The CAS Candidate Liaison Committee (CLC) welcomed its newest members during our meeting in early December 2016. The Future Fellows blog will be profiling each of the three new Candidate Representatives joining us this year.
I am excited to introduce Justin Young as the final Candidate Representative in our profile series. Justin is an Actuarial Assistant at Travelers, where he is currently working on a rotation with the International business unit. He has enjoyed his brief time with the CLC and is looking forward to being “as close as you can get to influencing exams as a candidate.” He hopes to give a voice to candidates who feel frustration with the current exam process.
Growing up with three brothers in western New York, Justin always had an appreciation for mathematics. He recalls a moment in fourth grade art class when he saw a complex geometric image by M.C. Escher: “It wasn’t just about adding and subtracting. You could make some really cool things out of math.” When he went off to college, there was no question what he would study, but a master’s degree in mathematics left him feeling burned out. Then he discovered actuarial science, and math was suddenly fun again. He never looked back.
Justin has worked at Travelers for 3 years, and he is in a rotational program, so he has done several different jobs. Before his current position, he worked in catastrophe modeling. Now, as a member of the international team, he analyzes the profitability of foreign exposures, builds predictive models based on Travelers’ U.S. data for adoption in other countries, and helps create tools to grow Travelers’ footprint in expanding markets. In addition to modeling and data work, he spends a lot of time on intracompany communications, e-mailing and video-conferencing with divisions in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Brazil, as they report to the home office in Hartford, CT.
But Justin isn’t just about work and numbers. He also plays volleyball and softball, and he’s a fierce competitor at trivia night. He enjoys volunteering for several organizations, including Habitat for Humanity (see photo). Like most of us, he has to balance these interests with study time, and he says it’s worth it: “When you pass an exam, there’s no greater feeling in the world. Well, I kind of want to win a softball or volleyball championship, too, but we’ll go with this.”
Future Fellows welcomes Justin to the Candidate Liaison Committee, and we look forward to his contributions.
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