Candidate Questionnaire
Sharon Giffen, FSA 1984, FCIA 1984
Independent Board Member;
companies in Toronto, Ontario and Regina, Saskatchewan
Brief description of current work:
I serve on the boards of four insurance companies, in various businesses: mortgage insurance, pension risk transfer, health benefits and fraternal life insurance. For each of these, I serve on or chair various committees, including the risk management committee of each. Additionally, as a volunteer, I serve on the board of the SOA and Chair the Board of Opera Atelier.
Primary Area of Practice:
Risk Management
Other Areas of Practice
Life Insurance
Professional Background
Provide a brief description of your professional background and the type of work you have performed and explain how these experiences have uniquely prepared you as an Elected Board Member and qualify you in carrying out the strategic direction of the SOA.
Following my early career primarily in pricing and product roles, in 2000, I joined Foresters Financial, a multi-national (Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.) fraternal benefit society, selling insurance to middle market families and devoting all profits to its purpose of enhancing the well-being of families. Starting in a product management role, I was promoted to manage all actuarial functions, and then to Chief Actuary & Appointed Actuary for Canada and the US. I was next promoted to Chief Financial Officer with accountability for Finance, Internal Audit, Risk, Actuarial, Investments, Capital Management and the Data Warehouse. Through rotation, I held the positions of President and CEO of Foresters Canada, Chief Risk Officer & Chief Compliance Officer.
In 2016, I left Foresters, and am now serving on Boards of Directors of 4 insurance companies in various businesses, on various committees, including all four Risk Committees.
My C-suite roles demonstrate flexibility and adaptability and an ability to shift between leadership and teamwork roles. As CFO, I led the due diligence for several targets for acquisitions. As the CEO of Foresters Canada, I was accountable to develop a new strategy for the business unit, to improve profitability. As CRO, I was accountable to implement a comprehensive ERM program, elevating the function to be integral in strategic, financial and operational decisions.
As a board member in various insurance business, life and P&C, I have learned to apply governance and leadership thinking in unfamiliar lines, demonstrating adaptability of my business skills.
All of these experiences give me a strong framework for leadership service; keenly aware of the need to elicit input from all perspectives, to provide a balance of oversight and challenge as appropriate, and to support and appreciate staff and volunteers.
Volunteer, Governance and Personal Experience
Describe how your volunteer, governance and personal experiences would strengthen your contributions to the SOA Board, the organization, and strategic plan execution. Please list your relevant volunteer experience. Please include the name of the organization, your role, and approximate dates.
I have been a long-term volunteer. I served on exam committees from 1985 to 2003. I have served and/or had leadership roles for:
- Actuaries Section of the NFCA (2004-2007)
- Toronto Actuaries Club (2003-2006)
- Smaller Insurance Companies Section (2009-2012)
- CIA Board (2012-2015) and Presidential Term (2016-2019)
- Various CIA and SOA committees (2008-2022)
With Foresters, I volunteered in alignment with the fraternal purpose in a wide variety of activities: swimming, walking, building playgrounds and organizing donation drives (2000 to 2016). I have served on the board of Opera Atelier from 2009, including Chair of Audit and Finance Committee 2011 to 2019, and Chair since 2021.
While in my Presidential term with the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, I led a project to significantly change the governance model of the CIA, to separate the functions where actuaries have accountability to public interest, from those that are internal to the benefit of members and to realign oversight for strategically important functions.
In my current term on the board of the SOA, I have served on the Audit and Risk Committee for 2 years, chair in 2021, on the Governance and Policy Committee for 3 years, chair in 2021, on the Strategic Planning Task Force as chair in 2022 and on the Leadership Team in 2022.
Looking forward, these leadership experiences in a wide range of situations position me well for leadership of the Board of Directors of the SOA. I work effectively with other volunteers to develop excellent educational opportunities, to pivot as necessary to achieve goals in the face of adversity and to drive to consensus for controversial change. I am always up for a challenge!
Agility/Change
Describe a significant change that you led in the workplace or in your volunteer activities. Explain what worked well and what could have gone better.
While CEO of the Canadian Division of Foresters, I sought and received approval for two significant changes. We exited a line of business that was misaligned with our strategy and below-target profitability. This entailed terminating third party sales and administration agreements, and the employment of some employees. The termination of the agreements was completed with good notice and communication, and some minor assistance in facilitating the transfer of business to a new carrier.
Following that decision, we also relocated from a satellite location to the head office of Foresters. The move reduced expenses materially, both the hard and soft costs of having staff in two locations. All contracts were executed on time and on budget. However, it did mean the regrettable loss of some employees, who were not willing to commute across the city – an expected but unwelcome outcome. Support was provided for all affected employees.
In both of these cases, I believe that the communication about the changes was timely, transparent and respectful. We focused on ensuring that people who were directly affected heard news first. I did feel that I spent as much time planning and delivering news as in analysis to make the decisions and to execute on them.
However, I did come to learn that no amount of communication is, or ever can be, enough. Different people hear news in different ways. After the fact, I realized that misinformation had been spread and that my team was not as united as I had believed.
From that experience, I now work much harder at listening as part of any communication – check that I have conveyed my intent and don’t leave interpretation to others.
Motivating/Influencing
Describe a difficult situation or disagreement that you had in a professional setting during which opinions varied and you worked through the issues that led to a successful result.
While CFO of Foresters, the company had a goal of expanding our US business base; the executive team agreed that an acquisition would be a good path to achieve this goal. However, we had very different views as to the best targets to pursue, and no company that was available for acquisition perfectly fit any of our ideas.
We had done initial due diligence on many companies before we became aware of a group of companies, peripheral to our core business, but sufficiently interesting to look at more closely. Initially, I was quite resistant – we did not know the business, we didn’t even know enough to do proper due diligence. How could we be sure it was profitable?
Recognizing the value of diversification, we agreed it was worth looking into more deeply. Over several months, we learned about the business and its profit drivers and we connected well with the management team, and undertook negotiations to come to a definitive agreement to buy.
The challenges then really began. Through the negotiation period, each member of our executive team varied between enthusiastic and skeptical about the deal. In this context, we were also seeking board approval for the deal, and they were looking to us to be united on the issues. It required significant patience as we worked through concerns about the legal structure of the deal, the financial arrangements, the cultural fit from the previous family owners and retention of existing management and staff.
Negotiations were long and exhausting; our team worked to support each other through our various doubts and challenging each other on our assumptions. In the end, we executed the deal, and it was very successfully integrated to approximately double the asset base of the company.
Diversity
What additional actions do you think the Board should take regarding diversity, equity and inclusion?
I think about DE&I efforts in three areas. First, the board itself has significantly improved its diversity; it is more reflective of the membership than in the past. I believe that work needs to continue to improve on inclusion – ensuring that all voices are heard. The board has undergone training around managing bias; it would be improved if there were specific practices implemented for all discussions to embed new behavior. Presidential officers have been less diverse – work is needed to make the roles more accessible to a broader target base.
Second, the SOA should undertake efforts to improve diversity in staff roles. Success is more certain when there are specific and measurable goals set; I believe this would help to embed more diverse and inclusive thinking in all aspects of the SOA’s work, particularly in working with volunteers.
Third, and most complex, is improving the diversity of our candidates. Efforts have been initiated in the US to address some of the systemic barriers that exist for black and Hispanic/Latino students to hear about and work towards an actuarial career/designation. It is still too early to measure success – it is critical that these initiatives are monitored and refined to reach the broadest audience possible. The issues of DE&I outside the US have not been considered to date. They may be very different by market and will require a customized and thoughtful approach including engaging volunteers who have personal experience with the issues.
International
What can the SOA Board do to balance the needs of our global membership? How will your experience help the Board accomplish this?
While in C-suite roles at Foresters, I became accustomed to and adept at considering differences in international operations. This included regulatory regimes, cultural differences as well as time zones. The SOA Board has these same challenges amplified many times over.
The current direction of establishing local presence in new and growing geographies is clearly necessary – this will assist in understanding how the SOA can best serve in jurisdictions outside North America. I am of the growing opinion that the SOA itself could adapt to have a more inclusive structure to reflect its international focus. Currently we centralize activities outside of North America in the “international” department. We could consider a structure that more clearly focuses on the needs of various markets, recognizing that the needs outside of North America are not uniform. It may be timely to review the current staff and volunteer structure to ensure we are addressing the needs of our global membership effectively. This would include considerations around examinations, ongoing education and in research activities.
I have had involvement in structure reviews in my working years, which would be helpful to the SOA.
Emerging
Recently, the number of new candidates for actuarial exams has been declining. What additional actions should the Board take on this topic in relation to keeping the SOA successful?
It will be important to understand more deeply the cause of current trends – while we know the pandemic had a dampening effect on exam registrations, that was an amplification of an underlying trend that was already emerging.
The first question is how to get a sufficient number of people to write their first exam. There are several new initiatives launched recently that need to be monitored for success and modified as necessary. We know, from broad research, that people entering the workforce today are significantly more interested in purpose and mission for their employers and for themselves. As actuaries, we know that our work benefits people – giving financial stability in times of crisis. This higher purpose needs also to be more prominent in our work to attract candidates.
Next, the SOA needs to keep candidates on a pathway to membership in the SOA. With new categories of membership, candidates may well elect to stop after a micro-credential, or with relevant certificates. This does not preclude those members from writing additional exams later, for other certificates, micro-credentials or the full pathway to FSA. All levels and categories of membership should be welcomed and considered successful.
Finally, it is critical for all members to be able to find relevant and productive employment using their actuarial education and qualification. Impacting the “demand” side of the equation is very challenging, as it is not within the direct control of the SOA. The key will be that the education and all levels of credentials give members the skills that employers require. The SOA needs to develop agility to ensure that actuarial education for both candidates and members continues to address evolving techniques and the need for skills from a potentially broadening employer base.