Challenges to the Casualty Actuarial Profession 2018

Posted on August 23, 2018 by Terry J. Alfuth

In previous years I’ve posted about some of the challenges facing the property and casualty actuarial profession. In 2018 we are facing a new, unique set of challenges, and I invite your thoughts on a few relevant topics: Big Data Recently, actuaries have been inundated with the availability of big data. We now have the … Read more »

Posted in Communications, Future of the Profession, The CAS Institute.

“Crash Course” Seminar: A Smashing Success

Posted on August 1, 2018 by Justin Brenden

I had the pleasure of attending the “Crash Course on Vehicle Technology and Driverless Cars” seminar this July, jointly organized by the CAS and IIHS/HLDI.* The event hosted about 80 people, most of whom were actuaries. While a highlight of the event was a real live crash test (see the video I took below), it also included … Read more »

Posted in Future of the Profession, Professional Education.

AR Through The Years: An Editor’s Perspective

Posted on July 17, 2018 by Elizabeth Smith

When the CAS hired me back in June 1997, I was prepared to take on Actuarial Review. I had years of experience working on a weekly publication as well as a decent stretch on a monthly tabloid with advertising. AR was a quarterly and, at the time, it seemed like a welcome respite. The Actuarial … Read more »

Posted in Actuarial Review, Communications.

CAS Members and Banking – A New Career Path for Some

Posted on June 1, 2018 by Kevin Bingham

The CAS Innovation Council has been working with CAS leadership to explore opportunities for actuaries to work in banking. Background In November of 2016, South African actuaries published the article titled “SA formalize the role of actuaries in banking.”  In the article, the author shared that South Africa’s banking industry employs over 300 actuaries. Michael … Read more »

Posted in Communications, Webinars.

Let’s All Visit Jupyter

Posted on May 11, 2018 by Brian Fannin

The actuarial workflow typically looks like this: you complete an analysis in a spreadsheet, then you paste the chart into a word-processing document. If you want to make a change to the math, or the data, that copy-and-paste step must be repeated. It’s easy for the two (or more!) documents to fall out of sync, … Read more »

Posted in General.

High School Actuarial Day at DePaul University: Building a Diverse Pipeline for the Profession

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Brian Brown

The first High School Actuarial Day was held on April 18 at DePaul University in Chicago, led by the CAS. Our goal was to expose high school students of color to the actuarial profession. We partnered with DePaul and were joined by the SOA, The Actuarial Foundation, the International Association of Black Actuaries, the Organization of … Read more »

Posted in Communications, Diversity, From the President, Future of the Profession.

Celebrating National Volunteer Week: Why I Volunteer for CAS

Posted on April 20, 2018 by Erin Olson

I come from a family of volunteers. My sister and I grew up volunteering alongside our parents at church, at school, and at our community theater. With this background, I was so excited to be asked to serve as an officer in our CAS regional affiliate in Texas after I attained my ACAS credential. When … Read more »

Posted in Volunteerism.

Malaysia: Opportunity Knocks

Posted on April 10, 2018 by Bob Conger

I really enjoy travel, whether for work or pleasure (or even better, combining work and pleasure).  When I first visited Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a few years ago, I was immediately attracted to this vibrant capital city.  There was so much to love: the diverse architectures and neighborhoods, ranging from some of the tallest buildings in … Read more »

Posted in General.

Communities of Interest

Posted on March 23, 2018 by Avraham Adler

One of the most interesting parts of any actuarial meeting or seminar is when experts in the field have the opportunity to have an off-the-cuff discussion, letting ideas fly back and forth. Audience members may even muster the courage to take part in the dialogue themselves. Some of the best exchange of ideas comes from … Read more »

Posted in Research, Volunteerism.

How Well Does Hollywood Know Actuaries?

Posted on March 2, 2018 by Rick Gorvett

We’ve all been there.  Every actuary has experienced it: seeing a character in a movie, or a television show, or maybe even a play, who is ostensibly an actuary. Likely they have one or two personality attributes that while perhaps rooted in reality, are emphasized way out of proportion. Uh oh – I’m having a … Read more »

Posted in Communications.