Editor's Note

Some Things Never Change

Flummoxed. That’s what I felt when I read “Latest Trends in Auto Insurance Fraud,” an article in the issue by Joe Wehrle, of the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

What was so perplexing?

Some people still leave the keys in their cars and then their cars get stolen!

It’s a very simple anti-theft measure people can perform — don’t leave keys in the car — yet this type of auto theft is on the rise. (Now I understand why keyless ignition is an important feature.) This was a problem when I first got into the industry, and it’s still not resolved.

Some things never change, but some things that never change can be good things. Take CAS elections. Now the candidates do change, but the importance of voting does not. I hope all members will read the bios of dedicated members up for election in the “Meet the Candidates” section.

Another thing that never seems to change is the creative mind of our “Humor Me” Editor Michael Ersevim. He proposes some new actuarial holidays in addition to “pi-day,” which I understand is celebrated in at least one insurance company.

Laurie McClellan also returns to the pages of AR with an “On the Shelf” column on Marc Goodman, the author of Future Crimes. If you don’t believe that cybercrime is a problem, you must read this column, which is a fitting complement to our cover story by Annmarie Geddes Baribeau.

And finally, I was struck by a point Kate Niswander made in “CAS Staff Spotlight”:

My job is to help nonactuarial audiences make the connection between our members’ skill sets and the public issues in which actuaries can contribute valuable insight…

Niswander and the CAS have quite a challenge before us. It’s one that hasn’t changed in a very long time, but we are making progress.

Postscript:

Those of you who attended the 2015 ERM Symposium might find the AR cover artwork familiar. Featured speaker Peter Singer had a slide show of similar representative visuals on cyber insecurity. Special thanks go out to GRAPHEK, the award-winning design firm that created this cover.