Candidate Questionnaire
Ying Zhao, FSA 2006, MAAA 2005, FRM 2009
Associate Partner
McKinsey & Company
Chicago, IL
Brief description of current work:
Lead Capital and Balance Sheet service line for NA Insurance practice; help clients in the insurance space to achieve strategic goals through top line growth and bottom-line optimization
Primary Area of Practice:
Life, Risk
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.
My over 20 years of career in insurance have led me to good companies, great cultures, and wonderful people. The first decade of my career followed a traditional path where I went through several actuarial posts, covered various technical topics, and worked in North America and Asia. With a sound actuarial foundation, I switched to consulting, went to work for an insurance startup, then back to consulting again. The dynamic work environment in consulting and the startup was the perfect training ground for fast learning, fast thinking, and collaboration with broad teams of non-actuarial professionals.
In my current role at McKinsey & Company, I focus on strategy, risk, and capital topics, developing and deploying advanced risk assessment and data analytic tools to help clients drive strategic decision-making, innovation, and transformation. I work directly with C-suite leaders to help them solve complex problems.
How have these experiences prepared and qualified me to serve on the SOA board?
- Keen insights: my diverse experience brought me a deep understanding of changing demands for actuaries to be influential leaders, how to succeed in traditional career paths and beyond, and how SOA can best support all candidates and members along their career journey.
- Strategic thinking: serving on the SOA board requires a strategic vision to set the direction for the organization to succeed for decades to come. There are complex issues to be solved and difficult decisions to be made. I have hands-on experience helping many companies set strategic directions and develop forward roadmaps through my consulting and leadership experience.
- Leadership and influence: the SOA board is a collection of different voices to serve a common goal. I have a proven record of collaborating with a variety of teams, influencing decision-making, and driving strategic programs.
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 started volunteering for the SOA ever since I became an FSA, first as a problem writer for exams, then switched to sections. Over the years, I have been in several leadership roles for SOA’s various programs and initiatives. Currently, I’m serving on the SOA board as Secretary/Treasurer and the Chair of the Finance Committee.
- 2020 – current, SOA board member; Leadership Team member (2022-2023); Chair - Finance Committee (2022-2023); Chair -- Audit and Risk Committee (2021-2022)
- 2016 – 2020, SOA Leadership and Development section, Chair, Vice-chair, council member
- 2019 – 2020, SOA Mentoring Pilot Program working group, member
- 2018 – 2019, Joint Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, member
In addition, I have been providing thought leadership on various technical and leadership topics by speaking at SOA conferences and authoring numerous publications in The Actuary Magazine and section newsletters, including the running feature “How Did I Get Here” spotlighting female leaders in the actuarial field.
Outside the SOA, I hold board and leadership roles in organizations advancing DEI in insurance.
- 2021 – current, founding member and board member for Abacus Actuaries, a 501(c)(3) organization promoting workplace inclusion and elevating Asian actuaries.
- 2021 – current, Executive member and Program Committee member for ISC-Group (US), one of the largest global networks for women in insurance.
I am seeking re-election to the SOA board because I would be honored to continue working to achieve the SOA’s strategic goals and radiant actuary’s impact on the broad insurance industry.
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.
A few years ago, I led a project helping a client implement a new actuarial data analytic tool and design a new data intake and reporting process. In the early stage, I helped the client strategize the design, develop a pilot program, and build a business case for leadership buy-in. Through the pilot and early adoptions, the program significantly shortened the time for data and report generation, elevated the analytic capabilities, and delivered a considerable impact on the business process.
There are several factors contributing to the success of the project:
- Careful planning to consider the perspectives of all stakeholders and proactively addressing foreseeable issues
- Strategic selection of program pilots to secure ally support and enable early wins
- Broad and frequent communication to ensure transparency and leadership visibility
- Close collaboration with business partners to resolve upstream and downstream issues
One of the largest obstacles was sorting through ownership and talent alignment within the technology team as the project cut across their existing team structure. I worked with the client to trace through the process flow and identified the owners along the way. We then draft and circulate the new process flow across the teams for awareness and buy-in. As a result, the technology team’s internal communication and collaboration were significantly improved when the pilot program was completed.
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.
Several years ago, I was in charge of building the experience study capability from scratch at the insurance startup. My team leveraged open-source software to develop a data analytic toolkit that could quickly process millions of rows of data. We were thrilled about the progress, but the Risk team was concerned about the open-source tool and would not give their signoff.
To address the concern of the risk team, I organized learning sessions for the Risk team about the tool and its embedded control features. We then initiated a project to assess the feasibility of various open-source and commercial tools for the companies. The assessment made it clear that the commercial tools were not financially feasible, while the open-source tool’s control feature was sufficient to address key risk concerns. My team then collaborated with the risk team to design a detailed control process with data validation and analysis at each step.
The three-step approach allowed us to successfully implement the experience study toolkit, save the company money, and satisfy the risk guideline. More importantly, the two teams built a collaborative and trusting relationship that benefitted the future work together.
I often remind myself and my team that in professional settings, disagreement among different teams may happen by design, as each team serves its purpose. Open communication, close collaboration, and trusting relationships are vital to resolving conflicts and designing solutions that satisfy all stakeholders.
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.
DEI is a continuously evolving journey for every organization. The SOA has made tremendous strides on its DEI journey by focusing on diversity in the candidate pipeline, inclusion in developing future leaders, and providing equity opportunities for people from all walks of life. Going forward, SOA may continue to focus on two dimensions – demographic and geographic shifts that continue to shape the talent pipeline.
- According to US Census Bureau’s population projection, it is estimated that 45% of the college-age population in the US will be Black or Hispanic/Latino by 2050. To attract the best and brightest talent into the actuarial profession, the SOA should accelerate its integrated effort to grow the candidate pipeline, which would include expanding actuarial programs into targeted colleges and universities, raising awareness among high schoolers and their influencers, enhancing exam support at the early stage.
- As candidates outside North America continue to grow in shares of total new entrants to the profession, the SOA may accelerate the expansion in international markets by adapting service offerings to local market needs. We should expand the virtual actuarial community across geography, enhance knowledge sharing and idea exchange, and open minds to global perspectives.
- SOA should deepen collaborations with universities and employers to build an inclusive and robust community model and develop flexible and tailored learning supports throughout the career journey of actuaries with various backgrounds.
International
The 2022-2024 Strategic Plan includes an objective to Accelerate International Growth. Please explain how you will help the Board accomplish this.
According to SOA’s statistics, members outside the US and Canada grew to 5,775 in 2021 from 3,939 in 2015. That is a 47% growth while the total membership growth was 21% for the same time. While the Asian market continues driving the membership growth, other regions such as the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa start to show demand for actuarial talent as they are developing their own insurance market and regulatory framework. The growth momentum is also driven by the trend of globalizing actuarial talent strategy by multinational companies.
To accelerate international growth, the SOA should lean on its core competency of actuarial education and credentialing and develop innovative bespoke solutions for each local market.
- Conduct market research of key regions to understand the demand and supply of actuarial talent
- Assess market maturity of key regions and identify the skill gaps that SOA may help fill
- Engage local stakeholders (e.g., regulators, insurance carriers, universities) to tailor partnership models that fit for purpose
- Create and nurture a global member community to exchange knowledge and build a talent network
- Mobilize volunteers to generate new ideas and create innovative problem-solving
With past overseas experience and a current global client base, I have a unique understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing SOA in the global market. Many exciting developments are happening in the international market, from micro-insurance in Africa to retirement products in China. The SOA can make a real impact on people’s lives in those markets by helping develop the market, supporting regulatory advancement, and above all, attracting and developing actuarial talent.
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?
The six critical issues outlined in the SOA long-term growth strategy challenge the viability of SOA's existing business model. The case for change has been clearly made. As a current board member, I help shape the SOA 2022-2024 strategic plan that has initiated transformative changes to ensure sustainable growth for the actuarial profession. Three areas are particularly worth highlighting.
- Develop a robust and flexible continuing education offering that complements the credential pathway. As other professions (e.g., data science) and technology change the ways we work, the career paths for actuaries are widening and becoming nuanced. SOA members need in-time, bite-size, on-demand education services to keep up with the pace of changing demands. The format and delivery of the learning content need to adapt to the modern lifestyle – anytime, anywhere, and mobile-first. The SOA should position itself as the lifetime learning companion for actuaries.
- Double down on the growing international market. The demand from emerging markets is becoming the growth engine for SOA, which requires a focused and targeted strategy. Globalization of actuarial talent has become a major trend. More and more actuaries work with global teams and cover emerging topics. Many made physical moves to enrich their life experience while expanding career opportunities. The SOA can engage these global citizens in the actuarial community to help develop local markets and create opportunities.
- Create a vibrant community for global membership. A tight-knit community has been a trademark for actuaries. We form study groups, post on discussion boards, network at SOA and actuarial club meetings, and build friendships through volunteering activities. The SOA should play a bigger role in creating communities for actuaries at different stages of their careers and connecting members around the world.