Interview with CAS President Frank Chang
I had the opportunity to interview the new CAS President, Frank Chang, FCAS, while attending the 2023 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. Chang and I discussed developments in the CAS Admissions Transformation Plan (ATP) and expectations for future changes to the CAS examination and credentialing process, diverging experiences and pathways between CAS candidates and candidates pursuing other actuarial credentials, and the CAS’s commitment to strengthening DEI in our profession, among other topics.
Coming out of the interview, I was impressed by Chang’s commitment to expanding the breadth of the actuarial profession and his insistence that this expansion is supported by a growing and more diverse candidate pipeline.
Both Chang and I encourage candidates to share your feedback on all things CAS with the Candidate Advocate Working Group at cawg@casact.org.
A few key excerpts from the interview are included below. An extended version of the interview, which has been edited for clarity, is available in the online publication of Future Fellows on the CAS website.
JR: We are three years into delivering on the CAS Strategic Plan. From your perspective, where has the CAS succeeded over the past few years, and where is there still work to be done?
FC: I would say we’ve succeeded really well in Building Skills for the Future. There’s been a lot of work on the ATP all the way back to the beginning of 2021 when Exam IFM was sunset and we had to add Data and Insurance Series Course (DISC) Introduction to Data Analytics into the pathway in six months. Additionally, the recent introduction of 15-minute exam breaks has been beneficial to candidates, and we’re excited about the launch of the Property and Casualty Predictive Analytics (PCPA) requirement.
Considering the other pillars, Diversifying the Pipeline — we can do more work there. I’ve seen promising numbers in our candidate pipeline in 2022. I would really love to see 2023 be a fantastic year, even better than 2022. We have a lot more work to do with outreach — starting at the university level, all the way to our affinity partners like the Sexuality and Gender Alliance of Actuaries (SAGAA), the International Association of Black Actuaries (IABA), the Organization of Latino Actuaries (OLA) and others.
JR: One of the keynote speakers this morning, Alex Salkever, shared insights on Generative AI and the rise of large language models as well as other analytical tools that we haven’t seen in the past 5-10 years. How can the CAS support both candidates and members to be able to adapt to a changing reality?
FC: I love that question. Part of that adaptation occurs at the basic education level (the examination and admissions program) to make sure that we modernize that content. To do this, we invest in analyses like the Actuarial Professional Analysis (APA) where we ask practicing actuaries what skills are needed for actuaries now and in the future to make sure that our exam content is relevant and prepares candidates for the future.
The second part in empowering our candidates and members to adapt is continuing education like CAS meetings. At this year’s Annual Meeting, we had multiple general sessions on how AI, large language models and other scientific advancements could impact the actuarial profession and the insurance industry. We curate and bring in featured speakers to help explore these new areas. At our 2023 Spring Meeting, we had a session on how to use Microsoft Copilot to assist in Python coding. These CAS meetings and webinars will always have content to make sure that we’re getting relevant information and staying up to date on these developments.
JR: Can you share a bit about the Actuarial Professional Analysis for candidates who aren’t familiar?
FC: The APA is broader than the former Job Task Analysis (JTA). With the JTA, we went to practicing actuaries and asked, “What are you doing? What do you need for your job?” The JTA formed the basis of the ATP.
The APA is a lot more ambitious — we’re ensuring stakeholder groups such as employers, regulators, actuaries, candidates and students have a strong voice during this process. We are trying to engage with all of the stakeholders to evaluate the current and future state of what actuaries will do and what they need to support that work.
JR: As you reflect on the ATP, what do you view as the most impactful change that will support the CAS’s mission to develop actuaries of the future?
FC: I’ll answer in a few parts. To begin, the CAS has made some changes to both content and delivery of exams as a result of the ATP thus far. We added the CAS DISCs and removed Exam 3F. We also moved to computer-based testing and created MAS practice exams in partnership with some vendors.
Second, removing duplicate areas and trying to reduce travel time, which I know is a big concern to candidates, is another important change. For example, some of the shifts in Exams 7, 8 and 9 aim to reduce duplication in our exam pathway.
Finally, I think enhancing the candidate experience and changing how we test are impactful changes. The 15-minute break we introduced in Fall 2023 is beneficial for candidates. And on the testing side, we’re testing different question types, such as multi-select instead of multiple choice, to really help candidates assess their knowledge when they take the test. Those are the highlights for the ATP, in addition to the PCPA. You can find a full summary of the ATP timeline on the CAS website.
JR: As you enter your term as President of the CAS, what are some of the key priorities that you hope to deliver on over the next year?
FC: Most importantly, establishing a good strategic plan that everyone can drive towards. This plan will help working groups, volunteer chairs, the board of directors, CAS vice presidents and staff to align their initiatives underneath the pillars of this plan.
Second, admissions and education are a priority. Having a different view on these areas — as ATP wraps up and our APA begins, I want to look outwards internationally. The CAS has a pretty good global footprint, and there’s a lot to think about as we talk to international candidates.
The final piece is to think about our pipeline more deliberately. We do think about our candidate and membership’s experience, but we also need to think about employers. How do we understand both current and future employers better to get them involved and engaged? That’s one of many areas we’ll be focusing on.
JR: Partnering with affinity groups is a key strategy for the CAS. Are there other investments that the CAS is making in that area?
FC: We partner with certain groups outside of actuarial organizations. We’ve partnered with the Association for Women in Mathematics, the National College Resources Foundation (they work to have expos like the Black College Expo and Latino College Expo) and others. We are investing in that. We also partner with the Actuarial Foundation on Math Motivators and other programs that support careers in mathematics and actuarial science.
JR: It’s very nice seeing the CAS continuing to make that investment over the past few years. Let’s shift a bit into talking about the “Actuary of the Future.” Our education system focuses a lot on the technical science of what an actuary is. But, from my experience, it's been as difficult to learn the art of being an actuary. As you think about this in the context of the Admissions Transformation Plan and other strategic investments the CAS has made, how is the CAS supporting candidates in developing that skill to be the “art of an actuary.”
FC: I just attended a session on actuarial judgment here at the CAS Annual Meeting. There are sessions like that on actuarial judgment that help you develop the art that underlies everything we do.
I also think the CAS Capability Model, which outlines all the different actuarial capabilities, is very useful.You can look at what competencies you have and use it as a diagnostic tool to figure out things like, what am I good at? What do I need to make improvements in? And we’ve taken that Capability Model and will be integrating it into every large CAS conference, beginning with the Annual Meeting, by mapping every session back to that capability model, so you can identify which sessions align to your interests and areas of development.
Additionally,volunteering for the CAS is a fantastic opportunity because you get to network. You get folks that are well-respected, senior professionals — people who I deem my heroes — and volunteer shoulder-to-shoulder with them. Hearing their stories has helped me decide, “OK, that's how you would handle this situation,” which develops a bit more of the art that you were talking about.
JR: For the candidates that don't know of the CAS Capability Model – can you give a brief rundown on what it is and how you can use it?
FC: Absolutely. The CAS Capability Model is on our website. The model has different traits, content areas and skills that exist in the actuarial domain. Each skill, trait and content area then splits into a few levels that evaluate your skillset or level of knowledge.
For example, one of the traits is intellectual curiosity. This is one of my favorites — the model (see below) will define the trait and give examples of operating at level 1, 2 and 3. You can go into the model and diagnose yourself and find opportunities to further your “art” or technical skillsets.
JR: That's a great resource for candidates to use as they are starting their career as an actuary.
JR: You mentioned the changing basic syllabus of education as part of the ATP. This effort plays a key role in supporting the CAS Strategic Plan. As you reflect on the ATP, as the changes are almost all wrapped up, what do you view as the most impactful change that will support the CAS's mission to develop actuaries of the future?
FC: I’ll answer in a few parts. To begin, the CAS has made some changes to both content and delivery of exams as a result of the ATP thus far. We added the CAS Data and Insurance Series Courses and removed Exam 3F. We also moved to computer-based testing and created MAS practice exams in partnership with some vendors.
Second, removing duplicate areas and trying to reduce travel time, which I know is a big concern to candidates, is another important change. For example, some of the shifts in Exams 7, 8 and 9 aim to reduce duplication in our exam pathway.
Finally, I think enhancing the candidate experience and changing how we test are impactful changes. The 15-minute break we introduced in Fall 2023 is beneficial for candidates. And on the testing side, we're testing different question types, such as multi-select instead of multiple choice to really help candidates assess their knowledge when they take the test. Those are the highlights for the ATP, in addition to the PCPA. You can find a full summary of the ATP timeline on the CAS website.
JR: As I reflect on the ATP and other changes released by other actuarial organizations, the CAS and SOA pathways have diverged a bit from back when I was a university student. When I was in school, there were four shared exams versus two right now, and one of those is offered for university-earned credit at select universities. How do you respond to concerns around a diverging pathway and the decision that candidates have to make earlier in their actuarial journey, potentially before having any internship or real-life experience?
FC: That's top of mind for us, and I've done a lot of university visits to try to understand how big of an issue it is. First, the CAS has really good engagement programs with universities and with students. We have our CAS Student Central and CAS Academic Central programs. These programs are designed to engage students and professors to educate them about what P&C work really is. We’ve also visited universities internationally to understand what is taught about actuaries at those universities.
Another thing we highlight on these university visits is what the P&C path looks like compared to other paths. On the P&C side, we have actuaries exploring new areas, such as working in the tech space like myself at Uber, and others at Lyft, DoorDash, AirBnB and other companies. The P&C profession has found new spaces to work in as risk managers working with captives and finding different ways that actuaries could be useful.
I'll put it this way for our candidates thinking about this — we had an AI session at the CAS Annual Meeting, and the speaker was talking about all this data and how to analyze it. There is huge unmet demand for actuaries out there. Actuaries are valued because we take this data, and we squeeze insights out of it in a quantitative way. These insights have millions of dollars of business value for the companies that employ actuaries.
From that perspective, we know that there's going to be a huge demand for this kind of P&C actuary. We just need to start early enough and share with students what actuaries at these companies are doing before students have to decide on which credentialing pathway to take.
JR: From a pure timeline perspective, I’ve heard from candidates, friends and colleagues who sit for both SOA and CAS exams. I think it's widely viewed that the CAS pipeline has a more extensive travel time, especially with the introduction of the SOA’s University Earned Credit (UEC) program. How do you respond to concerns from candidates that see differences in SOA vs. CAS travel times?
FC: That's a great question. I'll start with the current state. An analysis by Actuariallookup.com showed that we’re largely comparable but slightly longer for travel times. The SOA, with its University Earned Credit, has a slightly shorter travel time to associateship. I should add that even with the disruption from COVID-19, travel times have remained relatively steady over the last 5 years.
Candidates might also be concerned about what all the ATP changes do to travel time. We looked across the candidate spectrum to evaluate total cost, total travel time and the level of disruption to current CAS candidates. We have to balance those logistical considerations against content updates, such as rolling out newer things that actuaries need. Every actuary wants or needs to learn about predictive modeling, so what is a good approach to make sure we roll that content out while minimizing the impact to student and candidate experiences?
JR: Talking a bit about some of that disruption that you mentioned with the ATP – some of my colleagues and friends are still on the ACAS pathway. They’ve sat for P, FM, IFM, both MAS exams, 5, and are sitting for Exam 6 now. From this situation – there will be candidates who do experience at least a six-month bump to their travel time as they get close to the ACAS credential but don’t achieve it before Fall 2025. From your perspective, what do you say to those candidates who are close but not quite done by the time that PCPA gets introduced into the CAS credentialing process?
FC: If there was a world where we could roll PCPA out and have no disruption — that would be perfect. From my experience, I’ve been a candidate and have experienced disruption on my CAS credentialing journey. I do feel the pain of candidates who are going through it right now. However, there's a silver lining: the travel time might be a little longer, but you'll be one of the first actuaries that have gone through PCPA and have developed those skills. Whereas some actuaries who are already credentialedare actually jealous. There's a long line of folks asking, “Can I take PCPA even though I'm an FCAS?”.
So, there's some silver lining to it, but I do recognize that unfortunately there is some disruption. I will note that candidates do have until 2025 before the PCPA is a requirement.
One last thing about the PCPA – ultimately, career-wise, it's better. If you look at your long-term career versus “how did I get to FCAS,” the long-term perspective articulates the benefit of the new requirement.
JR: In the Spring of 2023, there were some challenges with the technical delivery of some of the MAS-II exams. These difficulties prevented some candidates from sitting for their exam on their original scheduled day. From this situation, what has the CAS learned and what are concrete changes that the CAS is putting into effect to help mitigate these potential issues going forward?
FC: Yes, that was really unfortunate, and we take issues like that, as rare as they are, very seriously. In the Spring 2023 sitting, we were able to administer over 4,300 exams, and only about 1% of candidates were impacted by these technical issues. So that sitting was overall successful, but it was a disruption in some individual candidates’ schedules. I understand the candidate experience — some people have kids, some people have to take a day off from work. There are all sorts of logistical concerns.
So, while it's unfortunate, we have now put new guardrails in place to make sure that doesn't happen in the future. We immediately talked to Pearson VUE. They're very receptive to all the feedback that we give them, and additional guardrails have been put in place so that disruption doesn't happen again.
JR: Great. In your address to the CAS Annual Meeting attendees this morning, you mentioned that the ATP is wrapping up, but there's a new cycle of strategic planning the CAS will do. From a candidate expectation perspective, how often should we expect the CAS to continue to change the examination pathway? Is ATP a pretty big change, or do you expect continued volatility in our exam pathway?
FC: That should be on every candidate's mind: “If I commit to the CAS pathway, what will that pathway look like, ultimately?”
The ATP is a big program. It was very ambitious, and there were a lot of changes. Even in the middle of ATP, we’ve had to adjust to changes that impact our pathway. What we’re doing now is trying to strengthen the CAS pathway.
Candidates can expect a period of stability after the PCPA launch because the Actuarial Professional Analysis (APA) is going to take a few years to complete. The new APA will be the CAS’s model to ensure that appropriate updates are accounted for in the examination pathway. Once we’ve completed the APA and figured out what the actuary of the future needs, then we'll begin the next “admissions transformation.”
JR: You talked this morning about the culture of volunteerism in the CAS. From your perspective, what's been the most impactful volunteer experience that you've had with the CAS?
FC: Well, Jack, you're a volunteer yourself! I would start by mentioning that meeting CAS Student Central event attendees and engaging with students at universities to understand their experiences and journeys to becoming an actuary has been a meaningful part of the volunteer journey.
As part of my volunteering journey, I've been able to develop relationships with great mentors — like meeting experienced CAS actuaries such as Roger Hayne, one of the first 1,000 CAS members, as well as senior actuaries like Steve Armstrong. I’ve been able to develop relationships through various volunteering engagements on the examination, research, investment and finance arms of the CAS.
JR: From your perspective, are there other items you’d like to highlight that we haven’t covered yet as it relates to the CAS candidate community?
FC: Feedback is important. A lot of candidates might approach it as “I have to take these set of exams, and then I get a job and continue to work.” That makes sense to think of it that way, but there’s volunteers behind every exam and initiative that we do at the CAS. It’s humans interacting with other humans — let's not view the CAS as some monolith. I would say to candidates, please give your feedback, please reach out. Try to network and meet CAS members wherever you can so you become more engaged with our profession.
