Actuarial - Key skills Gained

Actuarial - Pricing
Why Actuarial?
I started my career in the actuarial space as I believed the heavy analytical skills required would play to my strengths and my outgoing personality would assist in explaining complex matters to varied stakeholders in an understandable manner, hopefully providing me an edge.
Key Commercial Skills Gained?
- I worked on several personal and commercial lines products across the direct, broker and aggregator channels. This has given me a solid understanding of the different distribution dynamics within the non-speciality insurance market and the economics within those channels.
- I learned to code proficiently in SAS taking complete control of the NIG Van pricing algorithm within 3 months. I carried out complex database queries on a daily basis and that set the concrete base for my algorithmic thinking today in which i continue to develop.
- More commercially, I learned everything to do with technical pricing and pricing strategies: new business and propensity, the opportunities from customer elasticity, discount initiatives and algorithmn strategies available through broker platforms. I also learned how loss ratios develop and the different characteristics of less speciality products lines
- I also regular pitched my own pricing initiatives to the pricing committee keeping my presentational skills honed and my analytical skills balanced
- I also gained exposure to emblem and radar undertaking analysis into whether credit scoring should be incorporated into the tradesman product analysing its cost capture capabilities. Giving me an enhanced understanding of general Linear modelling techniques, beneficial in todays world of machine learning developments
Actuarial - Capital & Investment
Why the move to capital?
I moved to capital as I wanted to gain a more commercial understanding of how an insurance business operates as a whole not just the intricacies of a single product. I wanted to understand everything from portfolio management to reinsurance hedging and I had a particular interest in the investment side, working in capital would give me exposure to all that.
Key Commercial skills Gained?
- I developed a solid understanding of monte carlo simulation aka stochastic modelling, gaining exposure to all areas of risk modelling within an insurance business: loss modelling, market/ investment risk, operational risk, reinsurance and catastrophe risk.
- I contributed to the parameterisation of each risk category and was also very involved with the business plan forecasting and the corresponding correlation considerations for both - a strong background in risk management and the awareness of correlations is key across all commercial businesses.
- I learned the details of variables effecting regulatory capital requirement and its relationship to share price, rare knowledge.
- I got to understand the running of an insurance business at the portfolio level, how the risk reward characterisitcs of individual products pool together and the levers management can utilise to enhance ROE and mitigate downside risk such as product diversification benefits and reinsurance structures.
- Modelling of reinsurance structures, as hedging strategies to decrease cashflow volatility and allow for more predictive business planning has provided me with a base for more investment focussed derivatives strategies.
- I also pushed to build out the businesses market risk analysis capabilities, creating quarterly FX, Interest Rate and Bond Return exhibits in Tableau: including fan chart forecasts and probabilistic expectations. I utilised the bond return projections to create portfolio performance probabilistic forecasting and to carry out asset allocation and efficient frontier analysis, presenting to management ideas to improve bottom line performance.