For tens of thousands of years, human beings communicated information through time and across generations verbally and with gestures. Caregivers, elders and storytellers passed stories on to younger individuals. Eventually, humans developed written language. This meant we could rely on what others wrote. If future generations could read it, it would persist. First, some history.…
In the wee morning hours of August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew came calling just north of Homestead, Florida. With sustained winds of 165 mph, it would be the strongest hurricane to hit the United States in nearly 60 years. The loss of life was thankfully relatively low. The property damage and the impact on the…
One of my favorite quotes attributed to Steve Jobs is, “Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity—not a threat.” In the working world, in my observation, innovation—particularly around AI advancements—at times has seemed more like a job security threat than an opportunity. However perceived, there’s no doubt more change opportunities are coming.…
Teamwork. Perseverance. Intellectual curiosity. Three traits UWaterloo’s (Ontario, Canada) Team Factuarial —William Zhang, Ki Yan Chan and Kevin Jiang—relied on to take first place in the Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute’s 2025 Student Research Case Study Challenge. Each year, the SOA Research Institute invites college students to work on a hypothetical case study. Teams…
In the dynamic world of actuarial science, professionals often find themselves traversing borders and accumulating diverse experiences that enrich their careers and broaden their perspectives. As part of The Actuary Canada’s August International issue, we delve into the story of Jennifer Dickson, FSA, FCIA, FIA, whose career trek has brought her from Europe to Toronto…
The Actuary’s “Terminology” series, developed in collaboration with the SOA Research Institute’s Catastrophe and Climate Research Steering Committee, seeks to address inconsistent, evolving and complex terms that may require further explanation or examples. These terms are either new to actuaries or may be used differently by actuaries, climatologists, sustainability experts and other stakeholders. This second…
Generative artificial intelligence is rapidly evolving, with tools, methodologies and applications developing at an astonishing speed. By now, it’s almost a cliché to say generative AI is revolutionary, and it may seem difficult to keep up with the pace of change. How can actuaries leverage this powerful technology to increase their productivity and enhance their…
Many quotes about imagination are attributed to Albert Einstein. One favorite is, “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” In my thinking, that statement can be applied not only to scientific discovery but to the actuarial world as well. In this first of two “Revolutionizing the Actuarial World” articles…
While the landscape of actuarial modeling is constantly evolving, many life insurers find themselves tethered to legacy tools of the trade. Decades-old codebases (think COBOL, APL languages); vendor systems designed in the 1990s; and sprawling, complex networks of spreadsheets immediately come to mind. While these tools have served their purpose, they often, in my observation,…
As our world confronted the ongoing challenges of climate change, July 2023 became a record-breaker as the hottest month ever documented. And the 2023–24 El Niño emerged as one of the largest climate anomalies of the 21st century. Coupled with record-breaking sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic, the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season became the fourth…