Description: Gearing up-- exploring the rewards for completing the SoA Competency Framework tools of Self-Assessment and Personal Development Plan.

Description: As a dynamic entrepreneur, the question is not if you’ll need to prepare for high-stakes, emotionally charged conversations, but when you will have them. If you’re looking toward a business conversation where you want the outcome to be positive-oriented and forward-looking, there is some risk involved. It is worth your time to prepare and differentiate yourself before any words are spoken. Risk, in this situation, means that it could negatively or positively impact one or more of the following: Relationships, business outcomes, timing/efficiency, quality metrics, performance, or more. There is a literal cost to this kind of conversation going wrong! In this article, Libby Wagner shows actuarial entrepreneurs how to hold tough conversations that demonstrate respect and bring about the results they want.

Description: A compilation of reader responses is presented to a real life situation. This issue’s case study involved a candidate for an actuarial position who didn't handle salary discussions well, and whether that should impact the hiring decision.

Description: The April/May 2016 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: With the rapid development of the Insurance market, insurance technology—including online insurance--continues to mature. Zhongan Online invests heavily in fintechand Zhongan Answer, an insurance robo-advisor, launched in 2018, could improve transaction efficiency by using artificial intelligence to communicate in a timely manner and solve the pain point of the perplexed insurance clause. Under a different consumption scenario, Zhongan Answer could reply to users in a timely manner, while also implementing private customized products and services by providing users with personal risk management and insurance assessment solutions so that users could easily and conveniently select the most suitable insurance plan. The intelligent shopping guide system of Zhongan Answer could improve transaction efficiency by analyzing the personal insurance intention and providing the humanized interpretation of insurance clause. Zhongan Answer has served millions of users and supported more than 100,000 insurance-related knowledge points with an accuracy rate over 90%. Zhongan Answer has provided more than four million Q&A services, and its intelligent shopping guide system covers more than 90% of insurance products.

Description: Writing articles is not as hard as most people think, but it does take some thought and planning. This article gives practical tips about how to put "pen to paper" and write an effective article.

Description: A real life situation is posed involving a management, leadership, or other business decision, and readers are invited to submit their responses to "What Would You Do?" This issue’s case study involved choosing between two actuarial candidates in a hiring decision.

Description: Chairperson's update on the International Section.

Description: Self-management is your ability to use awareness of your emotions to stay flexible and direct your behavior positively. When you understand what you are feeling, you can effectively choose how to react. Knowing your individual tendencies can help you prepare for future events by consciously deciding to change or adjust your behavior when certain situations occur. The article shares strategies, examples and personal insights to illustrate how to develop the skill of self-management.

Description: A real life situation is posed involving a management, leadership, or other business decision, and readers are invited to submit the irresponses to "What Would You Do?" This issue’s case study involved a staff performance issue faced by an actuary new to management.