From Actuarial professional to an INSURANCE professional

An actuary who is ONLY an actuary is not an Actuary!

Came across these lines few days back. Started to think if I agree with the statement and if so, how would I rate myself against this.

Well, the “ONLY” in the above statement needs particular attention. If not only an actuary, what else I need to be to be an actuary.

To me, the following comes up in mind:

Contribute to organizational objectives and mission

o  Use technical and business skills to frame the organizations strategy

o  Contribute to overall growth and profitability of the organization

Contribute to the overall industry expansion and development

o  Customer focussed approach

o  Risk Management & Mitigation

Contribute to society

o  Solve larger problems around social security, climate change, Health & Life insurance coverage/ penetration

I spoke to a few veterans – both actuaries and non- actuaries in the Industry & my organization to come up with the above lists. Post this, I got adequate clarity and reassurance on the statement. There is a lot more to contribute.

That leaves me with answering where do I stand with respect to the statement.

The last 5 years or so have been particularly enriching for me in the sense that it allowed me to use all my functional (read Actuarial) skills and experience to contribute at an organisational level in several areas . In particular:

I worked with distribution to support business growth and increase profitability through simplified communication, driving optimal product mix and targeted R&R activities

I worked with Investments, Actuarial, Risk, Products and Finance on various Asset Liability aspects of Life Insurance business

I worked on the overall Company strategy, lead the Corporate Business Planning exercise and worked on new distribution deals

As part of FP&A – I got exposure to IT related Tech transformation project, Operations related process enhancements and customer experience business cases

I worked with the management and the shareholders of raising growth capital and optimal utilization of this scarce resource through cost management initiatives, lowering strain etc.

I worked with HR to establish productivity parameters for Head count management and support measured human resource growth

I supported the development of Board and other governance committee papers

I worked with marketing to support business campaigns, lead generation programmes and enhance customer experience.

All in all, I got several opportunities and have significantly contributed to shaping up the organization towards profitable and sustainable growth.

On contributing towards society, while some of the above points are related, there is still much more to do in months and years ahead.

Hence, it feels gratifying I have touched upon and made impact in several areas as an actuary!

Please share how as an actuary, you are contributing to larger areas and making the impact felt.

Note: Inspired by recent posts from Tan Suee Chieh, president at Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.