Description: This article is about the need for actuaries and technical professionals to develop critical leadership and other soft skills, and highlights the ways the SOA Leadership & Development section provides tools to develop those skills.

Description: Read the Quo Vadis Reinsurance.

Description: Align carrier, agent, and consumer definition(s) of DTC to establish a collective understanding for the affected parties. Understand why a direct-to-consumer approach may be important for carriers’ and distributors’ growth and development goals, tactics and strategies. Use the agreed-upon baseline and understanding of DTC’s importance to establish and agree upon reasonable expectations for its role in marketing, distribution, and product development and performance. Position carriers and distributors together to align sales, marketing and performance expectations and incentives for all parties to increase the possibility of outperforming in (and outside of) the DTC space; design sales, marketing and distribution systems and approaches to meet consumers where they are at; and expand current sales and cultivate new markets to remain relevant and magnify profiles in an ever-changing industry.

Description: A compilation of reader responses to a real life management situation in which one actuary went over his boss's head.

Description: The widening gap in life span between high- and low-income Americans may be eroding the progressivity of Social Security retirement benefits. Differential longevity trends have had the effect of raising lifetime benefits for high earners but not for low earners. Social Security’s long-term financial problems result in part from an increase in average life expectancy driven by wealthier people living longer, and, thereby, collecting more benefits. Policymakers should not use funding shortfalls attributable to these trends as an excuse to cut monthly benefits alike for those who have gained (high earners) and for those who haven’t (low earners).

Description: Article about how Toastmasters can benefit actuaries in several competencies areas.

Description: An update on the activities of the JRMS Council.

Description: To provide high level information on a book selected and discussed during the December book club session, The Ten Commandments of Risk Leadership. In addition, this article serves as a promotion of the SOA book club as well as the upcoming sessions.

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 very new actuarial manager trying to deal with a disruptive employee.

Description: A compilation of reader responses is presented to a real life situation posed involving a management, leadership, or other business decision. This case study involved an actuary who felt he had been lied to during the interview, but only found out after he moved his family and started the job. What should he do?