My Actuarial Working Life

This morning when I went through parts of my actuarial study notes on modeling, I came across this statement: " The modeling process often has a demanding deadline and a temptation could arise to accept the results from the model without performing a rigorous validation process. It is imperative that sufficient time be allotted to validating the model and subsequently reconciling the model results to emerging results. " This statement has rightfully highlighted the importance of validating & reconciliation exercises during modeling process - in fact, this statement is also true for other actuarial works as well as system implementation. Theoretically, we know that we should allocate adequate amount of time & resources to check/validate the model/process we have built up and reconcile the results the model/process has produced. Unfortunately, in real life, not many of us do what the statement has suggested in practice. "We have to forego vigorous checking ...

After completing my Prophet training yesterday, I met someone from another department (i.e. not Actuarial Department) and had a short chat with him. During our conversation, we briefly touched on the work Actuarial is doing (more specifically Actuarial Department in an insurance company). Mr. L commented that Actuarial's work is too specific in their own technical area, and they do not see the business from wider angle compared to another department (well, this was considered a polite way to say "having less business sense..."). Actually I wasn't surprise to hear this comment, however I didn't agree with this perception. "Actuarial have involvements in many areas of an insurance company - based on my experience, I know Actuarial does involve in areas like finance, underwriting, claim, operations and ..." Although I don't agree with what Mr. L has commented, I do observe some of us who working in Actuarial fields limit ourselves to so-called ...