In this article, the author, an independent consulting actuary, discusses the process of becoming independent, providing advice on what you need to consider in making the transition from company employee to independent consultant.

Description: This article discusses the search for talent, and the issues companies face in looking to hire top talent in times of recession. The author addresses questions such as why the talent pool isn’t necessarily larger and easier to select from, and why the hiring process may take even longer, when times are bad.

Description: A preview of the Society of Actuaries’ 2010 Health Meeting, June 28-30, at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida.

Description: The author, outgoing chairperson of the Entrepreneurial Actuaries Section, ‘EAS,’ relays thanks to various individuals who have helped advance the goals of the section, and describes a request to the SOA, submitted by the EAS to develop a separate website for finding actuaries. “This would not be an extension of the SOA Directory which allows actuaries to find actuaries but a website for public access to actuaries who would register as independent entrepreneurs, small business and larger consulting firms.”