Edition

Chairperson’s Corner

By Kevin Xiao

Actuary of the Future, May 2024

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2023 was a year of change with the COVID-19 pandemic coming to an official end, advancement in artificial intelligence, and new dynamics among global powers. The social and economic impacts from those changes have influenced the day-to-day work of the actuarial profession. Topics on AI, COVID-19 and the marco-economic environment were prevalent in actuarial conferences, webcasts, and newsletters. At the Actuary of the Future section, our mission is to provide education on these emerging changes to our members. I am proud to share that our section has accomplished the following in the year of 2023:

  • Podcasts: Produced three new podcasts as part of our “Launching Your Actuarial Career” series.
  • Webcasts: Published two webcasts on non-traditional actuarial careers and fostering innovation.
  • Newsletters: Published five newsletters on emerging topics.
  • Networking Events: Sponsored various networking events at SOA conferences.

Many thanks to our 2023 council, SOA engagement specialist and staff actuary (Nick Kocisak, Bryan Liu, Andrew Meier, Nathan Pohle, Yi Ru, Chris Smith, Ryan Wodarski, SOA Engagement Specialist Carla Eisenberg and SOA Staff Actuary David Schraub) for making this possible.

For the year 2024, our strategic focus revolves around member engagement, partnership with other organizations and emerging topics. With recent changes to open-up sections at no cost to SOA members, we have seen a significant increase in our membership. Enhancing interactions with existing and new members is a crucial part of our strategic goal in 2024. We look forward to engaging you with our content and receiving feedback. We will continue to cultivate relationships with other SOA sections, local and global actuarial clubs, and research committees to produce content of common interests. Our section will also maintain focus on emerging topics related to AI, climate change, and catastrophe; with the goal to educate our members through podcasts, webcasts and newsletters. These will be made available through email, LinkedIn, and other distribution channels. For latest updates from our section, join our LinkedIn group “SOA Actuary of the Future Section.”

Statements of fact and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily those of the Society of Actuaries, the newsletter editors, or the respective authors’ employers.

Kevin Xiao, FSA, is an associate actuary at RGA’s Non-Traditional Valuation team. Kevin is also the current chair of Actuary of the Future section. He can be reached at jxiao32@hotmail.com.