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May 23, 2006
NEW FutureRisk.org Web Site Live
Register now at SOA’s innovative research Web site to be eligible to take part in surveys on issues and trends. Association DataZone and the Society of Actuaries (SOA) invite you to become part of the FutureRisk.org community. Here, you will be able to share your thoughts as part of a community of actuaries and others interested in the modeling and management of financial risk and contingent events and will provide the Society of Actuaries with valuable insight and direction.
Through your participation, you will help identify and develop new products and services, provide insight into significant industry and societal trends and issues; and help shape SOA policies and decisions. Your input makes a difference—and it's free!
Who Qualifies to Participate in FutureRisk.org?
A broad cross-section of individuals interested in financial risk and contingent events, such as actuaries, other risk management professionals, employers, human resource professionals, academics, government regulators and others are welcome to join.
How FutureRisk.org Works
We simply ask that you complete a brief profile about yourself. Then from time to time, the Society of Actuaries will invite your participation in research studies that will allow you to express your opinions and share your experiences. Your responses will be pooled with the responses of other FutureRisk.org members and become part of a knowledge base that informs and guides the activities of the SOA and its members. Your privacy and confidentiality are guaranteed and responses are only reported in the aggregate. Your individual identity or individual responses are not available to the SOA.
What are the Benefits of Participating?
As a participant of FutureRisk.org, you will receive abstracts of results from research in which you participate. Additionally, you'll help track the professions' influence, compensation levels, overall market strength and other employment issues over time, allowing you to obtain professional benchmarks. And you'll be one of the first to learn about new products and services and to share opinions on emerging ideas and trends.
Bottom line: It's your opportunity to let us hear from you on a wide range of issues impacting the profession. And if you choose to receive information about and participate in surveys from selected companies that serve the actuarial profession, you can also earn honorariums.
What About Privacy?
Your privacy and the security of the information you provide through Association DataZone is extremely important to us. Please read our privacy policy.
Posted by Tom Troceen at 02:16 PM
Submit Your Exam P Application Now!
Register for Summer Exam P session. Deadline is June 15th. Click here for the list of computer-based testing centers. If there is a CBT center in your area, you are expected to take your exams there. For the Summer (August) 2006 administration, CBT sites are available in Canada, the United States, and internationally.
Click here for your application for Exam P/1 at a CBT center.
All applications must arrive at Preliminary Actuarial Exams/SOA Office by June 15, 2006. No late applications will be accepted. Candidates will be registered on a first come first serve basis; candidates will be notified by mail if their applications are not accepted or were received late.
All candidates are required to bring a government-issued photo ID to the CBT center (Driver's License, Passport, etc.). It is critical that the name you enter on your application form should match the same form of your name as it appears on your government issued photo ID. Do not change the spelling and do not change the order of your name. If you use an initial or middle name on your government-issued photo ID, be sure to include that as well. Discrepancies in names may prevent the candidates from testing.
For more information, click here.
Posted by Tom Troceen at 02:10 PM
Continued Development of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Calls for Board Member Involvement
CHICAGO, Ill., May 11, 2006 - Driven by the continuing evolution of enterprise risk management (ERM) into a more complex and higher profile practice reliant on actuarial sciences, corporate board member involvement has been identified as a crucial element to next generation Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) effectiveness within organizations. Leading risk management experts and active board members shared their perspectives during the "View from the Top: The Role of the Board in ERM" session at April's ERM Symposium, at which they provided advice and strategic counsel based on experiences in their own organizations.
"Risk management used to mean buying insurance. That role is now changing, and it's the role of the board to develop a complete view of the types of risks that companies are exposed to and the real challenge is to try to think of the unthinkable," said Dennis Chookaszian, retired chairman and CEO of CNA, alluding to Hurricane Katrina and the World Trade Center catastrophes.
Reuben Hedlund, partner, Hedlund & Hanley, agreed: "If risk management is in its infancy, then directors are still very much in the gestation period, and perhaps only recently have been conceived." He further noted that one important role of the board in risk management is to make sure that the audit, compensation, governance and other committees are working properly. "If these committees are doing their job, then board meetings can focus on the capital resources and the availability of borrowings to meet the demands that are known, as well as those that are unknowable," Hedlund said.
A highlight of the panel discussion was a spirited debate on whether the board should establish a risk committee. One viewpoint was that a risk management committee of the board can devote more time and attention on a highly complex issue. The counter viewpoint was that ERM is such an important issue that the entire board should be involved.
The panelists agreed on other key aspects of the role of the board in ERM, including having well educated board members who can ask the right questions, consider low-frequency but high-severity events, and ensure that the company is taking the appropriate risks. "We have to maximize the use of capital in support of a mandate to enhance shareholder value. This is one of the key elements of enterprise risk management as much as it is to protect against loss," said Rowland Fleming, vice chairman of Export Development Canada (EDC).
Panelists agreed that one of the biggest challenges facing board members is how to balance the company's risk tolerance while also generating shareholder value. Actuaries can help by interpreting the company's appetite and tolerance for risk, without exposing its capital to total loss and at the same time without becoming too risk averse.
Finally, when it comes to approaching the board, panelists emphasized the need to be respectful of a board's requirements and time constraints. They explained that with such great attention being paid in recent years to corporate governance, ERM may have been inadvertently left behind in prioritization. They urged risk managers to encourage its return to the corporate radar.
To that end, James Lam, president of James Lam & Associates, offered words of advice. He urged risk managers to consider the key questions that must be addressed by the board and to provide concise and useful reporting to board members. Lam said a key challenge for risk professionals is how to deliver against the expectations and needs of board members, and how to leverage the board in making risk management more effective. "How do we help them in terms of serving their needs and how can they help us, in terms of our needs?" he asked.
The ERM Symposium is sponsored by the Casualty Actuarial Society, the Professional Risk Managers' International Association, and the Society of Actuaries. This year's event was attended by more than 600 risk management professionals including chief risk officers, chief financial officers, chief actuaries, risk managers, investment professionals, asset/liability management practitioners, representing financial services, corporate and energy enterprises.
The Casualty Actuarial Society is an organization dedicated to the advancement of the body of knowledge of actuarial science applied to property, casualty and similar risk exposures. The primary goal of the Casualty Actuarial Society is to provide education and research to help its over 4,000 members be the leading experts in the evaluation of hazard risk and the integration of hazard risk with strategic, financial and operational risk.
The Society of Actuaries is an educational, research and professional organization dedicated to serving the public and Society members. The Society's vision is for actuaries to be recognized as the leading professionals in the modeling and management of financial risk and contingent events.
Posted by Tom Troceen at 02:09 PM
Expert Panel Advocates Full Integration of Enterprise Risk Management and Daily Management
CHICAGO, Ill., May 11, 2006 - To deliver the greatest value to an organization, Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) must be fully integrated with a company's daily management activities, a group of actuarial science experts advocated during a panel session at the ERM Symposium held in late April. The "Integrating ERM into Corporate Decision Making" panel was moderated by Mary Ellen Luning, a senior consulting actuary with Ernst & Young, and included Chris Karow, partner with Ernst & Young, and Elizabeth Wilson, Washington Mutual Capital.
Many companies are working to incorporate ERM into their daily decision processes. One example from the insurance industry is the introduction of guarantees in the variable annuity market. When variable annuities and guaranteed benefits products were introduced in the 1990s, concentration risks surfaced. These problems demonstrated, in some cases, the inability of companies to manage those risks, but they also pointed out the ultimate reliance by companies on the integrity and availability of data to better understand the full picture. In recent years, these problems of the past have somewhat been resolved with many new risk management processes, "stress testing" and "what-if scenarios," but panelists agreed that Corporate America still has a gap in maximizing ERM's value in an organization --- an effort which should culminate in ERM's integration throughout an organization.
Ernst & Young's Karow advised the audience that the starting point for building out risk management in corporate decision making should be where it adds most value for a company. "Oftentimes we start where we are most mature in terms of our risk management activities, but that isn't always where the greatest value is created or diminished," he said. Karow explained strategic decision- making and new products or new systems can instead be better areas for risk managers to demonstrate value to an organization. "The inflection points --- where we change or do something new or different --- are where organizations fail and lose substantial amounts of money, or where organizations actually re-value in terms of entering new markets or launching new products with great success. These points, which create or diminish value, require greater ERM focus. The chance for success increases when we start to talk about risk and return."
Karow further urged establishing an organization's tolerance and appetite for both financial and non-financial risk and ensuring that it is integrated and consistent with its strategic planning and business strategies. "The bottom line is that chief risk officers need to understand the risk across all the various business areas, and they need to be at the table," said Washington Mutual's Wilson. She noted that risk managers in the banking industry need to be involved alongside other senior executives when it comes to discussing the appropriate risk management policies for their companies.
Adopting a complete risk management approach that takes into account the core risks of business risk, credit risk, operational risk, and market risk is essential for financial institutions operating today.
"There are some times when as a risk professional you look at the risk and you decide to transfer the risk to another area, such as, operational risk versus credit risk. There are other times when you accept the risk," Wilson said. "In this case it is critical that we make sure our senior managers know and understand the nature of the risk we are going to take."
Failure to adequately manage any of these core risks could result in a significant potential adverse impact, Wilson noted. "Any one of the core risks that are not addressed in a meaningful fashion could potentially have a reputational risk to the firm."
The ERM Symposium is sponsored by the Casualty Actuarial Society, the Professional Risk Managers' International Association, and the Society of Actuaries. This year's event was attended by about 550 risk management professionals including chief risk officers, chief financial officers, chief actuaries, risk managers, investment professionals, asset/liability management practitioners, and actuaries interested in risk management roles.
The Casualty Actuarial Society is an organization dedicated to the advancement of the body of knowledge of actuarial science applied to property, casualty and similar risk exposures. The primary goal of the Casualty Actuarial Society is to provide education and research to help its over 4,000 members be the leading experts in the evaluation of hazard risk and the integration of hazard risk with strategic, financial and operational risk.
The Society of Actuaries is an educational, research and professional organization dedicated to serving the public and Society members. The Society's vision is for actuaries to be recognized as the leading professionals in the modeling and management of financial risk and contingent events.
Posted by Tom Troceen at 02:07 PM
ERM, Natural Catastrophes Among Topics to be Discussed at CAS Spring Meeting, May 7-10 in Puerto Rico
ARLINGTON, VA - Enterprise Risk Management, natural catastrophes, and predictive modeling will be featured topics during the Spring Meeting of the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS), May 7-10, 2006 at the El Conquistador Resort in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.
The meeting provides a forum for actuaries and other professionals to stay abreast of current issues affecting the insurance industry and the actuarial profession, as well as opportunities to interact with other actuaries from around the globe.
Four general sessions are planned:
* Enterprise Risk Management Roundtable will feature a panel of ERM experts who will share their experiences, explain how their responsibilities have changed over time, and describe how they see ERM evolving. They will also discuss some of the challenges they have faced implementing ERM and their "secrets of success," as well as give their views on possible areas for additional research.
* Natural Catastrophes - Have the Rules Changed? will explore marketplace reactions to catastrophe risk, insurer attitudes about how to "subsidize" it, progress of current coping mechanisms, and their impact on insurer and reinsurer capacity.
* Predictive Modeling - Panacea or Placebo? will focus not on the fundamental and theoretical concepts of predictive modeling, but on the practical considerations around implementation, maintenance, and monitoring of the indicated results.
* International Reserving Practices will discuss reserving practices and regulatory requirements in various countries, the role of the actuary in the reserving process, as well as the accuracy of reserves in various countries.
The meeting will feature two special tracks of concurrent sessions on the topics of Enterprise Risk Management and Stochastic Reserving. Other topics to be covered include: actuarial ideas on risk transfer, actuarial malpractice, data issues, current insurance issues in Puerto Rico, D&O liability, medical malpractice, pharmaceutical products liability, precision rating, reinsurance, and workers compensation.
The featured speaker is Michael Broome, who will address attendees on "Killing Stress Before It Kills You: Everything's Coming Up Neurosis."
Members of the press are welcome to attend the meeting and are asked to register with Mike Boa, CAS director of communications and research, at 703-276-3100 in advance of the meeting.
The Casualty Actuarial Society is an organization dedicated to the advancement of the body of knowledge of actuarial science applied to property, casualty and similar risk exposures. The primary goal of the Casualty Actuarial Society is to provide education and research to help its over 4,000 members be the leading experts in the evaluation of hazard risk and the integration of hazard risk with strategic, financial and operational risk.
Posted by Tom Troceen at 02:06 PM
Presentation of Analysis-Based Strategic Financial Information-Registration
Registration Fee
Fee includes reading materials, continental breakfast, luncheon, refreshment breaks and reception. Register by May 19 - $975 (Member of an Actuarial Organization) $1025 (other) Register after May 19 - $1075 (Member of an Actuarial Organization) $1075 (other).
Registration Procedures
You may register using two methods. Full payment is required at the time of registration.
Online (credit card required).
To register online, click here. Online registration deadline is June 2, 2006.
Mail (check required)
Mail your registration form with check payable to:
Society of Actuaries
Presentation of Analysis-Based Strategic Financial Information
P.O. Box 71293
Chicago, IL 60694
Pre-registration deadline is June 2, 2006. Registrations received after this date will not be processed. Due to limited space availability, there will be no on-site registration.
Cancellation Policy
All cancellations and refund requests must be put in writing and received by the Society of Actuaries Continuing Education Department no later than Friday, June 2, 2006. The Society of Actuaries will refund the registration fee minus a processing fee of $100. Refunds will not be issued for requests received after Friday, June 2, 2006. You may e-mail your cancellation requests to cancel@soa.org. Refunds to credit cards will only be issued back to the original credit card charged.
Registration Confirmation
· Confirmations are e-mailed upon completion of registration.
· Please check your confirmation letter to make sure your information is correct.
· Using your confirmation code, you may make changes to your registration until June 2, 2006.
Posted by Tom Troceen at 02:01 PM