Re: What's the difference?
kathy gile ( kgecorp@ix3.ix.netcom.com )
Fri, 12 Sep 1997 18:25:39 -0500
Regina Berens wrote:
>
> In response to Seth's question-
>
> I "fell" into the casualty field (it was the only job offer I had!) but,
> given the choice again, I'd do the same thing. The life actuarial
> profession has had to work harder to re-define itself, I think, because
> computers have streamlined a lot of the pension and mortality calculations.
> We've had to do the same thing, of course- when I think of some of the
> computations that needed to be done by armies of casualty actuarial
> students 20 years ago and can now be done by one person with a spreadsheet,
> I wonder if I would have had even THAT offer if PCs had been in use in
> 1975. Still, I think that the casaulty field has more problems which don't
> lend themselves to "cookbook" solutions. And, with the notable exception
> of AIDs and subsequent development in treatment, I think that life
> insurance issues aren't changing as rapidly as casualty.
>
> (Note to life actuaries- plese feel free to contribute- this is my view
> from outside!)
>
> I agree that the size of the CAS is less intimidating, although we're also
> going to have to address the consequences of growth. When I attend
> receptions for new Fellows and New Associates, I know so few of them that I
> really have to work hard to keep from hanging around with the Old Fellows
> like we're a bunch of wallflowers. But, I make the effort and I enjoy
> hearing what the new members are working on and what their future plans
> are.
>
> Regina Berens
> MBA, Inc.- Consultants in Casualty Actuarial Science
> http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/MBAInc
>
> Visit the CAS Web Site at http://www.casact.org
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I will start out by saying that am an FSA (not a CAS member) with 28
years of experience, the last 10 of which have been P/C. As to "math
background" of FSA's,the 50% statistic sounds really fishy. As to the
mathematical underpinnings of life/health insurance, the focus has
changed greatly over the last 30 years from calculating expected values
to stochastic analysis - ruin theory, asset/liability matching and
surplus needs.
Simplified, the need for mathematical sophistication on the life side
has greatly INCREASED rather than decreased!
Having said that, why did I switch to P/C? One answer is that P/C
is FAR more unpredictable than life or health (some FSA's would
seriously question health!) and requires imaginative solutions that
simply are not applied on the life side. Actually, my answer would
be far more complex than this, but the upshot is this:
I don't think there is any real difference, generally, in the
need for mathematical sophistication between life/health and P/C
(PENSIONS are a different matter - the mathematics is essentially set
by government fiat!).
Brad Gile
Visit the CAS Web Site at http://www.casact.org
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