ACAS - November 2009
Candidate Information
Education:
Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
Bachelor of Business Administration in Actuarial Science, Summa Cum Laude, December 2007
Current Employment:
Chief Reserving Actuary, QBE North America
CAS Activities and Publications:
Member of Audit Committee – November 2022 to Present
Member of Seminar on Reinsurance Planning Committee – 2018 to 2020
Member of CLRS Planning Committee – 2015 to 2017
Past University Liaison for Temple University
Frequent speaker at CLRS and the Seminar on Reinsurance
Other Professional Designations:
MAAA
Employment History - Prior Employers:
WTW 2007-2022
Senior Director and Global Proposition Leader – Business Process Excellence
Regional Proposition Leader – P&C Mergers and Acquisitions
Various other roles
Civic Activities:
Past member of the Actuarial Advisory Board to Temple University
Awards and Recognitions:
2017 G. William Glendenning Distinguished Young Alumni Award in Actuarial Science – Gamma Iota Sigma, Sigma Chapter, Temple University
I am honored to stand as a candidate to serve on the CAS Board of Directors.
I believe that my experience in both traditional actuarial roles at a consultant and at an insurer coupled with my non-traditional actuarial roles in technology and M&A provides me with a unique perspective that I can bring to serve the CAS. I’ve spent most of my professional life reporting to Boards and Audit Committees and after joining the CAS Audit Committee last year and working alongside several current CAS Board members I was inspired to run for a seat on the Board.
I want to serve for two main reasons: One, to give back to the CAS for all the opportunities that this profession has afforded me and two, to ensure the future of the CAS and the actuarial profession.
This profession and the CAS membership have provided me with tremendous opportunity and mentorship. I want to give back and serve the CAS and ensure that future generations are provided with the same or greater opportunities to learn, grow, and prosper. To do that, we need to continue to increase awareness of the profession and as stated in our strategic plan, diversify the pipeline.
As someone who was responsible for the growth and direction of a robotics platform, I’m very aware of both the promise and threat of new technology. If we are to solidify our role as the problem solvers of the insurance industry, we need to drive the adoption of new technologies, assist others in interpreting the output of new models and guide on emerging issues that cannot be modeled or are not in the history.
I’ve reached the point in my professional and personal life where I believe I have both the experience and bandwidth to provide a significant contribution to the CAS. I pledge to always question, seek to gain a better understanding and be decisive in setting the CAS’ strategic direction while never fearful to change course. It would be my honor and privilege to serve you as a director.
Technology is creating significant opportunities for those that discover the best way to wield it. On the other hand, technology can also be a significant threat to the way things have been historically done. As a profession, we must be proactive in shaping the role for actuaries into the future and not merely reactive to encroachment from other specializations and new technologies like AI.
Historically, actuaries were the source of analytics in insurance. That has already changed as data scientists have encroached upon the actuarial domain. We still have a significant advantage given our domain knowledge and existing membership in leadership roles. If we want to maintain or improve our position, we need to recruit the best and brightest, embrace and lead change and continue to deliver as the liaison between data and decision making.
On the recruiting front, it is essential that we continue to grow awareness of the profession. The modern actuary needs many skills personally or in their team to be successful. The actuary’s domain touches on data science and programming, presentation and communication skills and significant insurance knowledge. We’re competing for new members, not just with math-intensive professions like engineering, but also technology and data science. Technology is omnipresent and as such we actively need to make being an actuary exciting and interesting to ensure we continue to have a strong pipeline of talented individuals dedicated to the actuarial craft. The CAS is already working to ensure this pipeline, I can attest as a past university liaison and have witnessed the evolution of the exams as a manager and exam site host, and we must continue to innovate and assess if we are making adequate and timely progress.
Next, actuaries must be champions of change within insurance. Actuarial science has only begun to evolve with the advancement of technology and has for a large extent leveraged technology to just do more of the same. Insurtech seems to be less of a buzz word today, but the promise of evolving insurance is both an opportunity for actuaries to demonstrate our value and necessary to ensure the future of the profession. Technology will continue to enter the insurance domain. There is significant promise and risk to use of new technologies and I can think of no profession better suited to mitigate and manage that risk than actuaries. Leading through change requires thoughtful planning, constant monitoring, and the agility to change course when necessary.
Finally, actuaries are the best at translating what the model and data says to action. In times of uncertainty due to social and economic inflation and evolving technology and risks, the art of actuarial science becomes even more essential. Our domain knowledge better equips us to model and estimate the variables that can’t be derived from history and use our judgement to navigate uncertainty. Our ability to leverage cross-functional intelligence to improve decision making is essential to insurance and to our profession’s continued ability to thrive.
