This new benefit is just one more way your membership in the SOA Health Section pays off. We’re doing this with no increase to your dues—just another great benefit for our Health Section members.  Instructions for access click here.

Not a Health Section member? Join today to receive this and other benefits: Access to our LinkedIn group, our newsletter and e-newsletter, discounts on section-sponsored events and more!

Today, more than ever before, talented students and early professionals are being introduced to math-related careers, like engineering, at a younger age.  Members of the actuarial profession also must do our part to inform these young minds how actuaries use math to help businesses, organizations, individuals—and even society—solve complex problems. As an SOA member, if you agree with me, I invite you to consider three different ways to share your enthusiasm and passion.

• First, read everything you can on the acronym, STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education. As an actuary, you have firsthand knowledge of how a strong educational curriculum is needed to maintain the growth and pace of discovery and advancement in the mathematics and science industry, now and into the future. A supplement to the May 8 issue of The Washington Post on STEM Education highlights STEM careers and includes an article titled “Actuaries in Action: Why it’s rated the number one profession”.
• Second, consider becoming a mentor to a young person.  Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to have great mentors whose advice and guidance I appreciate to this day. The Actuarial Foundation (U.S.) has an active mentoring program that is always in need of volunteers and welcomes actuaries to participate in classroom activities in your local areas. Similarly, The Actuarial Foundation of Canada is working to inspire the next generation by delivering educational resources and activities tailored to students and educators.
• I would be remiss not to mention that I’m particularly proud of the volunteer and staff efforts to refresh the Be An Actuary website which has been recently redesigned to appeal to a wide audience seeking information on “being an actuary.” The website also features a speakers’ presentation toolkit developed specifically to share with high school students. That Washington Post supplement also prominently features an ad for the Be An Actuary website.

As actuaries, we see opportunities, we communicate and we develop and implement strategies.  I hope you will join me in working to inspire and encourage the next generation of bright young minds to pursue a career in the actuarial profession.

The objective of the SOA Annual Symposium is to provide practitioners throughout the Asia-Pacific region with an overview of the latest initiatives, policy developments and best practice in the actuarial profession. The Symposium covers a wide range of topics including asset liability management and risk management to non-life insurance developments. Speakers, including SOA President Tonya B. Manning, FSA, MAAA, EA, FCA, will present the latest issues in the finance, insurance and actuarial fields, which have practical applications. Other speakers include:

• Philip Bundy, FIA, Director, Regional Product Actuary, Life & Health Products, SwissRe
• Kin Chung Chan, FSA, FCIA, Chief Officer for Sun Life Hong Kong (SLHK)
• Steven Chen, FSA, MAAA, Principal, Oliver Wyman Actuarial Consulting, Toronto
• Quinnie Chung, FSA, Associate Director – Retirement, Risk and Finance, Mercer
• Antony Davies, Regional Director – Greater China & Korea, Global Life, SCOR Reinsurance Co. (Asia) Ltd.
• Peter Duran, FSA, CERA, MAAA, Group Corporate Actuary – Group Financial Actuarial, AIA Group
• Alex Korogodsky, Executive Director, Insurance and Actuarial Advisory Services, Ernst & Young
• Jiang Bin Lai, FIA, Senior Manager, Actuarial Services, PwC
• Christian Liechti, Senior Client Manager, Swiss Re
• Pritesh Modi, FSA, Senior Consultant, Asia Pacific, Towers Watson
• Dokkie Nei, Senior Manager, Actuarial and Insurance Management Services, PwC
• Martin Noble, Msci, FIA, Senior Manager, KPMG LLP
• Hengchang Pan, Director, Regional Product Actuary, Life & Health Products, SwissRe
• Genghui Wu, FSA, CFA, FRM, MAAA
• Jacklyn Zhang, FSA, FRM, Senior Consultant, Mercer HK

The Symposium will deliver comprehensive professional development education during a period of 1.5 days.  Attendees can expect to earn a substantial number of CPD credits, while networking with colleagues from around the world.

This event is geared toward actuaries and other professionals with an interest in risk management and insurance practicing in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Sign up today!

Leslie Fausher, SOA e-Learning Manager, explains that if you are studying for courses in SOA’s e-Learning system you don’t have to go it alone anymore.

SOA’s new online Social Learning Network helps you connect with virtual classmates and veteran actuaries. It’s free to candidates and members registered for any e-Learning course and is easy to use. Once you log into the e-Learning system and click on the “Network” tab, a map will display locations of nearby candidates enrolled  in the same e-Learning courses as you. You will also see pins identifying nearby actuaries who may be contacted for the questions that are keeping you up at night.  Click on the pins to start connecting.

Candidates asked, SOA delivered

Why create an online networking system for candidates and actuaries? SOA candidates asked for it. The most common challenge candidates have raised in focus groups is a feeling of isolation while taking SOA online courses toward associateship and fellowship. They want to connect with other candidates and members to share ideas and ask questions. The SOA’s Social Learning Network facilitates both.

What’s in it for you? If you’re studying for an e-Learning course:

• You will be able to quickly and easily find potential study partners in your area.
• With ready and willing study partners, you will be able to organize regular study sessions that motivate you and help you learn from others; or maybe you prefer to arrange a one-time, pre-assessmentmeetup with your virtual classmates or a knowledgeable actuary to ensure you are on the right track. Set either — or both — up with ease.
• Prefer studying alone? Gain peace of mind knowing if you hit a snag, help in understanding a tough concept is just a phone call or email with an experienced actuary away.
• You will expand your professional network. Studying with other candidates and actuaries in your area doubles as networking which can open the door to job opportunities.

Members: What’s in it for you?

The SOA’s Social Learning Network isn’t just for candidates. If you’re a member, here’s how you benefit:

• You will give back to and strengthen your profession by sharing your expertise with — and shaping the views of — its future leaders.
•  You will enhance your visibility and reputation as a skilled and committed professional.
• You will build a better team with smarter hires based on more in-depth knowledge of potential employees’ skill sets and grasp of actuarial concepts — because you’ve helped teach them.

If you’re a candidate:

Opt into the Social Learning Network by clicking on “Network” in the SOA’s e-Learning system. Then adjust your preferences under “My Settings.”

If you’re a member: You’re already signed up if you haven’t opted out of sharing your contact information in the SOA directory.

Members can opt out by logging in to SOA.org, clicking on “My Account” and then “My Profile.” Select “My Opt In/Opt Out.” Retrace your steps to opt back in.

 For more information, contact Leslie Fausher at lfausher@soa.org.

Members will get digital access to current and past full-text articles from the Financial Analysts Journal, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis and Journal of Risk and Insurance. And—they’ll receive digital access to full-text archives of several other must-read investment/business research journals, including the Journal of Alternative Investing, Journal of Derivatives, Journal of Finance, Journal of Fixed Income, Journal of Investing, Journal of Portfolio Management and Journal of Wealth Management. Plus, section members get digital access to current and past full-text articles of thousands of other periodicals, including non-peer reviewed.

This new benefit includes a landing page EBSCO designed just for the SOA Investment Section with several topical shortcuts. These shortcuts allow members to browse by topic (e.g., derivatives, quantitative methods, risk management), instead of searching. With member use and feedback, we can update this taxonomy to be even more relevant to member research preferences.

In addition to serving as a clear benefit to section member investment-related lifetime learning needs, using EBSCO BSC+ will help the Section Council better serve members. Analytics on the topics and articles our members consume will clarify which topics are most relevant to them. We anticipate this enhanced clarity will assist us in planning articles, conference sessions and webcasts that are more relevant to Investment Section member needs

As members peruse BSC+ and discover new articles, authors and topics, they’ll run across some real gems. We look forward to members sharing the names of articles and publications they find most helpful.

By providing this benefit, we hope to not only share valuable investment knowledge with members, but glean information that will help shape the agenda for our upcoming meetings, webcasts and research.

If you are already an Investment Section member, use these step-by-step instructions to access EBSCO.

As part of our digital publishing strategy, this year’s report is available in PDF and digital formats. This has enabled us to enhance the value of the report by including numerous links to items of interest, such as research reports, annual meeting videos, and education initiatives, as well as enhancing viewing on mobile devices.

Many thanks to all of the SOA volunteers for helping make this past year such a success. Your dedicated work on committees, task forces, special projects, and within the sections is truly the life blood of the organization.

We hope you enjoy reading the 2012 Year in Review and that you find both the formats and the information interesting and useful. Let us know what you think.

• Does this publication help you learn more about the activities of the SOA?
• What other topics or content would you like to see covered in this report?

If you’ve checked out the elections page on the SOA website, read SOA News Today or have seen the Open Call for Nominations ad on the SOA home page, you know that we’re seeking nominations for President-Elect, Vice President and Elected Board Members.

You may also be aware that in addition to the preferred, traditional path as a Nominating Committee endorsed candidate, nominees can be placed on the SOA Board of Directors election ballot through a newly developed petitions process.

It’s important to note that all nominees, whether interested in being endorsed by the Nominating Committee or by petition, must complete a Board Election Expression of Interest Form to be considered a candidate for a position on the Board.

If you’re interested in impacting the future or our profession, I hope you’ll seriously consider running for a Board of Directors’ position. We need people who have strong leadership skills, enjoy volunteering their time and service to the profession, and have a strong business reputation.

We want to hear from you, so share your comments. Express opinions and ask questions. And most importantly, check the SOA website, the SOA blog, SOA News Today and other society communications vehicles for the latest nominations and elections news. Send your correspondence to elections@soa.org.

Impact our profession—be an SOA leader!

In case you missed the 2012 presidential election in the United States, one election guru, Nate Silver, batted nearly 1.000 in predicting the state-by-state presidential results and just missed predicting the winners in all of the 33 Senate races. Silver’s FiveThirtyEight blog is now the standard by which all other election predictions are measured.

But Silver did not just become a rock star level statistician as a result of his 2012 election predictions—he did two other things. First, Silver’s work has changed the election landscape. For the foreseeable future, election predictions will be made using modeling tools and data such as used by Silver. And, second, he has established in the minds of the public the credibility of statistical models as a tool for predicting political events. This latter accomplishment is not only significant in and of itself, but also because it offers a golden opportunity for other statistical based professions, such as actuaries, to capitalize on this realization to improve how they interact with their various constituencies.

In the February/March issue of the SOA’s the Actuary magazine, I wrote a “point of view” posing my thoughts on why the actuarial profession needs its own Nate Silver. There are at least two good reasons it would be helpful to have one or more actuaries with Silver’s public presence and communication skills/savvy.  You can read about my reasons in the magazine however, here’s a hint — think raising visibility.

So, here, in the real-time cyber world, I’m encouraging a discussion.   What do you think?  How can we, as a profession, help develop or identify this person?  Is there a role for the SOA to play in the development of our Nate Silver?  What concrete, compelling examples can we offer that best highlight our expertise? Or, even better – do you know an actuary who is already our very own Nate Silver?

Given the immediate implications of this activity, the SOA Health Section Council and the Society of Actuaries have put together a new program—the Provider Payment Reform Seminar, covering these topics:

• Overview of core elements of provider payment reform;
• Outlines of the strongest existing practices across the county;
• Technical training and case studies;
• Outside provider speakers who have hands-on experience with reform;
• Small group discussions of the organizational implications within carriers and working relationships with providers.

This seminar will be helpful for those who will be engaged in these initiatives this year, actuaries working for the provider community, and executives who need to understand the program implications. Register today!