Actuarial U

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Inside

FebruAry 2 0 0 8 The NewsmoNThly of The AmericAN AcAdemy of AcTuAries

New DirectionGrimes joins staff as membership director . . .PAGe 2

Medicare AidPart D practice note exposed . . . . . . . . . . . . .PAGe 4

Worldwide WebcastGlobal ERM best practices presented . . . .PAGe 4

Behind the ScenesFRAT Force tackles PPA reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PAGe 5

Congress CallsGebhardtsbauer accepts Senate’s offer . . . . . . . . . .PAGe 5

W Ith the help of the Society of Actuar-ies (SOA), American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), and Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS), the

Academy concluded a special recruiting campaign at the end of December . As a result, the Academy welcomed 645 new members in the second half of 2007—more than twice the total added over the same period in 2006 .

Conducted from September through December 2007, the special campaign targeted SOA, ASPPA, and CAS members who didn’t belong to the Academy, including some who may have belonged in the past, and recruited 289 new members . Of that number, 129 have already renewed their memberships for 2008 . The Academy’s Membership Committee spearheaded the drive .

“We were able to get several hundred people who I suspect had probably intended to join the Academy, but never got around to picking up their pens and doing it,” said Membership Committee Chairperson Dan McCarthy . “And we think that’s helpful for the profession, for unity among actuarial organizations, and to increase the Acad-emy’s capability to carry out its mission .”

McCarthy thanked Rachel Rusch, the Academy’s assistant director of membership relations, and the rest of the Academy membership staff, who coordinated and executed the initiative .

SOA was helpful in identifying the lists of people who were Academy-eligible but who weren’t Academy members . Of the 289 new members produced by the campaign, 243 already belonged to the SOA .

In 1988, the year the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) launched itself onto the national actuarial scene, Steve Kellison (temporarily) took an intermission from

it . After 12 years as the Academy’s executive director, which had included presiding over the ASB’s interim creation in 1985 and official formation three years later, Kellison embarked on a career change to teach actuarial science at Georgia State University in Atlanta .

Now, 20 years after parting ways, Kel-lison and the ASB finally caught up with each other when Kellison began his two-year term as ASB chairman at the start of this year .

The former executive director, now an independent consultant and a visit-ing professor at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, brings a variety of perspectives to the ASB . Besides running Academy operations from 1976 to 1988, he has worked two different dips in the

life insurance industry, has served in actuarial academia as a textbook author and professor at three different universi-

Renewing His Professional VowsKellIson booKends Asb’s 20th AnnIversAry

steve Kellison

Recruiting Efforts Strengthen Membership

See neW AcAdemy members, page 6

See Asb, page 8

v

Calendar

Actuarial Update February 20082

Web InterFAcelinks to documents underlined in blue are

included in the online version of this issue at www.actuary.org/update/index.asp

Calendar

Academy News BriefsFeBruAry6 Roundtable on public pension plans (academy, Soa), new York

10-12 aSppa 2008 401(k) Summit, orlando, fla.

14-16 north american actuarial Council meeting, San Cristobal, Mexico

28-march 2 nCoIl spring meeting, Washington

MArCh5-7 aSB meeting, Washington

6-7 health practice Council Capitol hill visits, Washington

16-19 eighth annual intercompany ltCI conference, Jacksonville, fla.

17-18 CaS ratemaking seminar, Boston

25-26 Soa investment symposium, new York

28-April 1 naIC spring meeting, orlando, fla.

April6-9 enrolled actuaries Meeting (academy, CCa), Washington

14-16 Soa enterprise risk management symposium, Chicago

22 academy executive Committee meeting, Washington

22-26 nCSl Spring forum, Washington

MAy20 CUSp meeting, Washington

21 academy Board of directors meeting, Washington

31-June 3 naIC summer meeting, San francisco

JuNe11-14 Iaa meeting, Quebec City

18-20 CIa annual meeting, Quebec City

July17-19 naaC meeting, Banff, alberta, Canada

AuGuST5 leadership meeting, Washington

6 executive Committee meeting, Washington

OCTOBer2-4 naaC meeting, Sedona, ariz.

5 CUSp meeting, phoenix

6 Joint orientation for U.S. Boards, Sedona, ariz.

7 academy Board of directors meeting, phoenix

NOveMBer1-4 Iaa meeting, limassol, Cyprus

In JanUaRY, Joe Grimes became the Academy’s first director of membership services, completing the

restructuring of the Academy’s membership department . Grimes comes to the Academy from the International Public Manage-ment Association for Human Resources, where he was director of membership and communica-tions . All told, Grimes has over 15 years of experience as a mem-bership director .

“We were overdue for establishing a high-level position on the Academy staff with responsibility for membership and related services,” Academy Executive Director Kevin Cronin said . “Fortunately for us and for our members, we were able to hire someone of Joe’s broad background and experience .”

Though membership services previously reported to the communications director, improvements in the Academy’s informa-tion technology and membership database prompted the creation of its own department, which will report directly to the executive

director . Grimes’ responsi-bilities include the strategic direction and management of membership development, recruitment, and retention .

Grimes’ background includes serving as member-ship director for the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) . While at ERIC, Grimes said, he became familiar with the Academy’s work through members who belonged to both associations .

“The Academy has a great reputation for being an organization that represents the needs of the members,” Grimes said . “I’m looking forward to working with all the members of the Academy to develop pro-grams and services that will benefit them . I’m eager to help the Academy grow and make it stronger .”

Grimes, a native of northeastern Pennsyl-vania, has lived in the Washington area since attending the University of Maryland, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business management in 1987 .

Joe Grimes

Grimes to Direct Membership Services

new yearbook Enclosed with this issue of the Update is your copy of the Acad-emy’s 2008 Yearbook, the annual manual for Academy information, such as its pur-pose, organization, leader-ship, awards, and meetings . Even a casual read will reveal the scope of the Academy’s extensive reach on topics of interest to all actuaries . You will also find the names of appropriate Academy staff to contact if you are interested in volunteering on any of the wide variety of committees and task forces the Academy supports .

recruiting Firm The Acad-emy has employed the help of JDG Associates

Inc ., a Washington-area executive recruiting firm, as it searches for the successor for Executive Director Kevin Cronin, who will retire from full-time employment at the end of March . The firm has assisted the Academy with searches in the past .

Fellow countryman At its January meeting, the Acad-emy Board of Directors voted to add a senior international fellow to the staff . For more information about the posi-tion, you can contact Gail In-gram (ingram@actuary .org) .

Presentation Postponed The Academy’s Robert J . Myers Public Service Award will be presented at the annual

meeting this fall, along with the Jarvis Farley Service Award . Previously the Acad-emy gave out the award at its spring meeting, which will not occur this year .

In the neWs

Remarks by members of the Academy’s Life Practice Council at a conference on Solvency II and risk management in Brussels, Belgium, were included in a December 2007 Life & Pensions (U .K .) article . The story reported on efforts by the National Association of Insurance Commission-ers and the Academy to establish a principles-based approach to insurance regu-

north AmerIcA—243Canada—239

Mexico—4

Academy News Briefs lation in the United States . Academy member dave sandberg, a vice president and corporate actuary with Allianz Life Insurance Co . of North America in Minne-apolis, and Academy board member larry bruning, the chief actuary of the Kansas Insurance Department, pre-sented background on U .S . life insurance regulatory reforms for the European audience .

The Academy’s Senior Pen-sion Fellow ron Gebhardts-bauer was quoted in the Dec . 10 issue of Business-week . Gebhardtsbauer said that because of the way ben-efits are typically calculated, older employees usually favor defined benefit pen-sion plans .

donna claire, chairper-son of the Academy’s Risk Management and Financial Soundness Committee and president of Claire Thinking in Fort Salonga, N .Y ., was quoted in a Dec . 10 National Underwriter Life & Health article on preparations to fin-ish revising the standard val-uation law and accompany-ing valuation manual . Claire said she is optimistic about the project despite uncer-tainty as to how the Treasury Department will address tax questions .

The Academy’s Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello authored an op-ed that was published in the Dec . 3 Manchester, N .H ., Union Leader . Uccello questioned the lack of dialogue among

presidential candidates to address Medicare’s financial problems . “Candidates need to break the silence, ac-knowledge the problem, and begin a public dialogue that addresses the trade-offs nec-essary to ensure Medicare’s future,” she said . The com-mentary was placed prior to New Hampshire’s presiden-tial primary, the first of the election season .

A Dec . 18 Bloomberg article referred to the Academy’s nearly $800 billion estimate for insured losses stem-ming from a potential large nuclear, chemical, biologi-cal, or radiological terrorist attack in New York City . The article, also published in the Dec . 19 Hartford Courant, reported on the U .S . House

of Representatives’ decision to extend the federal terror-ism insurance program for seven years .

The Academy’s Social Secu-rity Game was mentioned in several articles in December including one in the Dallas Morning News on Dec . 12 and in Newsday on Dec . 22 .

on the move® Francis sabatini is now a private consultant in Hart-ford, Conn . He was previ-ously a principal for Ernst & Young .® edward baum is now first vice president, actuarial, and pricing actuary for Country-wide Insurance in Irvine, Calif . He was previously a senior actuary for Mercury Insurance in Brea, Calif .

the number of Academy

members outside the united states, as of dec. 31, 2007R

IGH

T O

N 642THE NUMBER

3www.actuary.org Actuarial Update February 2008

euroPe—117andorra—1denmark—1france—4

Germany—6Greece—5Iceland—1

Ireland—2Monaco—2

netherlands—9Sweden—1

Switzerland—16United Kingdom—69

north AmerIcA—243Canada—239

Mexico—4

south AmerIcA—2Brazil—1

Columbia—1

cArIbbeAn—93Bahamas—1Bermuda—83Jamaica—5

puerto Rico—3British West Indies—1

AFrIcA—7egypt—1

Senegal—1South africa—5

mIddle eAst—10Israel—6

Saudi arabia—1turkey—1

United arab emirates—2

doWn under—10australia——9

new Zealand—1

AsIA/PAcIFIc—160

China—32hong Kong—29

India—2Indonesia—2Japan—23

Malaysia—5pakistan—1

phillipines—3Singapore—3

South Korea—19taiwan—38thailand—3

Actuarial Update February 200844 Actuarial Update February 2008

RISK ManaGeMent and fInanCIal RepoRtInG neWS

JUSt BefoRe the YeaR’S end, a subgroup of the Health Practice Financial Reporting Committee exposed for public comment a new practice note on Medicare Part D accounting issues for the actuarial profession . Located

on the Academy website’s health page, the Academy’s Medicare Part D Subgroup’s draft practice note will be available for review through mid-February .

Building upon the experiences and questions of the sub-group’s members, the practice note describes some of the current valuation, accounting, and financial reporting practices for Medi-care Part D products used by U .S . health actuaries in 2007 . Draw-ing from current regulation and methodology, the draft practice note is meant to represent the views of actuaries in industry con-sulting and public accounting firms who are involved in issuing actuarial opinions relating to balances recorded by U .S . health insurance companies for Medicare Part D products .

Utilizing a Q-and-A format, the practice note covers a range of topics, including Part D’s reinsurance demonstration program,

operation aspects, risk-sharing programs, and the impact of phar-maceutical rebates . Also included is a glossary of common terms and acronyms that are used throughout the practice note .

The members of the subgroup responsible for drafting the practice note include: Chairperson Darrell Knapp, Rowen Bell, Brian Collender, Troy Filipek, Jim Galasso, Harry Hotchkiss, J . Patrick Kinney, Barbara Lawson, Timothy Meyers, Rob Pipich, and Russ Willard . The subgroup would also like to thank Bob Coons, Karen Levine, and Mike Koeberlein from Humana for their assistance in the project .

The subgroup invites all actuaries and interested parties to review and comment on the draft practice note . The public exposure period will close on Feb . 15, after which a final ver-sion will be available . Comments can be sent electronically to StateHealthAnalyst@actuary .org or via conventional mail (American Academy of Actuaries, Geralyn Trujillo, 1100 17th Street N .W ., 7th Floor, Washington, D .C ., 20036) .

—Geralyn Trujillo

Medicare Practice Note Released

health neWS

on Jan. 15-16, the Society of Actuaries and the International Network of Actuarial Risk Manag-ers broadcast a webcast on global best practices in enterprise risk management (ERM) for insurers

and reinsurers .The webcast presented ERM practices specific to three

global regions, with each region — Asia/Pacific, Europe, and the Americas — having speakers to present its perspective . The webcast highlighted actuarial contributions to ERM with an eye toward encouraging dialogue between actuaries and non-actuaries .

The webcast was comprised of two session tracks . The first included four pre-recorded sessions: embedding ERM within the organization, economic capital, managing emerging risks, and setting risk appetite . The second track featured live sessions of various speakers from each region discussing their ERM perspec-tives on stakeholder views, active risk controls, embedding ERM within the organization, and economic capital .

Presenting on behalf of the Academy’s ERM Task Force were Ronald Harasym, David Ingram, Dave Sandberg, and Chairperson Max Rudolph . Patricia Matson, chairperson of the Life Financial Reporting Committee, and Marc Slutzky, mem-

ber of the Financial Reporting Committee, also presented . The entire webcast ran continuously from 10 p .m . EST on

Jan . 15 to 2 p .m . EST Jan . 16 with the American focus running from 9 a .m . EST on Jan . 16 until the end of the webcast .

—Tina GeTachew

Global ERM Webcast

rIsK mAnAGement And FInAncIAl rePortInG brIeFs

➤ richard Goldfarb, senior manager with ernst & Young in new York, and Patricia matson, senior manager and consulting actuary with deloitte Consulting in hartford, Conn., have joined the Risk Management and financial Reporting Council.

➤ Francis sabatini, a consultant in hartford, Conn., and matthew lantz, an actuary with aeGon USa Inc. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, have joined the Solvency and Risk Management task force.

lIFe brIeFs

➤ richard murphy, a consultant for fidelity Investments life Insurance in Boston, has joined the academy’s annuity Reserves Work Group.

www.actuary.org Actuarial Update February 2008 5

ron GeBhaRdtSBaUeR haS Spent the paSt 12 YeaRS as Academy senior pension fellow meeting with federal policymakers, responding to media requests, and testi-fying before Congress—anything he could do to reach

out to the people responsible for driving U .S . pension policy . So when the Senate Finance Committee offered him the chance to get behind the wheel, he couldn’t refuse .

Effective Feb . 12, Gebhardtsbauer is the Finance Commit-tee’s new senior benefits adviser, where he will help the commit-tee write U .S . pension law, as well as form policy for employee benefits and related tax issues .

“It’s going to be difficult to leave this job because I’ve loved it from the very beginning,” said Gebhardtsbauer, who has turned down a number of job offers since he started at the Academy in May 1996 . “Even though I still very much love my job here, I feel it’s important for the profession and for pensions for me to go and work on Capitol Hill, where I can have more influence on creating good pension policy .”

Gebhardtsbauer had worked for the federal government twice before coming to the Academy . He was the lead pension actuary from 1982 to 1986 for the Office of Personnel Management’s Fed-eral Employee Retirement System, where he led an overhaul of the pension plans for all federal employees, and the chief actuary of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp . from 1986 to 1994 .

Craig Hanna, the Academy’s director of public policy, thanked Gebhardtsbauer for providing an “invaluable service” during his tenure, “raising the profile of the profession at large .”

After becoming the Academy’s senior policy fellow over a

decade ago, Gebhardtsbauer has been a face of the Academy, serving as a spokesperson and go-to source on pension and Social Security issues for reporters from all over the coun-try . He thinks actuaries are now more involved in the activities of the nation’s capital than ever before .

After seeing the positive results made by the senior pension fellow position, the Academy hired its first senior health fellow in 1998, a position now held by Cori Uccello . The Academy is also interviewing for a senior life fellow, and the Board of Direc-tors approved adding an international fellow to the staff at its January meeting .

Now, it has to fill the pension shoes left by Gebhardtsbauer, who was also heavily involved in leading the profession’s inter-national work over the past two years .

“We are moving as quickly as possible to find the most capa-ble senior fellow who can hit the ground running and continue the work that Ron has initiated—and to enhance that profile according to the new strategic directions of the Pension Practice Council,” Hanna said . He added that the Academy hopes to be able to replace the position in the next couple months .

As the Senate Finance Committee’s senior benefits adviser, Gebhardtsbauer looks forward to working with the new senior pension fellow and Academy volunteers .

“I hope my friends in the actuarial community will con-tinue to help me formulate good pension policy,” he said, “because I will need all their help—all the help I can get .”

On the Road

A lthoUGh It haS Been oveR

a YeaR since the Pension Protection Act of 2006 was passed, the Funding Reform

Advisory Task Force is still working hard to ensure that the legislation is trans-lated into regulatory guidance that is comprehensive and easily applicable . And the group’s hard work has not gone unnoticed . The Department of the Trea-sury’s Benefits Tax Counsel has publicly acknowledged the efforts of the task force, including, in one instance, at the 2007 Enrolled Actuaries Meeting . While it is not an Academy-sponsored group, the task force is chaired by Donald Segal, former Academy vice president for pen-sion issues, and includes a cross section of actuaries, attorneys, and other ben-efits experts . Its primary goal has been to

identify issues that need to be addressed through regulation and provide input to the appropriate government agencies .

“We share a common goal,” Segal says . “That is, we want guidance that works . By creating this task force, we’ve created a win-win situation . The agen-cies get input from experts in the ben-efits area, and we get regulations we can deal with .”

In the past 12 months, the task force has submitted comments to various gov-ernmental agencies on plan terminations, the prohibition on accelerated payments, use of an actuarial asset method for deter-mining funded status and contribution requirements, benefit-restriction trig-gers, issues related to the determination of a corporate bond yield curve, lookback funding measures, and technical correc-

tions to the legislation . According to Segal, however, the

work of the task force is not yet finished . Upcoming projects include an examination of benefit restriction rules, measurement of liabilities, and valuation of deferred lump sums using the yield curve . The task force also plans to provide input on areas that still need guidance, including annuity con-version under hybrid plans, definition of applicable defined benefit plans, and mar-ket rate of returns . In addition to comment letters, the group continues to meet with agency representatives to discuss input on and concerns with proposed guidance .

More information on the task force and the comment letters it has submitted can be found online at http://fratforce.googlepages.com .

—heaTher jerbi

FRAT Force Keeps Close Eye on PPA

Actuarial Update February 20086

In the SeCond half of 2007, 645 new members joined the Academy . By joining, they have demonstrated a commitment to ethical and responsible actuarial conduct and an interest in keeping up with the issues and events that shape their profession . And they are in good company . As of Dec . 31, the Academy boasted 15,932 Academy members on its rolls .

new Academy members

Joe AadlandJames M. AbbottShawn AdamsKeith P. AllenDavid J. AllgrunnBryan AmburnRichard P. AndertonBradley J. AndrekusMike AndringAntonis AntoniouFritzie ArchuletaCarolina V. AriasMegan L. AstudilloEric AtwaterYanfei AtwellDanielle J. AufieroTatcha AyanaRory J. BaduraNathan J. BaehrJeffrey C. BakerKyle BangMichael W. Banis IIIJanet BarrKim M. BascoMark BeanDavid R. BeasleyTheresa BeckerRebecca BeesJeffrey BellmontStuart J. BennettTara BensonDavid A. BerkowitzKeith R. BermanZahir BhanjiYongyi BiGeoffrey BirdJustin BirrellMariano R. BlancoNick BlitterswykKarin L. BoehlkeJoAnn BogolinKaroline BootsmaAlex BorressTiffany A. BosleyYefim BotvinnikKimberly A. BoxellMandy L. BrattenKristin M. BraunKirk P. BrauniusJeffrey BressonMichelle A. BrownJames W. BrownGraham BryceSara BuchheimDonald BungenstockKevin BurkeSean K. BurttR Keith Butterfield Jr.Feiyang CaiRosson CainLaura CamisaMary P. CampbellKathryn A. CampbellDavid R. CantorMichael Carse

Jill CaseyChris CatlettColin ChanManchiu ChanTing H. ChanAnnie ChangDavid T. ChangHungchi A. ChangLeslie M. ChangKezia C. CharlesJialan ChenLiangzhong ChenYi-Chieh J. ChenHenrietta ChengSteven Y. CheungTracy ChildJung N. ChoJason ChoiJohn ChongMarie ChoquetteCindy ChouEric A. ChristensenEric ChristmanCraig T. ChuHui ChuDale M. ChudnowAlice ChuiQuinnie H. ChungChris W. ChurchillJennifer ChurchillMason A. ChurchillJason A. ClarkAdrian ClarkKevin M. CloudAngela CobbleNicholas J. ColemanKaren M. CommonsAmy M. ConoscentiAndrea ConstantinosJulia CooperCameron CopaKimberly A. CoronaAlex CowleyMichelle CramerThomas CriceJason J. CulpBrian A. DaileyPratibha DamleGregory L. DanielWesley S. DaughtryAndrea N. DavenportKeri P. DavenportBradley J. DavisJoshua DavisBrendan H. DealAlden V. De La RosaDemosthenis DemosthenousSivakumar DesaiMatthew DesfossesPamela M. DevlingJennifer DeVreeMark DickinsonGabriela C. DieguezElizabeth J. DillXiaoping Ding

Jiangxia DongScott DonohoKirt M. DooleyPeter D’OrsiBrian K. DowdallMichelle DuboisTehya R. DuckworthDennis DuLaneyPaul M. DulingRebecca DunlapStephen E. DuponDustin DusekKara M. DusterhoftMathew EberhardtRoderick F. EbertMark P. EldridgeBarbara EmigAnthony EnkCharles W. EricksonMojisola S. EshoJill EsserMatthew G. EvansElise FalkJenna L. FarissJoseph FarrellJody FastPaul FedchakMeryl A. FeigenbaumLinda M. FerreiraJacob C. FetzerRandall T. FitzpatrickTimothy J. FitzpatrickJohn S. FlattumMatthew L. FleischmanLic-Tieng FooAndrew C. ForgraveAbigail S. FortinoLisa FosterDarren FrenchYan Lap J. FungAnne GaffeySuzanne GallagherKeith L. GallowayCorin GarbeWilliam GarberScott GardunoCarol A. GarneyTimothy M. GasaaturaJason GayDeanna GeeChris GeertsLaszlo GereGary J. GesinkCarl GhiselliCourtney S. GibbonsValerie GingrasCary GinterMark A. GlasserCraig GlydeKasi GoldenJason S. GoldsteinSean E. GonzalezMissy GordonVictoria GordonDuane E. Grabber

Jennifer L. GrantPaulette GrausnickNeil GreinerMark GreutmanJonathan GrossLing GuMario H. GuajardoQunying GuanManuel GuerraMichael GuerriereMiro GuzvicaKim N. HaVincent HaTheodore HaardElisha D. HackMark HadleyBenjamin P. HaganJohn HagemanLuke HamptonKatherine HaniscoJohn C. Hanna Jr.Seth P. HarlowMary A. HartRaza HasanJames HealeyCurtis HeaserJames M. HechlerVanessa HechtPaul D. HerzogKimberley HiemenzCatherine HoJonathan P. HobbsJeffrey HockingAaron HodgesMarlin W. HoeppnerErika HolmesBenjamin D. HoltJonathan K. HongTim W. HookerSarah HooverScott HornyakJacqueline B. HorstmannMarcus HowellJia HuJun HuWei-ning H. HuXiaoping HuYanhui HuangYing HuangYu HuangFei HuiKathryn M. HunterRobert P. HunterRui HuoPaul HurdFrederick HylandMaria IleaWes ImelRobert C. IpsenJason J. JacksonNicholas JacobiEmily JankeShi JiXiang JiJiaming H. Jiang

Yong JiangXijuan JiangXin JiangErik JohanssonAntonio D. JohnsonCaleb JohnsonChad JohnsonChris S. JohnsonDwane JohnsonRichard D. JohnsonDavid JonovicRobert L. JordanJacob D. JoubertLisa K. JudaySusan JuddDonald A. JuntTodd D. KanasterBrian KaneSara V. KaufmanLaura M. KellyMaggie KendrickDavid B. KentMatthew A. KerstingChad A. KeunekeAli KhanJeff KimbleMelissa KingReid KinneyJim KlannBruce J. KlugSamantha KnackmuhsPak KoInna KoganSook H. KohKoji KondoBrad KopchaAnthony T. KovacBarry KozakAmanda Brooke KrossHeidi KruckCharles E. KuhnShawn S. KunkelHoi Yan KwanJeffrey LaitinenCarmen LamFelicite LambSusan M. LambStephen Lambert-OswaldShannon M. LandryMichael J. LaneChristopher LanzaChristian LassondeAlexander J. LaurieBenjamin M. LawTrevor LawrenceJeff LazcanoDeborah LeeDonna M. LeeKuanhui LeePauline Y. LeeShirley LeeThomas LeeIgor LempertJames T. LescoeHeidi Leuthner

Richard B. LevyDavid LewisBo LiDan LiKexin LiLepeng LiYong LiZhi LiCongrong LiaoCurtis J. LichtensteigerJoseph S. LimAnna Y. LinLin LinReng LinXianhui LinMichael E. LipseyHolly LitrentaJingmin LiuShuo LiuWen K. LiuMillie LoDustin J. LoefflerCasey M. LongR. Andrew Love IIIJie M. LuLeining LuWei LuAmanda C. LubkingMichael LundquistHuajun MaBrian MagnottaElise MaguireSanjay M. MahboobaniAlexey MakarovKamran A. MalikVitaly MalinkovichBecky MalsomChaim MarkowitzTsimafei MarozJennifer MarquinoClarke MarrinTami MarshallDerek M. MartisusAmy M. MassaroJason M. MathewsSara B. MathewsThomas B. MatthewMichael A. MattilaJeffrey MazzapicaRebecca McCarrierKatie MccarthyJoseph N. McDonaldMichael McDonaldAfif McGlamryWilliam E. McGuireMitzi McLeanKathryn McNallyDonald C. McshaneWilliam MehilosRyan T. MellottDaniel MessnerElizabeth MillardFrancois MillardStephanie A. MillerRui Min

7www.actuary.org Actuarial Update February 2008

cAsuAlty brIeFs

➤ Amy bouska, an actuary with towers perrin in Minneapolis, steve visner, a principal with deloitte Consulting in new York, and John Kollar, a vice president for Insurance Services office Inc. in Jersey City, n.J., have joined the academy’s Casualty practice Council.

➤ Joining the academy’s Workers’ Compensation Subcommittee are Andrew doll, vice president and chief actuary for commercial business for fireman’s fund Insurance Co. in novato, Calif.; vahan mahdasian, assistant director and actuary for aon Global Risk Consulting in Boston; Julia stenberg, second vice president and actuary for travelers Insurance in hartford, Conn.; michael Williams, an actuary with Sentry Insurance Group in Stevens point, Wis.; and dave heppen, senior manager for deloitte Consulting in philadelphia.

➤ Joining the academy’s p/C extreme events Committee and natural Catastrophe Subcommittee are victoria Gomez, assistant vice president for aCe tempest Re USa Inc. in Stamford, Conn.; mark homan, assistant vice president and actuary for corporate research at the hartford Insurance Group in hartford, Conn.; larry haefner, vice president and chief actuary with travelers Insurance in hartford, Conn.; edward baum, first vice president, actuarial, and pricing actuary for Countrywide Insurance in Irvine, Calif.; James murphy, actuary for the texas Windstorm Insurance association in austin, texas; and Wanchin chou, assistant vice president, international, and an actuary for liberty International in Boston. William dove, chief operating officer and chief actuary for Brandywine Group holdings in philadelphia, has also joined the academy’s p/C extreme events Committee.

➤ Joining the academy’s Mass torts Subcommittee are tom toce, vice president and chief actuary for alan Gray Inc. in new York, rita Zona, principal for deloitte Consulting in Chicago, and robert thomas, a vice president with the hartford Insurance Group in hartford, Conn.

➤ mary d. miller, assistant director for the ohio department of Insurance in Columbus, and Joanne spalla, a consulting actuary in Connecticut, have joined the p/C financial Soundness/Risk Management Committee.

PensIon brIeFs

➤ Joining the academy’s public plans Subcommittee is William Fornia, senior vice president with aon Consulting in denver.

Takehiro MisawaJody MistalGeoffrey MoakJoel S. MooreRyan C. MooreDavid MoralisIsabelle MorinEdward P. MorrisErick MortensonJustin MosboAshlee C. MoutonJames R. MurrayKatherine MuslerRick A. NakayamaVeltcho NatchevDavid A. NeimanMoshe N. NelkinAndre NguyenTristan S. NguyenCarly NicholsFangyi NieRussell W. NiswanderJennifer NitkowskiThomas P. NolanSandra NordstromNicole NovotnyPablo NunezThulani E. NxumaloShane OakleafJeffrey M. OberleDawn M. OchoaAdam OckmanKaren OliverAmiee O’MaleyBrian O’MearaGuan Ting OngSu May OngChris OnkenSarah OsborneChristopher N. OttermanDavid C. PadgetJohn F. PaganoKristin M. PalmJeongeun ParkBradley J. ParkerJoshua ParkerDakshesh D. ParlikarMarcella PaulakisMichael W. PayneJames PearsonAaron PedowitzScott PembertonJohn PembleThomas E. PersichettiBrooke A. PetersonMark H. PetersonJoseph A. PetrovicLisa A. PfautzJeffrey J. PflugerRobert PhippsPierre R. PierreMark PingreeBradley PiperAmanda B. PlatteRobert Plesha

Chris A. PlucarPaul L. PocockScott B. PollackErik PoppeJonathan D. PowellEmily J. PrawalskyJonathan PrinceJoshua P. PulverMandy RabouinFrancis RadnotiRachel RadoffNathalie RahmanMartin RamseyChristine RandazzoNicholas J. RansonSharada RaoBenjamin RayburnEmily J. RedderRyan K. RicheyBradford L. RigbyMichelle K. RigbyBrian RitchieBruce A. RitterStacey RoachStanley T. RobertsScott RobidouxLynn R. RobinsonJuan C. RodriguezJohn O. RogersBryce RoselDavid G. RossDavid L. RossBrian C. RudiJames D. RyanPaul SadroMakhmud M. SagandykovOlga V. SamoilovaKirsten R. SchattenDoris Y. SchirmacherErnesto SchirmacherChad SchlippertDavid SchraubJonathan M. SchreckMonica SchroeterDavid P. SchultzRyan SchultzJason SciborskiKale SearsDavid SeigelSatyaki SenTomasz SerbinowskiAdam G. SeryMandy M. SetoSusan L. SextonAaron ShapiroCraig SharfMaureen ShaughnessyJolie ShaulDavid ShearerClista E. ShekerYang ShenKhristina M. ShieldsElizabeth B. ShumakerMatthew F. SiciliaDerek W. Sickman

Jason SiegelAlan J. SilverDaniel D. SimRobert SimmonsClarissa A. SimpsonAmanda SingerSteven SiowScott SkansbergJoel M. SmerchekBrandon SmithLisa SmithRenée N. SmithJared SmollikChristopher SnellBecca SnidermanTiffany SoJiyang SongLi SongRobert A. SpiliosDavid StableinJennifer L. StadelmanCrystal StallingBrian P. StarnesSara SteenCharles D. SteingasIan P. SterlingJenny StevensRyan StevensEric J. StewartJason StolteSimon W. StronkhorstMartha S. StroudMark S. StruckBin SunHannah SunQing SunBrooke SwansonOleg V. SydyakBrian B. TajliliXiaoyin D. TangSharon TchinnisMichael TesslerCourtney ThatcherDawn ThayerRyan M. ThomasRicardo TrachtmanApril TruebeRobert TuckerSylvia TwardowskiAlexandre TzenevAlexander UngererChristine ValdezAlan VanevenhovenW. Dennis Van HiseMarina VaninskyMaria S. VargasThomas W. VaseyKenneth VetterAlexander VojtaJason L. Von BergenAlissa VremanDouglas R. VroomanSanja VujicBenjamin S. WadsleyRosaline L. Waguespack

Benjamin J. WalkerChristine L. WallachAndrea S. WalshJeffrey S. WaltonQian WanJun WangNing WangWilson WangYingnian WangPeter R. WegielnikKenneth L. WeingartJason C. WellsPatrick WeltiDavid WicklundTroy W. WieckAdrienne WilliamsCameron WilliamsL. Alicia WilliamsErica M. WilsonMatthew WilsonChristopher WittemannLisa WonHei M. WongYue Kei WongStephen K. WoodardDana L. WoolfreySheryl WroblewskiZhikun WuJunfeng WuKelvin G. WurstenLi XiaoXiaoyun XieMu XiongZhijian XiongLinxia XiongJianhang XuTeng XuZhiliang XuQing XueWenjie XueScott M. YanEdward YenAndrew YershovWendy Y. YuZhaohui YuOlga YurchenkoEugenia ZakharovLisa ZalotaChunjing ZhangLilin ZhangRui ZhangHongyu ZhaoShaozhen ZhouMei ZhuErin M. ZinkDotan ZivNicholas ZornosaLu ZouLarysa ZubachMichael Zurek

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8 Actuarial Update February 2008

Asb, continued from Page 1

ties, and has privately consulted in the actuarial field for several years . He was also the Society of Actuaries president from 2004 to 2005 .

“Life has a funny way of presenting options along the way,” he said in an interview with the Update . And few have exercised those options as effectively as Kellison, who, all told, has changed career directions six times . To him, it’s all the better preparation for his new role .

“The fact that I have held a number of diverse positions with a number of different employers gives me a broad perspective on standards in a variety of situations and practice areas,” Kellison said .

Part of that perspective is his unique posi-tion of watching the evolution of the ASB from its incipient stages, which produced anxiety over the future of actuarial standards, to the present . Cel-ebrating its 20th birthday this year, the ASB is in robust health as it now has 44 actuarial standards of practice, many of which have been updated at least once .

“In 1988, there were some actuaries skeptical of where we were headed,” Kellison says . “Given that starting point, I’d say the last 20 years have proven pretty successful .”

Though Kellison doesn’t bring an agenda of dramatic change, he is quick to point out that there are still current and future challenges that the ASB needs to meet .

“I think standards are particularly important today in the financial services industry after some of the lapses at Enron and all the other debacles right up to the subprime mortgage problem,” he said . “The public is less trusting of professionals than they used to be . It’s imperative to maintain the kind of public credibility that we’d like to have, and it’s strongly in the public interest .”

As an organization representing the standards

of the entire profession, Kellison says he is sensitive to the ability of the ASB to write standards that cut across all practice areas .

“It does help call attention to the public’s mind that we really are one profession, and there’s much more similarity to what we do in different practice areas than there are differences,” he said .

Similarly, Kellison said that when the ASB writes standards, it needs to continue seeking the proper balance between the flexibility of “mother-hood and apple pie” (i .e ., general concepts) and the accountability of “writing a cookbook” (i .e ., precise details) .

“We’re writing standards involving work for professionals, the nature of which involves future uncertainty,” he said . “It’s not quite the same thing as writing standards in a lot of fields that don’t have to wait 20 years to see how it works out .”

With an eye to the future, on Jan . 24-25 at a special strategic planning session, the ASB took a step back from its everyday work to look at the direc-tion the board sees itself headed and to outline its own strategic plan .

“In the biggest picture possible, we’re going to build on what we already have—strengthen it, improve it, get it more meaningful to the member-ship, and move it forward,” he said . “I think we’re doing a fine job right now . We just need to keep it going and continue to do it better .”

steve KellIson

➤ Is a native of nebraska, who currently lives in orlando, fla.

➤ Is married to his wife, toni. they have two children, Matthew, 17, and alexandra, 16.

➤ Received an undergraduate degree in economics and a master’s degree in actuarial science at the University of nebraska-lincoln.

➤ Is a member of the academy, fellow of the Society of actuaries (Soa), and an enrolled actuary. he is a certified but non-practicing financial planner.

➤ Was the first executive director of the academy’s Washington office, serving in that position from 1976 to 1988. he was also president of the Society of actuaries from 2004 to 2005 and has served in a variety of volunteer assignments for the academy and Soa, including a post as the chairman of the aSB’s General Committee. he is currently a member of the academy’s Council on professionalism.

➤ enjoys piloting private airplanes in his spare time.

other neW Asb members

Patrick Grannan, casualty representative➤ Ceo of Milliman➤ former academy board member ➤ former president and board chairman of the CaS

James murphy, health representative➤ Senior vice president and chief actuary at american

Community Mutual Insurance➤ former academy executive director and vice

president➤ former Soa vice president