As I reach the end of my term as CAS president, I took some time to review the commitments I made to you, the members, and reflect on what has been accomplished during my tenure. I’m pleased to say that we have made important progress in many aspects of fulfilling the CAS Mission.
Over the past year, my messages in the Actuarial Review have shared much of this progress. In my January/February message, I described how our new strategic plan is helping CAS leadership focus on the future. We are well underway in implementing our strategic plan, and the momentum is building as we are now entering the second year of this plan.
In my March/April message, I shared the remarkable growth we are seeing in areas outside our traditional strongholds in North America. Over the past year, I have had more opportunities to see how CAS’s international engagement is elevating actuaries who practice in property-casualty/general insurance. This is essential for the growth of economies around the world and brings opportunity and learnings back to our core membership. We are serving members in Canada with greater focus, including with our first-ever Canada Connection professional education event in Toronto this December.
In my May/June message, I focused on our opportunity to strengthen the foundation of the CAS with clarity, transparency, and resiliency. I made the case for us to simplify and streamline the CAS governing documents into a new set of bylaws. I’m very pleased that our new bylaws are now in effect, thanks to the strong support from the membership — with nearly 80% of voters voting in favor of these important changes.
In my July/August message, I outlined the shared ways that I see us strengthening in each of the key attributes that make us a profession: our unique body of knowledge, our high standards of entry, our code of ethics/professionalism, our service orientation, and our credentialing organization — the CAS itself. If there is one lasting impact that I want to leave on the CAS from my tenure, it is an increased recognition and appreciation for each of these attributes. By understanding and strengthening these things, we strengthen our profession — which makes us unique among the wide variety of analytical careers.
In my September/October message, I talked about how important our sense of community is to us as professionals. This sense of community has continued to be important, even as the CAS grows in the aftermath of the pandemic. By building relationships with each other, working together to strengthen our profession, and learning together to advance our practice, we build stronger bonds of community that benefit us all.
There is one important area of focus that I have not described in previous messages — the way the CAS engages some of our most important stakeholders — our employers, universities, and Regional Affiliates. I’m pleased to say that we have renewed and enhanced our engagement in important ways during my tenure.
Employers
As I assumed the president’s role, I committed to restarting our CAS leaders’ engagement with employers. In many ways, our employers are our most important stakeholders — supporting our credentialing process, our continuing education, and our career paths. However, in the post-COVID transition, we had gotten out of the routine of engaging in-person with employers. I personally visited four companies this year — including some of our largest employers of CAS actuaries — on-site in their offices. I met with leaders and all of their CAS members and candidates. I fielded questions across a host of issues of interest to them. I also introduced them to CAS staff members who participated with me. In many cases, I met with senior leaders outside the actuarial departments to communicate the importance of CAS members for their businesses, and I expressed appreciation for the time their employees spend in support of CAS and other industry initiatives.
Since my initial visits this year, other CAS leaders have visited several other large employers. We now have a plan to visit every major employer of CAS actuaries at least once every three years. We have also renewed our Employer Advisory Council (EAC) — a group of senior actuaries representing approximately 10 employers, who give us input on CAS initiatives.
To help facilitate ongoing communication with employers beyond the EAC, we started a new program called our CAS Employer Network. We invited employers to identify a contact person to be a conduit of information to and from the CAS. And we have given a CAS staff member the responsibility to continue to develop this network and maintain ongoing communication.
Through these initiatives, we are ensuring the CAS continues to bring value to our members and their employers, and we are maintaining lines of communication that will help our members be at their best as our industry and workplaces continue to evolve.
Universities
In many ways, universities provide a pipeline of actuarial talent that will create the future of our profession. They do much more than educate future actuaries. Professors who teach actuarial science courses see firsthand the competitive environment for the analytically talented undergraduate — including competition within the actuarial profession and with data science careers. They are a vital source of information about how relevant the CAS is to students, and I’ve learned a lot from talking with them during my tenure.
The CAS has made university engagement a key focus area for more than a decade now, and we’ve done remarkable work with professors and students. I’ve been excited to see that work advance this year through several initiatives. In June, we held our first ever CAS Academic Summit. We had representation from more than 30 universities, showcasing broad diversity in school size and actuarial programs. What they all had in common was an interest in improving how they include P&C content in their curriculum and prepare their students for success in P&C actuarial careers. Over this two-day event, they shared their own best practices and experiences in attracting students to the entry points of our profession. They shared the challenges they face and gave us feedback about how we can maintain and improve the CAS’s position with students. And our excellent CAS staff leaders offered tools and resources to help them motivate students toward careers as P&C actuaries. It was great to meet these dedicated professors at this first-of-its-kind event. I’m excited for how we will build on this success in the years to come.
Regional Affiliates
Soon after I was elected, I determined that I wanted to spend time during my president-elect year engaging with members — not only in large CAS events, but also in smaller forums like our Regional Affiliate meetings. Our Regional Affiliates do a remarkable job of extending the reach of the CAS and fostering more localized communities. They provide continuing education opportunities to members who may not be able to attend our larger events due to location, timing, or expense. They facilitate relationship building and networking among actuaries in different parts of the U.S. and around the globe.
I have had the privilege of meeting our members at several of these meetings over the past two years. I shared updates from the CAS and opened myself to questions. I learned a lot from these engagements and heard what was important to our members and candidates. I also met the volunteers who lead these affiliates and put so much time and energy into building their regional communities. These are remarkable and dedicated people who do great work.
As I wrap up my turn to serve the profession as the CAS president, it is the memories of these engagements that burn the brightest. It has been a privilege to meet so many people who are so passionate about our profession, our role in the industry, and the people who will become the actuaries of the future. In so many ways, this is the essence of what it means to be a profession — we are people who make each other better through our shared commitment to our identity as actuarial professionals. I am so grateful that I found my way into this profession when I sat for my first actuarial exam nearly 30 years ago. And I am so grateful for your trust in me to serve as president this year. I’m glad I could do my part to make our profession stronger for years to come.
