Opportunities for actuarial students to participate in case competitions have grown in recent years, as they are useful tools for employers and actuarial students alike. Employers are able to closely observe participants over the course of the competitions, evaluating their leadership, presentation and analytical skills, among other characteristics. Students in turn gain exposure to hiring managers and business leaders and obtain valuable experience dealing with real-world actuarial issues. This experience can be highlighted on their resumes and during job interviews.
While in recent years the CAS has participated in case competitions as a sponsor, we are now working to expand our involvement in these competitions. This winter, the CAS partnered with Farmers Insurance to write a case competition for UCLA’s Bruins Actuarial Society Case Competition. The competition was introduced to the students in December 2014 and presented in January 2015. The CAS will continue to explore opportunities to be involved in case competitions in the upcoming year, and currently there are plans to invite university students to participate in a contest developed by the CAS Committee on Theory of Risk, otherwise known as the COTOR Challenge.
Highlighted below are three exciting examples of company-led case competitions.
Gross Consulting Predictive Modeling Competition
The Gross Consulting Predictive Modeling Competition is for undergraduate university students and is hosted through Kaggle.com, a crowdsourcing website. Students are invited to compete with one another as individuals or teams to create the most predictive model. In some cases the students compete on a problem that is already on Kaggle.com. In others, Gross Consulting uses the website to host a private competition. Gross Consulting reveals the competition, and students are given three weeks to submit and refine models through the website. Participants can monitor their progress on Kaggle.com against that of other teams. The top teams or individuals are then invited to present their models to a group of practicing actuaries and potential employers. The team with the best model receives $1,000, and the finalist with the best presentation receives an award of $500.
Gross Consulting has held two competitions to date. The first competition was an analysis of census mailing return rates, and the second competition was of medical malpractice payment severity. In the most recent competition, 96 students from 11 universities participated, with a group of students from the University of Iowa winning both facets of the competition. A free license of Gross Consulting’s Cognalysis MultiRate predictive modeling software is provided to students during the competition, as well as training on its use, but competitors are free to use other approaches as well. Gross Consulting employees hold an information session to explain the problem to be analyzed and to train the students on how to use MultiRate. The employees are also available throughout the competition for questions about the software and the problem in general, but they do not give guidance beyond that, instead allowing the students to do their own research and develop their own ideas.
“We find that hosting this competition is a wonderful opportunity to give the students a real sense of accomplishment that comes with creating their own models to describe actual data,” said Chris Gross, owner of Gross Consulting. “It gives us the opportunity to get to know a number of talented students and to see how relative newcomers to the field use and understand our software. We have been pleased with the quality of models that the teams are able to develop with little to no predictive modeling experience.”
Pinnacle U
On November 21, 2013, Pinnacle Actuarial Resources, Inc. and Illinois State University (ISU) (a Center of Actuarial Excellence) partnered to create a groundbreaking event called Pinnacle U, which took place at the Katie School of Insurance and Financial Services on the ISU campus.
Pinnacle U was made up of twelve 30-minute presentations plus a networking lunch. Each presentation was researched and developed by a team of one ISU actuarial student and one or two members of Pinnacle’s actuarial staff. Each team was free to select its research topic. The result was a broad array of relevant and timely topics, including anything from medical malpractice apology laws to the actuarial basics of autonomous cars.
Pinnacle U gave each participant a tremendous opportunity for development. ISU actuarial students are typically busy studying technically advanced mathematics techniques for their university courses and actuarial exams. This event allowed them to research an actuarial topic relevant to practicing actuaries, hone their presentation skills and network with practicing actuarial professionals.
The Pinnacle actuarial staff presenting at Pinnacle U were generally more junior employees doing typically technical actuarial work. Like the student participants, these employees also had research and presentation opportunities, but they also were able to take on leadership roles within the teams.
Through Pinnacle U, Pinnacle the organization was not only able to assess full-time candidates in the ISU program for potential internships, but also to train staff members and gauge their progress. Pinnacle U also reinforced the already strong strategic partnership with the Katie School and ISU.
Pinnacle U was broadcast live online. To view the recording or discuss the execution of an event like Pinnacle U, please contact Pinnacle (http://pinnacleactuaries.com/).
Travelers Case Competition
Travelers hosted its seventh annual case competition for university students in October 2014. The Travelers Case Competition takes place in the Travelers offices in Hartford, CT and St. Paul, MN. The multiple locations allow for universities across a wider geographic area to participate, and two winning teams are selected each year from each location.
This year, the competition involved 11 university teams made up of six participants each. Five universities competed in Hartford, and six universities competed in St. Paul. The CAS joined Travelers as a sponsor, providing half the award money to the two winning teams.
Upon arrival, student teams were presented with the case study topic and then given four hours to work on their analysis and presentation. While the students were hard at work, professors accompanying their students attended a presentation by CAS Past President Pat Teufel about CAS resources for academics.
Student teams presented their case studies to a panel of judges, consisting of senior actuaries and nonactuaries at Travelers. Incorporating a new aspect into this past year’s competition, Travelers asked a team of their company actuaries to participate in the case study exercise so that the students could see how practicing actuaries handled the case study. Drake University won the competition in St. Paul, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute won in Hartford. Each winning teams were awarded $1,500.
Get Your Company Involved!
Companies interested in partnering with the CAS on an upcoming case competition or those seeking assistance promoting their competitions to students, can contact CAS University Engagement Committee Chair Melissa Tomita (tomitam1@nationwide.com) or Tamar Gertner (tgertner@casact.org).
Tamar Gertner is the university engagement manager for the CAS.
