Author Archives: Rick Gorvett
How Well Does Hollywood Know Actuaries?
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
ASTIN: Give It a Try!
When I first became an actuary 30 years ago, and again about 20 years ago when I first entered academia and began devoting more time to research, I enthusiastically joined ASTIN, the non-life special interest section of the International Actuarial Association. I enjoyed receiving the green volumes of the ASTIN Bulletin twice per year, and … Read more
The Staff Actuary’s Blog: 2016 Actuarial Research Conference
In the category of U.S. Cities, the answers are: Birthplace of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, and musician Prince. Headquarters of retailer Target, Inc. Location for WJM-TV and Mary Tyler Moore. Site of the 51st annual Actuarial Research Conference. For all of these, the appropriate game-show response would be: “What is Minneapolis-St. … Read more
The Staff Actuary’s Blog: The CAS Bylaws, Constitution, and Who We Are
Every year, on July 4, I read the United States Declaration of Independence – usually to myself, but occasionally aloud to my kids (for whom the experience is, no doubt, a highlight of the summer…) The document still gives me chills: because of the gravitas of the subject matter, certainly, but also due to the … Read more
The Staff Actuary’s Blog: ASTIN Colloquium 2016
I’m just back from the annual ASTIN Colloquium, held June 1-3 in Lisbon, Portugal, on the campus of the Lisbon School of Economics and Management (known locally as ISEG, “Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão”). The meeting was a valuable and enjoyable experience – although I was delighted to return home and experience both air … Read more
The Staff Actuary’s Blog: CAS Research Need Not Involve Triple Integrals! (Not that there’s anything wrong with those…)
In this blog post, I hope to accomplish two things at once, both involving CAS research. First, I’m happy to share that we have added a page to the website for our peer-reviewed research journal, Variance, titled “Articles in Press.” Currently, because of copyediting and the lengthy publication process, we have a collection of accepted … Read more
The Staff Actuary’s Blog: The CAS Institute
Not surprisingly, one of the many things I’m helping with, in my month-old position as CAS Staff Actuary, is the development of The CAS Institute and its credentialing programs, beginning with a data science and predictive analytics credential. This is an initiative for which I was delighted to have cast an approving vote last year … Read more
Reflections from the CAS Staff Actuary: The First Two Weeks
It is a real and sincere honor to be the CAS’s first staff actuary. The creation of such a position has been considered and discussed over the years, but only last year did the CAS Board vote to formally implement it – and only last month, in mid-January, did the position actually begin. While it has … Read more
CAS Academic Central Begins Anew
As you know, the CAS University Engagement Committee has been making tremendous efforts to enhance and reinvigorate our relationship with the academic community. This increasing level of engagement will be critical going forward, from many perspectives: Marketing the CAS and the casualty actuarial profession to university students; Providing advice and resources to universities and faculty … Read more