Not too long ago, I received the news that I failed my most recent actuarial exam. Those familiar with the actuarial examination process know that this is an agonizing feeling (in fact, the Wall Street Journal published an article in December 2021 about the challenges of actuarial exams). To make matters worse, it was the fourth time I scored just under a passing score of 6 during my exam journey. 

When faced with discouragement, it’s all too easy to admit defeat. So how can we keep going when it feels like a win is out of reach?

 

This past year has marked a sea change in the traditional relationship between employer and employee. We are experiencing a paradigm shift, and the power and prominence that once rested with the boss has gravitated toward the employee.

Many people have vivid memories of where they were when COVID-19 became “real” for them. It was the moment that the pandemic evolved from an intangible topic on the news impacting people somewhere far away to something that directly affected daily life in their own communities—and for an a seemingly indefinite period of time. Much in the world has changed as a result of the pandemic, some of it perhaps permanently. In the captive insurance world, coverage for business interruption (BI) may be one of those changes. 

What makes data “bad” or difficult to work with? For actuarial consultants, data from clients is crucial to a comprehensive analysis. Although that data may arrive with any number of issues and challenges, solving those puzzles gives actuaries the opportunity to demonstrate our ability to adapt, innovate and communicate.

As far as I can remember, I have always been drawn to numbers. Throughout my early education, I gravitated to all the various “toys” designed to instill a tactile knowledge of mathematical tenets; there were number chains, peg boards, puzzles (some were even three-dimensional!), to name a few. This attraction has always been founded on one notion, or cliché: “numbers don’t lie.”