Rutgers University Do You Want to be an Actuary? February 13, 2008 Jim Blair – Prudential John Glauber – PricewaterhouseCoopers Steve Rosen – Stephen H.

Rutgers UniversityDo You Want to be an Actuary?February 13, 2008

Jim Blair – Prudential

John Glauber – PricewaterhouseCoopers

Steve Rosen – Stephen H Rosen & Associates

Amy Stern – PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

Andrew Weeks – Hewitt Associates

Joe McDonald – Hewitt Associates

Agenda/Contents

Today’s panelistsWhat actuaries doA typical day at workSalary and benefitsStandards for working as an actuarial professionalHow you can prepare while in schoolFinding your first job

Section one


Slide 4Do You Want to be an Actuary? February 13, 2008


John Glauber – PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

John has about 2 years of actuarial experience, all at PwC. He works in P&C, doing consulting and audit work.


Amy Stern – PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)Amy has about 3 years of actuarial experience, all at PwC. She does Life Insurance consulting and audit work.

Joe McDonald – Hewitt AssociatesJoe is a business leader in the Retirement & Financial Management Practice. He consults on design and financing of corporate retirement programs.

Andrew Weeks – Hewitt AssociatesAndrew is a recent graduate of Rutgers University and has been working at Hewitt for about a year.

Today’s panelists

Section two


February 13, 2008

Risk Assessment

Actuaries are business professionals who assess risk associated with:• Life Insurance and Annuities;• Property & Casualty (P&C)

Insurance;• Health Insurance;• Investments;• Retirement Benefits; and• Other Employee Benefit Plans.

What actuaries do

February 13, 2008

Business Problem-Solver

Actuaries apply specialized knowledge to real-life business problems using:• Mathematics;• Probability and Statistics;• Finance and Financial Modeling;• Economics; and• Accounting.

What actuaries do



What actuaries do


John Glauber (PwC) – Property & Casualty Insurance Auditing and Consulting

Day to day Audit work / Consulting work:• Insurance company policy/loss reserve reviews;• Self-insured company loss reserve reviews;• Statements of Actuarial Opinion;• Sarbanes-Oxley actuarial support;• Merger and acquisition due diligence;• International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) consultation.• Reviews of catastrophe, asbestos, medical malpractice, and terrorism claims;

Other tasks performed in the group:• Insurance operational and management reviews;• Expert testimony/litigation support;• Regulatory compliance services;• Alternative risk transfer mechanisms;• Federal insurance programs; and• Dynamic financial analysis.

Practice Development: • Reviews of catastrophe, asbestos, loss governance, marketing, benchmarks

What actuaries do



www.shrosen.com

Past President of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA)

Founder of the ASPPA Benefits Council of the Delaware Valley

Instructor & Author for Continuing Education for CPA’s, Lawyers, Investment Advisors & Financial Planners

President, Stephen H. Rosen & Associates, a subsidiary of National Investment Managers

Manage an office of 30 Employees

Consult to Businesses on the design & implementation of all forms of Retirement Plans

Administer & monitor IRS/DOL compliance for 1000 Retirement Plans

Expert Witness Testimony on Pension Related Matters

What actuaries do


Amy Stern (PwC) - Life Insurance Auditing and Consulting

• Audit work: Protect investors and customers by assuring that company is presenting an accurate report of their finances and solvency- Understand high-level picture of many clients’ businesses- Perform detailed analysis for high-risk or volatile areas

• Consulting work: Client hires us to help with a need, e.g.- valuing business during a merger or acquisition; - enterprise risk management; or - hedging insurance risk.

• Work includes understanding diverse products and methodologies for analyzing them, including modeling and high-level analysis, as well as interacting with clients and balancing work on multiple projects.

http://www.pwc.com/extweb/service.nsf/docid/d16b5a95e086dc7685256b58006d99af for information on our projects

www.pwc.com/lookhere for career information

What actuaries do


Joe McDonald & Andrew Weeks – Hewitt Associates

•Analyze the benefit costs and obligations associated with corporate retirement programs.

•Monitor trends in mortality, termination, and retirement to analyze their impact on retirement plans’ liabilities.

•Help employers manage financial risk in their retirement benefits programs.

•Develop investment strategies for managing retirement program assets.

•Help employers comply with the latest federal regulations regarding retirement and post-retirement benefit programs.

What actuaries do

Section three


February 13, 2008

A typical actuarial job will involve most or all of the following:

• Continue to develop and apply- Actuarial concepts,- Industry knowledge,- Business expertise,- Computer proficiency, and- Communication skills;

• Work with talented people in underwriting, finance, reinsurance, marketing, etc.;

• Be an integral member of project teams;

• Develop strong long-term relationships within a company;

• Gain exposure to clients; and• Have opportunity to travel.

A typical day at work



John Glauber – PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

John has about 2 years of actuarial experience, all at PwC. He works in P&C, doing consulting and audit work.


Amy Stern – PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)Amy has about 3 years of actuarial experience, all at PwC. She does Life Insurance consulting and audit work.

Joe McDonald – Hewitt AssociatesJoe is a business leader in the Retirement & Financial Management Practice. He consults on design and financing of corporate retirement programs.

Andrew Weeks – Hewitt AssociatesAndrew is a recent graduate of Rutgers University and has been working at Hewitt for about a year.

A typical day at work – for each of us:

Section four



•For an entry level actuarial student with no prior experience and 1-2 exams, typical beginning salary ranges from $44K to $63K.*

•How fast the salary moves up depends on job performance and the rate at which you pass exams. There is usually an additional raise/bonus when becoming an associate or a fellow.

For salary information compiled by D.W. Simpson, see http://www.actuaryjobs.com/salary.htm

* Salary estimate taken from D. W. Simpson link above

Salary and benefits

Section five



Professional Actuarial Organizations in the United States

American Academy of Actuaries (AAA)

http://www.actuary.org/

Public policy for all Actuaries; enforcing standards

Society of Actuaries (SOA)

http://www.soa.org/

Credentialing process and education for Life, Health, Pension, Employee Benefits

Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS)

http://www.casact.org/

Credentialing process and education for Property Casualty (P&C), Medical Malpractice

American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA)

http://www.asppa.org/

Advocacy, credentialing process and education for Pension Actuaries

Standards for working as an actuarial professional


Actuarial Exams

•Membership in the Society of Actuaries (SOA) or Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) is an important step towards career success.

•There are two levels of membership, Associateship and Fellowship.

•Both are achieved by passing rigorous exams, which test concepts including statistics, economics, insurance concepts and regulations, and financial modeling.

•For details:

http://www.soa.org/education/course-catalog/edu-catalog-detail.aspx

http://www.casact.org/admissions/

http://www.asppa.org/education/ed_online.htm



Actuarial Exams, continued

• Most employers pay all costs associated with exams, such as exam fees, books and study manuals, and review seminars.

• Study time is also generally provided – but expect to spend a lot of additional personal time as well.

• Programs vary between employers – make sure you know what is available when considering a job.

• Link to a very good study program

http://www.newyorklife.com/cda/0,3254,8828,00.html#one



Code of Conduct

The American Academy of Actuaries provides binding guidance as to the professional standards an Actuary must follow. The full code is available at http://www.actuary.org/code.asp. An excerpt:

Professional Integrity

PRECEPT 1. An Actuary shall act honestly, with integrity and competence, and in a manner to fulfill the profession’s responsibility to the public and to uphold the reputation of the actuarial profession.

…

Control of Work Product

PRECEPT 8. An Actuary who performs Actuarial Services shall take reasonable steps to ensure that such services are not used to mislead other parties.

…

Practicing Actuaries are responsible for upholding the Code of Conduct and can lose their credentials for violations.


Section six


February 13, 2008

Degree Expectations

• Bachelors degree• Strong academic background in:

- Actuarial science;- Applied statistics;- Mathematics;- Finance; or- Related quantitative

disciplines.

(There are exceptions but it puts you at a disadvantage.)

How you can prepare while in school


Actuarial Exams – Progress you should make while in college

• Pass at least 1, preferably 2 or 3, actuarial exams.• Take courses which satisfy the Validation by Educational Experience

(VEE) requirements:- Economics

• Microeconomics• Macroeconomics

- Corporate Finance- Statistics

• Regression Analysis• Time Series

• See http://www.soa.org/education/education-redesign/edu-validation-by-educational-experience.aspx for a list of approved courses


February 13, 2008

Other Skills and Attributes to Develop

• Internship experience

• Strong verbal and written communication skills;

• Proficiency in standard business computer applications; and

• A commitment to achieving Fellowship with the CAS or SOA.

• Related work or volunteer experience is an asset.


Section seven



Some tips for finding companies to apply to

• Attend actuarial career fairs- Rutgers: typically in October- ASNY: January, in NYC (see

http://www.goasny.org/members/homePage.aspx)• List of some actuarial employers

http://atp.soa.org/actuarial_training_program.php• Look in the SOA membership directory for names of actuaries

in your area (find it on the SOA homepage www.soa.org)

Finding your first job


Sources of information

• A discussion forum sponsored by D.W.Simpson, with a very wide range of contributors

http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actuarial_discussion_forum/ - Careers and Employment subsection

• General information http://www.beanactuary.org

Finding your first job

Any Questions?


Summary of Useful Links

General information http://www.beanactuary.orghttp://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actuarial_discussion_forum/

Actuarial Professional Organizations: American Academy of Actuaries (AAA) http://www.actuary.org/

Society of Actuaries (SOA) http://www.soa.org/

Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) http://www.casact.org/

Pensions http://www.asppa.org/

List of some actuarial employers: http:/tp.soa.org/actuarial_training_program.php

Actuarial Exams: http://www.soa.org/education/course-catalog/edu-catalog-detail.aspx

http://www.casact.org/admissions/

http://www.asppa.org/

For salary information compiled by D.W. Simpson,

http:// www.actuaryjobs.com/salary.htm

Rutgers University Do You Want to be an Actuary? February 13, 2008 Jim Blair – Prudential John Glauber – PricewaterhouseCoopers Steve Rosen – Stephen H.

Documents

job slide

day audit work consulting

work salary

life insurance consulting

insurance operational

consulting day

risk assessment actuaries

typical day