Description: This e-book contains topical essays that express the opinions and thoughts of a number of authors on the subject. It should be understood that the thoughts and insights shared herein are the opinion of the authors and not necessarily those of the Society of Actuaries, the Casualty Actuarial Society, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, or corresponding employers of the essayists.

Description: In this essay, we focus on the “Prospective Solvency Assessment” aspect of the NAIC’s ORSA. This places a spotlight on an insurer’s strategic decision making from a risk and capital management perspective. It requires those in senior management to describe actions they would take to address possible adverse changes in their risk and solvency position, i.e., what they would do to reduce risk, increase capital, and/or adjust the business strategy. We contend that by applying a slightly broader scope than the specific requirements of the NAIC’s ORSA, insurers can develop this into a valuable process to support risk-based decision making. In this essay, we initially consider how to determine which metrics to include in such a process and then discuss some important business requirements and practical challenges for implementing a calculation approach to support it. Part of the essay collection "Risk Metrics for Decision Making and ORSA"

Description: In the Leadership & Development Section’s Leadership Inspiration Contest, entrants were asked to tell us what inspired them to be a better actuarial leader. This is Fraser Smart's entry from the “Defining Moment/Event” category.

Description: As technology changes the insurance landscape, it is essential that companies adapt quickly while staying focused on customer needs. This presentation will show how Agile and Design Thinking methodologies can help business and technology teams quickly test new ideas and optimize value delivery.

Description: The actuarial profession is marching into the age of Big Data. Increasingly, employers in various actuarial fields are requiring new hires to have sophisticated knowledge in statistics and data science. To meet the new demands from the industry and the profession, one of the key additions to the SOA’s new curriculum is an exam in Statistics for Risk Modeling (SRM) which includes modern statistical and data science techniques. There is also a new proctored project on Predictive Analytics, as a capstone requirement following the completion of the SRM Exam. At the University of Toronto, we recently underwent a major actuarial science curriculum redesign, in order to stay current with new trends and demand from the profession and in line with the new professional curriculum.

Description: How diverse and inclusive (D&I) are we as pedagogical practitioners in the ever-changing student and actuarial science industry landscape? Given that our in-class experience impacts many populations, how successful are we dealing with conflicting belief structures and creating a welcoming and productive environment for members of the underrepresented (LGBTQIA+) and minority groups in our actuarial science classes? This interactive session will aim to provide a working knowledge of issues that arise and how to successfully address them.

Description: The April 2016 Issue of The Modeling Platform

Description: We discuss the challenges of Excel usage in companies, and what needs to be considered in order to develop robust modeling governance.

Description: The October/November 2013 edition of The Actuary magazine—the Society of Actuaries’ flagship publication.

Description: The Stepping Stone issue 60, November 2015