The CAS’s Candidate Liaison Committee (CLC) has four new candidate representatives to share their voices and perspectives on the candidate experience with the CAS and to communicate news from the CAS to the candidate community. I’ve asked our new representatives to introduce themselves and share a little bit regarding their background, interests, and plans for a future Future Fellows article. On behalf of the CLC veterans, we are delighted to welcome Emma, Chandler, Holley, and Victor.
Emma Casehart
Hi everyone! I’m Emma Casehart, and I’m an Actuarial Assistant working for Allstate. I work in personal lines pricing on specialty products like condo, boat, and trailer insurance. Because Exam 5 is the theoretical basis for a lot of my day-to-day, I’ve had the most fun studying for it out of all the exams so far. I’m excited to be part of the CLC so I can bring my enthusiasm for the profession to a wide audience and help other early-career actuaries navigate the elusive work/life/study balance. My favorite Future Fellows articles are about how actuaries use the exam material in their careers – it helps motivate me through those final study hours. During my turn as Candidate Representative, I’m looking forward to writing about diversity in the actuarial profession and study strategies for first-time upper level exam takers. When I’m not writing about being an actuary, I bake cinnamon rolls and run so I can keep eating them!
Chandler Fischbeck
My name is Chandler Fischbeck and I work for Allstate as an Actuarial Analyst. I've been working here for about a year, after graduating from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. I currently work on Auto and Home pricing. When I'm not working or studying for exams, I enjoy training for and competing in triathlons and spending time with my wife and other family members.
I'm waiting on results for Exam 5, and will take Exam 6 in the spring if I passed 5. My favorite exam was exam C because probability and statistics "clicked" for me as I was studying for it. I had struggled on P, but I put in a ton of hours studying for C and eventually it all made sense to me.
I applied to be on the CLC because I want to help other aspiring actuaries succeed at getting their credentials. The exam process is tough, and I want to help other people understand the resources they have and so that they can study effectively and pass these exams. I also wanted to be a part of the CAS and be able to write articles on the Future Fellows newsletter, as I just recently discovered it and find it to be extremely helpful. An article that I would like to write would be on the potential effects of self-driving cars on the Auto Insurance Industry.
Holley Rouse
I am Holley Rouse, an Actuarial Analyst and the Accounting Manager at Tiller Consulting Group, Inc. We are a small one-actuary consulting firm, so I have a lot of direct client experience. I applied to be on the CLC because I want to be more involved in the actuarial community and encourage others to be more involved. I also want to be a voice and advocate for candidates with invisible disabilities. The next exam I plan on sitting for is Online Course 2 and Exam 5. Since I am currently stuck on it, my least favorite exam is MAS-I. The source materials are numerous and it’s a relatively new exam, so it’s been a challenge to navigate. I enjoyed Nate William’s article on “The NAIC and SOA: What Really Happened?” It’s very relevant to some of the issues current candidates are facing when choosing a path to Fellowship. In my other life, I am a professional singer, so I would love to write an article about career juggling! Disability management while studying for exams is an additional article option. My other extracurriculars include hiking, cooking, baking, reading, and bullet journaling.
Victor Wang
I am Victor Wang, and I’m the Actuarial & Analytics Lead at PULA Advisors (www.pula.io), a Swiss consulting company based in Nairobi, Kenya that specializes in developing and implementing agricultural microinsurance in 9 countries across East Africa. I have worked with them since 2016 (initially on an external consultant basis) on projects primarily based in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, and Malawi, and I have published a joint paper with PULA and the World Bank on applications of machine learning in agricultural insurance.
I like to rock climb in my free time, primarily bouldering and top rope with the occasional lead climbing outdoors at Hells Gate (a Kenyan nature reserve). Outside of that, I like to spend time volunteering with actuarial societies, previously with The Actuarial Society of Kenya as the Technical Committee Chair for their annual Convention and now with the CAS Candidate Liaison Committee. One of my favourite pieces of the CAS educational curriculum was the CAS Module 2 since it gave better background on underwriting and commercial facets, going beyond the scope of purely actuarial considerations, and one of my favourite CAS articles was published in the March 2018 Future Fellows on microcheating, as it gave unique advice and examples of how to prevent even small slip-ups during the exam process.
One of the driving forces for my engagement with the CLC this year is to continue staying involved with the CAS community as a whole, as well as to provide the perspective of P&C insurance from a non-traditional point of view, both in terms of product offerings (microinsurance) and geographies where insurance is conducted differently. An article I look forward to publishing is on microinsurance in Africa.
Are you interested in becoming a candidate representative for the Candidate Liaison Committee? Look for an announcement in Summer 2020 regarding the application process.