Candidate Questionnaire
Sherry Chan, FSA 2016, EA 2017, MAAA 2008, FCA 2014
Atidot, Chief Strategy Officer, New York, NY
Athena Actuarial Consulting, Board of Advisors Member, New York, NY (term concluded 6/30/2023)
Brief description of current work:
Atidot – Internal and external strategy for an AI tech startup that provides predictive analytics to the life insurance ecosystem
Athena – Strategic advisory services for a women-owned firm that provides actuarial consulting services and workforce solutions with a commitment to innovation and diversity (term concluded 6/30/2023)
Primary Area of Practice:
Retirement
Other Areas of Practice:
Insurtech
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.
In various roles throughout my career, I have worked collaboratively with stakeholders to successfully complete critical projects. I have had increasing responsibilities for the development and implementation of strategic initiatives and have gained extensive experience working with and serving on boards.
I gained some exposure to international work early in my career, assisting with the launch of the Hong Kong Mandatory Provident Fund.
I worked for almost 8 years as Chief Actuary for the State of Ohio and during the historic recession of 2008. Despite economic conditions, I was able to work collaboratively with the retirement system Board of Directors, unions, and the state legislature to make pension reforms that restored financial sustainability to the system.
In 2015, I was appointed Chief Actuary for New York City, leading a city agency of approximately 40 employees and providing the actuarial services for 800,000 plan participants of the five retirement systems that make up the world’s largest municipal pension plan. During my tenure, I worked with the retirement systems’ boards and elected officials to secure pension benefits for those who gave their lives responding to 9/11 or in keeping the City running during the past century’s deadliest pandemic.
Currently, I am the Chief Strategy Officer for a tech startup that assists the life insurance ecosystem in better understanding their policyholder behavior through AI. In this role, I lead the growth strategies for the tech company, working with insurance carriers, regulators, and investors domestically and abroad. Additionally, I am on the board (term concluded 6/30/2023) and provide strategic advisory services for a women-owned, actuarial and workforce solutions consulting firm with a commitment to innovation and diversity.
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.
My personal and volunteer experience aligns closely with the mission and strategic goals of the SOA.
Having parents whose schooling was stripped from them during China’s Cultural Revolution, education and lifelong learning have always been priorities in my life. I devote decent time and resources to my alma mater, The Ohio State University, which – like the SOA – is focused on providing relevant education to prepare students for professional success.
Driven by the anti-Asian hate crimes to help my AAPI community in some way, I founded a non-profit organization dedicated to breaking the Bamboo Ceiling in the actuarial profession. My work in helping Abacus Actuaries achieve its mission directly assists the SOA in its strategic DEI initiatives.
In my progressive Academy leadership positions, I’ve contributed to the profession by issuing papers on timely actuarial matters, advocating for professionalism and ethics, promoting the profession, and strategizing with the organization on ways to grow membership – all of which is relevant experience to help the SOA achieve its own strategic plan.
Specifically, my volunteer experience includes:
Society of Actuaries (2013 – Present)
Fellowship Admissions Course, Facilitator
Insurtech Advisory Council
Professionalism Task Force
Discipline Committee
Retirement Plans Experience Committee
American Academy of Actuaries (2016 – Present)
VP of Pension and Board Member (term expires Fall 2023)
Pension Practice Council, Co-Vice Chair
Public Plans Committee, Chair
Public Plans Committee, Member
Conference of Consulting Actuaries (2014 – Present)
Strategic Planning Task Force
Women In Consulting Community, Co-Founder and Steering Committee Member
Public Plans Community, Member
International Actuarial Association (2018 – 2022)
International Association of Consulting Actuaries, Board Member
Abacus Actuaries (2021 – Present)
Original Co-Founder and Current Board Member
The Ohio State University (2018 – Present)
Sherry S. Chan Actuarial Endowment, Founder
College of Arts and Sciences, Dean’s Advisory Committee
Department of Mathematics, Advisory Board
Agility/Change
Describe a significant change that you led in the workplace or in your volunteer activities. What were the largest obstacles you overcame, and what would you have done differently to ensure greater success.
I have always felt the drive to help my AAPI community in a way I can make a social impact. After some reflection and research of how various factors hinder the upward mobility of Asians in the workplace, I embarked on founding Abacus Actuaries, a non-profit organization with the mission to break the Bamboo Ceiling and help Asians reach the highest ranks of the actuarial profession.
Manifesting this idea into an organization with over 1,000 members did not come without obstacles. There were folks who told me that since Asians are “good at math”, they breeze through exams and therefore such organization is not necessary; there was persuading individuals to give their time to build this organization; there was getting founding sponsors to invest in us when we had zero members nor programming to show for; there was doing everything from scratch having never done it before, like drafting bylaws or obtaining 501c3 status; and then, there was attracting and growing the membership.
However, the biggest lesson learned and obstacle overcome was related to the internal leadership of the fledging organization. We were committed that Abacus would also take its mission to heart internally. Namely, we would give leadership responsibilities and opportunities to the board members who are actuaries in earlier and formative stages of their careers, with more senior and executive-level actuaries on the board to provide guidance. However, the more senior actuaries initially underestimated the degree of coaching and support needed for this setup to be successful and under-delivered on carrying out its very own mission internally. Upon realizing this, the senior actuaries started providing 1-on-1 mentoring to ensure the more junior actuaries are met with success in both the operations of Abacus and in their careers.
Motivating/Influencing
Describe a time when you helped resolve a difficult situation in a professional setting. Describe the situation, the actions you took, and the outcome.
One of the five New York City Retirement Systems had an employer that went defunct. The laws governing the pension funding only implicitly spelled out which surviving entity assumes the ongoing liability, leaving room for the responsible party to skirt the assumption of these future payments. Over the years, this left the remaining employers unfairly subsidizing the funding gap that grew to be hundreds of millions of dollars. As Chief Actuary, it was my responsibility to ensure the pension benefits are properly funded for.
Obtaining the funding from the proper party for this entity that dissolved involved a majority vote of the Retirement System’s board, which is comprised of elected politicians and influential union leaders who often retained close ties for purposes of, respectively, election success and garnering policy support. In practicality, this means the rational presentation of quantifiable projections or even of the law, does not stand up to board member votes that can be pre-determined outside the board room for reasons largely or entirely unrelated to their fiduciary duties.
This entity’s full funding from the responsible party was eventually obtained. It was done through multiple years of negotiations which taught me perseverance, through gracefully accepting some losses in what you set out to achieve because partial wins still guarantee progress and the remaining work is reduced, through patiently waiting for the right timing of an economic or budget cycle or when board allies may be weakened due to various negotiation or election results which taught me the effectiveness of taking action during specific windows of opportunities that can come and go and be short, through strong relationship management to understand what each party fundamentally wants which taught me the art of strategizing win-win scenarios so all sides come out getting what they want while also resolving the situation.
Diversity
What steps might the SOA take to improve its diversity, equity and inclusion? You can read more about current efforts by the organization at www.soa.org/programs/diversity-inclusion.
Whether at the beginning, middle, or top of the career journey, there are opportunities for SOA to further improve its DEI.
One objective of actuarial exams is providing students with the skills they need to be successful in their career. With mandatory employee training in DEI becoming more common at employers, actuarial exams can also introduce DEI topics in its curriculum, further preparing them for both the workplace environment and their role as a member of the profession.
SOA can facilitate member volunteer programs to expose individuals of an underrepresented group to actuarial career options to strengthen diversity of the actuarial profession, to share experiences with individuals who are in the position to influence policies so there can be more equity in the workplace, and to coach individuals on how to navigate certain workplace situations so inclusiveness can be more broadly achieved.
At the highest level, the SOA can also enhance DEI by reserving a seat at the board table for a rotating member of underrepresented groups. In addition to solving a pipeline issue, DEI efforts also include equipping those already in the profession to advance. By opening board involvement opportunities to certain individuals, the experience gained in observing the operations of a board, partaking in strategic discussions to drive the profession forward, and providing firsthand feedback to help shape policies in the profession can give these individuals the important executive experience that opens doors in their own career path.
International
The 2022-2024 Strategic Plan includes an objective to Accelerate International Growth. Please explain how you will help the Board accomplish this.
East Asia and South Asia have a large potential for the SOA to internationally grow its membership base. Aspiring actuaries there have options of which actuarial credentialing organization to join. This makes SOA’s brand and presence even more important in that geography. I would see this aspect of SOA’s strategy as a priority of my service on the Board.
While based in North America, I can contribute strategies and my Asian network for SOA to grow its brand, such as participating in local school and community programs to build awareness at a young age, or to help design workplace exchange programs where aspiring actuaries can build (metaphorical) bridges across countries and return home to be advocates for the SOA.
Increasing SOA’s presence in these areas is also important to improve the value proposition for members there. The in-person international Fellowship Admissions Course, for which I am already a trained facilitator and can immediately help with, should be restored so the new FSAs have the same member benefit as those in the US. In-person programming to enhance an actuary’s technical, soft, and executive skills, while building their network across borders is valuable in an ever-increasing international workplace. My bi-cultural upbringing, experience working with an international team, and Asian American advocacy work aptly prepares me to be a part of these professional development events.
Emerging
The SOA Long-Term Growth Strategy outlines the six critical issues our research has identified as the trends changing our environment and impacting our work as actuaries. How might the Board address any of these issues to keep the SOA successful?
There have been tectonic currents in the actuarial industry, where data science and the advancement of AI have caused growth and encroachment concerns. However, as with most change comes new opportunities. The Board can explore how actuaries and data scientists can work together and how each of their differences and strengths can be leveraged to best provide for the industry. Similarly, the Board can brainstorm how AI can be used to enhance the work products actuaries deliver to be better, faster, and cheaper.
As our industry is changing, so is the speed of life (generally speaking) – from the consumption and delivery of nearly all forms of communication to one’s tenure of commitment to an organization. This shapes how we should be credentialing and developing actuarial candidates and how we engage our members. For example, the exam curriculum and CE requirements can be modified to utilize more video production skills (which also holds the benefit of honing communication skills), and more micro volunteer opportunities can be offered to break down otherwise lengthy commitments that prevent members from engaging in the profession.
Lastly, the pandemic has undoubtedly changed SOA’s future geographic growth patterns with the introduction of a more remote workforce. The advantage has been that talent and member recruitment can be extended to areas where it was previously more limited. However, the issue of hindered connections has arisen, risking less networking and learning opportunities. The Board can consider for the SOA to host more local community and more participatory training events (online and/or in person) where interaction with peers is implicit in the agenda.