Meet the Candidates - Richard Gibson

Education:

Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
B.S. in Mathematics/Statistics

Current Employment:

Senior Casualty Fellow, American Academy of Actuaries

CAS Activities and Publications:

Other Actuarial Organizations:

Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, 1988-present

Employment History - Prior Employers:

Membership and Activities in Other Organizations:

Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, 1988-present

Awards and Recognitions:

Evans Scholarship Recipient

The CAS, through its educational and credentialing focus, has had a significant impact on my life and career. It has been quite rewarding to be a member of a profession that is so impactful. It would be gratifying to have a larger part in the CAS’s efforts to continue to train and develop younger actuaries and to evolve the syllabus and the organization to support the changing needs of the profession.

Emerging tactical issues could be numerous but also quite challenging to predict. Clearly these need to be dealt with effectively as they arise, and the Board should be available to advise as needed.

That said, focusing on more strategic issues, I would say that the ongoing relevance of the P&C actuary and our profession is top of mind. Clearly the CAS, through its focus on candidate education and its efforts to envision the future of the profession, has done an excellent job. There seems little doubt that this needs to be a continued focus. Within this area, efforts to keep a robust interest in being an actuary (the candidate pipeline) are of key importance especially as other competing professions gain attention among potential candidates. The benefits of being a member of a strong profession and the domain expertise that actuaries possess are key factors to consider.

With current and ongoing economic and insurance marketplace conditions, it is not difficult to envision ongoing demand for actuarial skills. Some areas for consideration are:

• Availability and affordability of insurance – Will the impact of climate change create ongoing pressure here? Can we expect to price our way through increasing catastrophe losses? Should actuaries get deeply involved in climate adaptation and mitigation and its impacts? Is social inflation going to have significant impacts in availability and affordability in liability lines of coverage? Can the impact of third-party litigation funding be measured?
• Modeling advancement – As technology continues to move us to more sophisticated approaches to cost modeling, can we ensure ethical use of models to prevent unfair discrimination? Should actuaries play a strong role in corporate governance as it relates to the use of models?
• Leadership advancement – Actuaries have moved beyond being “backroom analysts” merely providing calculations to decision makers. Should we focus on broader leadership roles in the insurance and risk management spheres? What changes in mindset would that require?

While these thoughts are brief, and I suspect many more would be appropriate, I will wrap up with one final observation. Specifically, even with all the new and different questions on the horizon, it is incumbent on actuaries to continue to provide the analytical grounding that helps the insurance and risk management worlds remain sound.