Ask an Actuary

"I found that the actuarial profession... is a very portable profession. I was able to work in the international arena without undue additional training."

Every other month a different casualty actuary will be asked to describe the path that led him/her to an actuarial career. This month's actuary is Pierre Laurin, Senior VP & Director of Reinsurance at Zurich-American Insurance Group.

Q: When did you first decide to become an actuary?

A: I decided to become an actuary when I was relatively young. I first became interested when I was 16. It is interesting to note that I did not know exactly at the time what I was getting into, but it sounded fun.

Q: Who or what influenced your decision?

A: I was always interested in math and actuarial science appeared to be a good compromise to do math at work while getting well paid for it. As a matter of coincidence, the night I approached my father to discuss the possibility of becoming an actuary, was the same night he had selected to have a father-son discussion about his suggestions concerning my future. He wanted me to see if I would be interested in becoming an actuary. I guess it was a easy discussion. It was that night also that I decided to become an FCAS as opposed to an FSA. Things looked less developed and less rigid in the casualty field as compared to the life field.

Q: What is your educational background? Where did you attend college and what was your major?

A: I hold a BSc in Actuarial Science from University Laval in Quebec City. In addition, I hold a MSc in Computer Science from the University of Western Ontario.

Q: What classes did you take in college that helped prepare you for the career? What class was most helpful? What classes outside of math and statistics (such as communications) were helpful?

A: I have to admit the course curriculum at Laval is very broad and touches on many subjects, namely (in addition to pure math and actuarial math) law, economics, computer science, marketing, financial analysis. I found the broad approach appropriate for me as one does not always know in advance what will be useful in the future. I would certainly recommend to take an open mind to the diversity of courses. Certainly in my hiring practice, I look for diversity in background and knowledge.

Q: What was your first job in the profession? How did you get the job? Did you start as an intern or in an actuarial training program? What type of work did you perform in you first actuarial job?

A: I started as a student actuary doing rating for personal lines in a P&C company. It was both my luck and my bane to be the first and only actuary in the company. It was my luck because I got involved in the management decision making process early in my career. I was also exposed to situations not normally associated with starting actuaries. It was also my bane as I had two trainings to do, namely the company's and my own. It was a little like the blind leading the blind. It worked out pretty well in the end.

Q: When did you take your first exam? How long did it take for you to get through the exam process?

A: I like to say that I took the slow boat to China and that I had a broad range of interests. I first started doing exams, then did my Master's, then, like any starting actuary, worked hard with long hours. As my batting average was average, it took me 10 years to write all the exams counting from the success of the first exam. But I was persistent and I strongly believed (and still do) that if I wanted to work as an actuary, the full qualifications were required. In addition, younger students were coming into the field and if I wanted to stay competitive in the market place, as a minimum, the full FCAS was needed to stay ahead of the pack.

Q: What was your career path from your first job to your current position?

A: My career is somewhat convoluted. After working as a pricing actuary, I was responsible for the actuarial department (pricing and reserving) of a managing company who underwrote personal and commercial portfolios for other insurance companies. Following this experience, I worked as a consulting actuary in Montreal, then transferred to our London UK office, to start up the P&C practice. After 5 years on the London market, I became the Group Chief Actuary of the Zurich Group, located in Zurich, CH. After 4 years in position, I wanted to see in more depth how the other side of the balance sheet operated. So I became a large account casualty field underwriter for 18 months. Now, I am head of the Ceded Reinsurance for Zurich - US.

Q: What type of work do you do on a day-to-day basis in your current position?

A: My responsibilities are to support and protect the company though reinsurance. In conjunction with the respective business units, we set up different reinsurance programs through quota shares, excess of loss and many other variations on the theme. Support in the sense that we help obtain capacity and support growth. Protect in the sense of absorbing large fluctuations in the claims experience. My team then places the different programs through intermediaries or on the direct market.

Q: How long have you been in the profession?

A: I have worked as an actuary for the past 19 years. It has been and still is fun. Moreover, I find that the actuarial profession (and I venture to say, more specifically the P&C side) is a very portable profession. I was able to work on the international arena without undue additional training. Of course, one needs to learn local issues and regulations but, by and large, the adaptation was minimal and certainly below what I had originally expected.

Q: What advice would you give to someone first starting out?

A: Not to give up. It is a somewhat arduous road to become a Fellow. I expect that most students have the intellect and drive to become an actuary. However, it is easy to be discouraged and daunted by the process of passing ten exams (not counting the sub-parts). But I found that, once all the exams are passed, they seem to disappear like a dream retaining only the knowledge gained and the prospect of a good career in front of you.

Q: What do you think is the best major for an aspiring actuary? (At a school where actuarial science is not offered) How much math does one need to be functional as an actuary?

A: The traditional answer would be math. The actuarial profession is math based and depends on a strong understanding of applied mathematics. Further, casualty actuarial science has moved significantly towards dynamic financial analysis which requires a good understanding of modeling and simulation techniques. Having said that, it is also important, in my mind, to have a balance view of the world. If you do only math, it will be harder to make actuarial recommendations to your future employer that are well founded in your business environment. To make a long story short, a math major but well supported with classes in business administration, law, economics, and anything else that broadens the mind.

Q: Mr. Laurin, my name is Carlos Tello. I graduated from college about a year and a half ago. I have 2 separate bachelors of science degrees in economics and in physics. I recently decided to become an actuary. I think it's an excellent match to my skills and aspirations. However I haven't taken any of the actuary examinations. What's the best path for me to take? I don't want to wait too long to take the exams, or to start down a path to an actuarial career. Is there a way for a qualified person to take maybe 2 or 3 exams in a year? Mr. Laurin I greatly appreciate any advice you may give. Sincerely, Carlos Tello

A:Dear Carlos, There is nothing stopping someone taking 2, 3 or more exams per year, except time and commitment. Having tried multiple exams myself with mixed results, I would suggest that, unless you feel 100% confident in passing all of them, a slower pace with 100% passing rate is faster than faster pace with a lower passing rate. On the earlier exams, with your background, you should be able to take a number of them per year. It might be harder on the more advanced exams. Also, as one can take exams in any order, I would concentrate earlier on your strong suit, i.e. math and economics, to get a broad base of exams behind you. As you gain experience on the market as an actuary, it will be easier to relate the advanced exams with your day-to-day work.

Good luck.

Q: Currently I am a CPA and am interested in changing career paths to the actuarial sciences? Would my background be a good frame for this field or would I pretty much have to start from scratch if I go back to school?

A: It is clear that your background is closer to actuarial science than other fields. Accounting, economics, math are all part of the syllabus. These subjects should already be familiar to you owing to your CPA training. There will be new subjects to be learned but this is the fun of changing course. So the answer is yes, CPA is a good basis to move into actuarial science.

Q: I want to ask you how you are utilizing your degree of Computer Science in actuarial profession? Is there any professional benefit of holding this degree. Thanks for your time. -Muhammad Ali Fahad

A: Actuaries use computers all the time, sometime as programmers sometime as users of package programs. My degree in computer science gave some insight in the different programming languages and I was very proficient in using computers when I started to work. This gave me some independence vis-a-vis the IT people which at the time did not really know the needs of an actuary. Further, throughout my career, I was able to bridge the communication gap between IT and users as I knew how to "speak" both languages. And on a more philosophical aspect, in order for a computer to work and get the best out of it, you must be able to communicate on the language it understands. The same is true with people. So definitively, this degree has been very useful for me.

Q: I am currently attending Temple University studying in actuarial science and finance. I would like to know are there any combination between the two fields? What types of job positions could I look for?

A: The first one that springs to mind would be a DFA (dynamic financial analysis) type position. Another would be financial planning. A totally different approach would be in financial management information system which requires both financial and actuarial knowledge. At the end of the day, however, I beleive that you will need to select one major direction, i.e. finance or actuarial science. This does not mean that you are loosing your time by having the double knowledge. Both trainings will be very useful and complementary in either direction. It is just that jobs tend to be associated with one department with a sub-specialty.