Actuary what? - by Tamra Van Allen - American Diversity Report: QUANTUM * DIVERSITY

I am Tamra VanAllen, Assistant VP & Pricing Actuary at Unum. When people ask me what I do, I say, “I’m an actuary” then I watch for their reaction. It typically goes one of two ways, either an excited “I know someone else who is an actuary” or I am met with a blank stare and awkward pause while they try to decide if it is even worth asking about.

So what do actuaries do? We manage risk—working with organizations to plan for the future. We look at historical data, integrate what we know about the current / upcoming world and develop assumptions to model out future financial outcomes. In order to be successful at that we need to stay up to date on a broad range of issues and evaluate risks in light of a constantly changing environment. Some considerations include competitor actions, regulatory changes, interest rates, and technology changes that influence policyholder behavior.

I work in a very traditional actuarial role as a pricing actuary at an insurance company and am charged with a professional obligation to protect the policyholder. Pricing actuaries ensure premiums are adequate, but not excessive—we are responsible to make sure an appropriate amount of premium makes it back to the policyholder in the form of claim payments. Actuaries also work as consultants, for the government and in less traditional roles such as modeling environmental changes.

My journey into math did not involve a particular person encouraging me to do it. I was just vaguely aware of people who had. I knew that the ophthalmologist mother of one of my friends had been a math major in college and another friend mentioned that her aunt was an actuary and that had something to do with math. With those two facts in the back of my mind I set out for college just outside of Chattanooga. I started as a business major for a half a semester, moved into history for a few semesters before I grew weary of writing research papers and switched to math. I wasn’t sure what I could do besides teach, so decided to look up ‘actuary’ on the internet. I found out that some company named Unum had an actuarial student program so I drove my car downtown, pulled up in front of the building and thought “I guess I’ll work there.” Twelve years later, it has worked out rather well.

My company primarily provides income replacement benefits. We sell the promise that when our customers experience a physical loss, we will be there to ease the financial burden. Actuaries are at the heart of ensuring we can fulfill those promises. Our CEO often reminds us about what a noble business we are in and it makes me proud to know my work is helping people–often in a time of great need.

To become an actuary, you have to pass through a grueling exam process, but once you make it through you are rewarded with a solid paycheck and job security. There is a huge demand in the field for people who love problem solving – particularly for those who can integrate solid communication skills with their technical skills. If you are interested in learning more, check out beanactuary.org. It is still a great site for actuarial propaganda.