AGENDA Friday, May 15, 2015 Marriott Hartford Hartford, CT This SOA Candidate Connect is tailored for actuarial candidates, providing information, inspiration and networking opportunities while in pursuit of your ASA designation. The one-day program is packed with informative sessions and networking opportunities, you will: Gain insight into the actuarial profession and the industry from top-notch speakers; Learn about what qualities employers are seeking and how to prepare for your actuarial career; and Build your professional network by connecting with SOA members, fellow candidates, local actuarial clubs and employer representatives. SOA.org/CandidateConnect PROGRAM OVERVIEW 8:00 9:00 a.m. Registration & Networking 9:00 10:00 a.m. Opening General Session 10:00 10:15 a.m. Refreshment Break 10:15 11:45 a.m. The Actuarial Career Panel Noon 1:30 p.m. Networking Luncheon & Keynote Speech 1:45 2:30 p.m. Breakout Sessions 1-3 2:30 2:45 p.m. Break 2:45 3:30 pm. Breakout Sessions 4-6 3:30 5:00 p.m. Networking Reception
AGENDA 9:00 10:00 a.m. Opening General Session Room: Marriott C, D, E Conversational Intelligence The Neurochemistry of Successful Conversations and Relationships Presenter: Juliann M. Wiese, B.Ed, CPCC Wiese has more than 20 years experience in learning, development and training. She is a member of The CreatingWE Institute and the master trainer for Conversational Intelligence. She facilitates programs and certifies executives, teams and organizations in Conversational Intelligence and C-IQ related programs. 10:15 11:45 a.m. The Actuarial Career Panel Room: Marriott C, D, E Presenters: Tracy Martinotti; Olga Jacobs, FSA, MAAA; Guillaume Briere-Giroux, FSA, MAAA, CFA; Chris Amon, FSA This session features seasoned actuaries from different industries. You will learn about what actuaries do in a variety of practice areas, industry trends impacting their daily work, opportunities for future actuaries and advice for a successful actuarial career. Tracy Martinotti Life Actuarial Program Manager, The Hartford Martinotti has been working at The Hartford for the last 16 years with her focus being on the actuarial program for the last 11 years. She started her career at a certified public accounting firm after graduating college. She then joined The Hartford in the international area before she transitioned into her current role. Martinotti is responsible for all aspects of the actuarial program including recruiting, student development, exam support and the internship program. She is a graduate of Bay Path College (now University). Olga Jacobs, FSA, MAAA Vice President & Actuary, UnitedHealthcare Board of Directors, Society of Actuaries Jacobs has over 20 years of experience in pricing, product development, rate filings and regulatory rating compliance of group medical products. She currently oversees efforts to develop analytical modeling and pricing approaches to support UHC s Exchange Strategy. She creates and presents actuarial advocacy positions on federal and state health care reform proposals. In a prior role, she was responsible for the actuarial analysis and pricing for an $8 billion commercial block of business. She is a founding and current member of the Steering Committee of the Actuarial Leadership Development Program at UHC. Jacobs has been volunteering with the SOA for over 15 years in various capacities. She is also a founding and current member of the Penn State Actuarial Science Alumni Advisory Board. Guillaume Briere-Giroux, FSA, MAAA, CFA Principal and Hartford Office Leader, Oliver Wyman Briere-Giroux is a principal and leads the Hartford, Connecticut, office of Oliver Wyman. He has worked with top annuity writers on issues related to product development, financial reporting, asset liability management, financial modeling and risk management. His areas of practice also include mergers and acquisitions, model validation, experience studies, and stable value products. Briere-Giroux is a frequent speaker at SOA meetings and his work and research have been featured in the press and many actuarial publications. He helped pioneer the use of predictive modeling for experience studies in the annuity space and co-authored the awardwinning paper Application of Predictive Modeling Techniques in Measuring Policyholder Behavior in Variable Annuity Contracts. Briere-Giroux is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and a CFA Charterholder. Chris Amon, FSA CFP, ChFC, CRPC Amon & Associates Amon is a registered representative of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. He has over 16 years of business owner, financial and estate planning experience. Amon has been the featured speaker at many seminars and training meetings for the public, trade associations, accounting/law firms and financial planning professionals. He is also a Certified Continuing Education Instructor for National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. Amon is a graduate of The University of Connecticut and holds CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER certification and Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC ) designation. He serves on the board of directors for the Hartford Chapter of the UCONN Alumni Association, The Hartford & Springfield Actuaries Club, and the Entrepreneurial Actuaries Section of the Society of Actuaries. 12:00 p.m. 1:30 p.m. Networking Luncheon & Keynote Speech Room: Marriott C, D, E Presenter: R. Dale Hall, FSA, MAAA, CERA, CFA Society of Actuaries: Research Expanding Boundaries Hall is managing director of research at the Society of Actuaries in Schaumburg, Illinois. In his role, he coordinates the SOA s strategic research partnerships and oversees SOA experience studies, practice research, and data-driven in-house research initiatives. Previous to joining the SOA in 2013, Hall spent more than 20 years in the life insurance industry, primarily as chief actuary for the life/health companies of COUNTRY Financial. While at COUNTRY, he was active in industry as a member of the ACLI Actuarial Committee, a frequent speaker at industry meetings, and was an adjunct professor in the actuarial science program at Illinois State University.
1:45 2:30 p.m. Breakout Sessions 1-3 Session 1: Transferrable Skills and Switching Careers Room: Marriott A Presented by MassMutual Financial Presenters: Mark Spong, Actuarial Consultant in Valuation & Modeling; Heidi Xenophontos, FSA, CERA, MAAA, Actuary in Reinsurance Strategy Switching careers can be challenging. You may feel like you are back at the bottom of the career ladder. However, when you talk to senior actuaries, many will share their experiences as teachers, car salesmen, analysts or programmers. This session will be an interactive and frank discussion about how to handle the obstacles and leverage the advantages of switching careers. Even people who are not career changers are welcome to attend this session because switching roles and responsibilities is very common and may require you to reflect about your own transferrable skills. Session Coordinator: Mark Spong, Actuarial Consultant in Valuation & Modeling Mark Spong Actuarial Consultant, MassMutual Financial Group Spong joined the MassMutual Actuarial Student Program in 2014. His first rotation is on the valuation and modeling team where he updates and sets assumptions, performs quarterly reporting functions and helps with model conversions. Before starting his actuarial career at MassMutual, Spong was a high school math teacher and textbook author. Spong has a B.A. from Harvard, M.A. from Stanford and a M.S. from the University of Connecticut. Heidi Xenophontos, FSA, MAAA, CERA Actuary, MassMutual Financial Group Xenophontos joined the MassMutual Actuarial Student Program in 2008. She has worked in asset liability management, MassMutual International, and currently is part of their reinsurance team. Before starting her actuarial career, Xenophontos spent four years working internationally in Cyprus (computer programing), seven years at a manufacturing company (customer service / management / computer programming), and seven years at home (full time mother / consulting part time). Xenophontos has a B.A. in German and a B.S. in applied mathematics from the University of Rhode Island. Session 2: DB or Not to DB, That Is the Question Room: Marriott C Presented by Prudential Financial Presenters: Alex Kirimov, Prudential Financial, ASA, EA, AVP and Consulting Actuary; Paul Adamczyk, EA, Director and Consulting Actuary Summary: Organization facing compliance issues with IRS regulations. Provided a consulting opportunity, which evolved into a comprehensive review of pension benefit to current and future employees with various pension options to deliver the promise. Issue: Years ago, reacting to diminished ability to provide above average pension benefits, the organization adopted a two tier pension approach. Existing employees were given the option to remain in the defined benefit plan or switch to a defined contribution plan. New employees were offered only the defined contribution plan. Now, the existing defined benefit plans are nearly failing ERISA minimum participation requirements. What are the options? Decision process: Established guiding principles for new design Developed alternatives for future retirement programs design DB freeze and modified DC plan Reopen DB plan to all employees Traditional formula Hybrid plan Use analytic tools to measure cost and impact they have on existing defined benefit participants Consider organization s culture, IRS non-discrimination regulations and recent IRS hybrid plan regulations in decision Conduct management meetings. Review and fine-tune results. Assist in final decision-making process Result: Client reopened DB plan to all participants. Existing DB participants maintain current benefit. Other DB participants use cash balance design. Session Coordinator: Felix Okwaning, FSA, MAAA, EA, FCA, Director & Consulting Actuary Alexander Kirimov, ASA, EA AVP and Consulting Actuary, Prudential s Retirement Plan Strategies Group Prior to joining Prudential in 2009, Kirimov worked for several benefit and management consulting firms including Mercer, Ernst & Young and TowersWatson. Kirimov has been providing actuarial, consulting and administrative services to plan sponsors since 1989. His expertise includes consulting on plan design for qualified and nonqualified benefits, pension plan accounting and funding, early retirement windows design and implementation, union negotiations and assistance with benefit administration. Kirimov has been providing consulting and actuarial services to variety of clientele including publicly traded companies, nonprofit organizations and municipal entities managing recurring annual services and providing
expertise with special projects involving plan redesigns and benefit improvements. Kirimov holds an M.S. degree in physics from the St. Petersburg State University of Russia. Paul V. Adamczyk Director and Consulting Actuary, Prudential Located in Chicago, Adamczyk provides actuarial consulting services to Prudential Retirement pension clients. Adamczyk s 37 years of expertise includes: consulting with plan sponsors on design, funding and implementation of their plans, implementation of early retirement windows and plan terminations. Prior to joining Prudential in 2011 Adamczyk worked at Towers Watson where his experience included managing a team of benefit consultants and lead actuary to several pension clients. Adamczyk attended Northwestern University where he earned a B.A. degree in mathematics. He is an Enrolled Actuary and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries and a Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries. Session 3: Insider Insights into Recruiting Room: Marriott B Presented by MassMutual Financial Presenter: Amanda Hug, FSA, MAAA, Actuary, Actuarial Student Program Recruiter Looking for an internship or full-time position? Wondering where to start or how to land that offer? Come hear straight from the horse s mouth, or rather, from the recruiter for the Actuarial Intern and Student Programs at MassMutual. Learn about what an employer looks for on a resume and in an interview, and how you can best stand out among a sea of qualified candidates. In addition, we are looking for your feedback! You will have the chance to share anonymously via a live survey about your experience as a candidate during the recruiting process. Let us know what works, what doesn t, and how we as employers can improve the process for you. This will be 45 minutes well spent! Session Coordinator: Amanda Hug, FSA, MAAA, Actuary, Actuarial Student Program Recruiter Amanda Hug, FSA, MAAA Actuary, MassMutual Financial Group Hug currently works in MassMutual s worksite insurance division where her primary focus is on pricing critical illness. Previously, she was a member of the actuarial student program, where she achieved her fellowship in three years under the Individual Life & Annuity track. During her time in the student program, she held rotations in life valuation & modeling and retirement services pricing. In addition to her responsibilities in Worksite, she manages actuarial student recruiting for MassMutual. Hug graduated summa cum laude from Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL, with a B.S. in mathematics. 2:45 3:30 pm. Breakout Sessions 4-6 Session 4: The Role of Consulting Actuary Pension & Health Room: Marriott A Presented by Odyssey Advisors Presenter: Parker Elmore, ASA, MAAA, EA, FCA, President & CEO The role of consulting actuary presents new issues each day. We are effectively doing multi-dimensional word problems as our clients are often unaware of the exact problem. Rather, they see a symptom with no real understanding of the problem or how to solve it. Our job as consultants is to gather information, use our knowledge of the pension or health arenas and come up with creative solutions to solve these issues. In the consulting arena, we get to meet the clients, discuss the issues, make presentations and become valued business partners. This session is designed to provide some case studies & examples as well as dialogue with the audience on how the job actually works vs. what you may have been taught in school. Session Coordinator: Parker Elmore, ASA, MAAA, EA, FCA, President & CEO Parker Elmore, ASA, EA, MAAA, FCA President, Actuary & CEO, Odyssey Advisors Elmore works with over 500 pension and medical plan sponsors across the United States to assist them in designing plans to meet the needs of their organization and their employees. With over 25 years of industry experience, Elmore and his Odyssey team are focused on quality service, expertise and efficiency to bring cost effective solutions to small public & private employers. Prior to founding Odyssey, Elmore worked with both Hewitt Associates (now AON Hewitt) and USI Consulting Group. In 1998, he founded Primoris Benefit Advisors, Inc. (now Odyssey) which offered a wide range of services including employee benefit plan consulting. Elmore is always willing to share his knowledge and experience with others. He has been interviewed by the National Institute of Pension Administrators and has spoken before many professional organizations including the 2010 National Public Housing Authorities Directors Association s annual meeting.
Session 5: Non-Traditional Routes to the Actuarial Profession Room: Marriott C Presented by The Hartford Presenters: John Brady, FSA, MAAA, VP & Actuary; Stephen Aloi, Actuarial Consultant; Mike Belanger, FSA, CERA, Director and Risk Manager; Kevin Brown, Actuarial Consultant; Michael Destito, Actuarial Consultant; Anthony Genova, ASA, CERA, Assistant Director; Jim Kosinsk, FSA, MAAA, AVP& Actuary; Bradley Schuster, ASA, CERA, Assistant Actuary A panel discussion featuring actuaries that joined the profession in a non-traditional way, after either trying a different career or after pursuing a different educational experience. The panel will be made up of seven people including those who are already fellows of the SOA and those that are still taking exams. Their experience ranges from two to 15 years. The panel will be moderated by John Brady who is a vice president and actuary at The Hartford and is also the executive sponsor of the life actuarial program at the company. He will ask the panel a variety of questions regarding their entry into the profession, their prior experience, how that impacted their roles in the actuarial profession, what were some of the challenges they had coming from a non-traditional background, etc. before opening it up to the audience for additional questions. Session Coordinator: John Brady, FSA, MAAA, VP & Actuary Stephen Aloi Actuarial Consultant, The Hartford Aloi has been working in the insurance industry for the past nine years. He started his career as a group insurance underwriter. After passing two exams, he was accepted into The Hartford s Actuarial Student Program and currently works in group reinsurance. He has passed all five preliminary exams and is awaiting the results of the FAP Final Assessment. Aloi graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor s degree in mathematics. Michael Belanger, FSA, CERA Director & Risk Manager, The Hartford Belanger currently works in the enterprise risk management area of The Hartford, focusing on asset modeling and analytics. His responsibilities include modeling general account assets in support of a new risk forecasting platform and modeling assets in support of economic capital. He joined the company in 2005 as a member of a student rotational development program. Prior roles include derivatives valuation and reporting in support of a variable annuity hedge program, valuation of variable universal life reserves in support of a letter of credit agreement, fixed annuity product development, variable annuity GMWB product modeling, and group benefits LTD valuation. Before joining The Hartford, Belanger spent four years developing gas station point-of-sale interface and network communication software for Gilbarco Veeder-Root. He holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Virginia Tech. John Brady, FSA, MAAA Vice President & Actuary, The Hartford Brady joined The Hartford in 1992 in the actuarial student program and served in valuation and pricing roles with increasing responsibility prior to joining the finance area in 2001. His current responsibilities include valuation, product management, capital projections, experience studies, assumption setting, financial modeling, analysis and communication of results for the run-off variable annuity business. In addition, he is the executive sponsor for The Hartford s life actuarial student program. Brady holds a bachelor s degree in mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Kevin Brown, ASA Actuarial Consultant, The Hartford Brown began his career at The Hartford in 2011 in the Annuity Contact Center and transitioned to the Actuarial Student Program in 2012. In his current rotation in enterprise risk management, he is working to enhance the firm s credit risk surveillance capabilities. His first rotation was in group reinsurance plus, where he provided actuarial support for the largest private label disability client and maintained experience pricing tools for underwriting. Prior to joining The Hartford, Brown was an elementary school music teacher in New York. He holds a bachelor s degree in music education from The Ohio State University. Michael Destito Actuarial Consultant, The Hartford Destito joined The Hartford s Actuarial Leadership Training Program in 2013. Most recently his duties include asset liability management and developing market risk strategy within The Hartford s Enterprise Risk Management organization. Previously, Destito performed valuation for group benefits life, health and disability products. Before joining The Hartford, Destito worked at Level 3 Communications where he developed pricing models for telecommunication services. Destito holds a Bachelor of Arts in quantitative economics and a Bachelor of Science in finance from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Anthony Genova, ASA, CERA Assistant Director & Sr. Actuarial Consultant, The Hartford Genova joined the Actuarial Student Program at The Hartford in 2010, and has performed rotations in valuation, VA modeling and economic capital. Prior to joining the student program, he spent three years as an operations manager at The Hartford, and had previously spent 9 years working in retirement plans at USI Consulting Group. Genova has a B.S. in finance from Central Connecticut State University. He is currently awaiting the results of his (hopefully) last FSA exam. Jim Kosinski, Ph.D., CFA, FSA, MAAA Assistant Vice President & Sr. Risk Manager, The Hartford Kosinski is an assistant vice president on the finance team at The Hartford, leading a team responsible for variable annuity forecasting, experience studies, and assumption setting. He has 17 years of experience in various roles in the insurance industry, primarily focused on variable annuity risk management. Prior to becoming an actuary, Kosinski completed a Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Michigan.
Bradley Schuster, ASA, CERA Assistant Director & Sr. Actuarial Consultant, The Hartford Schuster is an assistant director & senior actuarial consultant at The Hartford, where he has worked for three years. He currently works in group benefits investment and capital management and has also held rotations in the annuity runoff business and group benefits life pricing. Prior to joining The Hartford, he worked in a non-actuarial role at Travelers Insurance as an insurance service representative at an underwriting center in upstate New York. Schuster holds a Master s Degree in mathematics from Binghamton University and a Bachelor s Degree in mathematics from King s College (Pennsylvania). Session 6: Actuaries & Communication Room: Marriott B Presented by Voya Financial Presenters: Kelly Hennigan, FSA, CFA, Vice President, Insurance Investments; Katherine Pezzullo, FSA, MAAA, Head of Corporate Markets Pricing; Mitchell Stephenson, FSA, MAAA, Head of Retirement Modelling Communication skills are essential to all actuarial candidates aspiring to further develop into successful actuaries and dynamic business leaders. Join actuaries from Voya Financial as they speak to the importance of both verbal and written communications skills throughout a variety of actuarial roles. Topics covered will include: key elements of effective communications, tips for communicating to senior management, interview-based communication techniques, common actuarial communication pitfalls and how to avoid them, and ways to enhance your personal verbal and written communication style when working with different audiences. Session Coordinator: Kelly Hennigan, FSA, CFA, Vice President, Insurance Investments Kelly Hennigan, FSA, CFA Vice President - Insurance Investments, Voya Financial 2015 Vice Chair, Society of Actuaries Management and Personal Development Section Council Hennigan has 18 years of experience in the financial services industry in both asset and liability roles. In her current role, Hennigan is responsible for the oversight of Voya s insurance company investment portfolios, specifically asset policies and compliance. She is also involved with internal governance committee activities. Prior to joining Voya in 2007, Hennigan worked with Hartford Investment Management Company and previously at Hartford Life within their actuarial rotational program. Hennigan received an M.S. in mathematics with a concentration in actuarial science and a B.A. in Spanish from the University of Connecticut. Hennigan also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Her community activities include serving as a mentor to students in the University of Connecticut s Leadership Legacy Program. Kat Pezzullo, FSA, MAAA Head of Corporate Markets Pricing, Voya Financial Pezzullo has worked at Voya Financial for three years. In her current role in retirement solutions, she leads a team responsible for building and maintaining the financial projection models used for case pricing decisions; performing strategic analysis; and providing actuarial support to the product management team. She is a member of the Actuarial Student Program Committee at Voya s Windsor site. Prior to joining Voya in 2012, Pezzullo t worked at Hartford Life for 5 years within their actuarial rotational program. Her rotations included group disability pricing; individual life product management; and enterprise risk management. Pezzullo graduated from Bryant University with a degree in business administration and a concentration in actuarial mathematics. She is currently a member of Bryant University s Actuarial Board and is vice president-elect of the Actuaries Club of Hartford/ Springfield. Mitch Stephenson, FSA, MAAA Head of Retirement Modeling, Voya Financial Mitch Stephenson is Head of Retirement Modeling at Voya Financial, in Windsor, CT where he has worked for 11 years. Prior to his current role, Mitch held roles at Voya leading Retirement and Annuity Assumption Setting and Tax-Exempt pricing teams, and as an actuarial student held roles in 401(k), 403(b), and 457 pricing and product development, and valuation production. Prior to joining Voya, Mitch worked in the Defined Benefit field for 3 years. Mitch served on the Voya Windsor actuarial student program committee from 2013 2015 and currently serves as the Windsor representative for the Voya nationwide actuarial student program. Mitch graduated from Rutgers University with degrees Mathematics and History and obtained his Fellowship in the Society of Actuaries in 2006. 3:30 5:00 p.m. Networking Reception Room: Capital Room Meet practicing actuaries, fellow candidates and actuarial employers!
Evaluations An overall evaluation form will be sent electronically to all attendees after the meeting. Presenter List, Complete Final Program The complete final program with session descriptions, the presenter list and the are available on SOA.org/ CandidateConnect Presentations Presentations are available on the SOA website after the meeting. They can be accessed at SOA.org/CandidateConnect by selecting the session on the agenda pages. All presentations (including new or amended materials) will be posted for general viewing on the SOA website after the meeting. Antitrust Notice Active participation in the Society of Actuaries is an important aspect of membership. However, any Society activity that arguably could be perceived as a restraint of trade exposes the SOA and its members to antitrust risk. Accordingly, meeting participants should refrain from any discussion which may provide the basis for an inference that they agreed to take any action relating to prices, services, production, allocation of markets or any other matter having a market effect. These discussions should be avoided both at official SOA meetings and informal gatherings and activities. In addition, meeting participants should be sensitive to other matters that may raise particular antitrust concern: membership restrictions, codes of ethics or other forms of self-regulation, product standardization or certification. The following are guidelines that should be followed at all SOA meetings, informal gatherings and activities: DON T discuss your own, your firm s or others prices or fees for service, or anything that might affect prices or fees, such as costs, discounts, terms of sale or profit margins. DON T stay at a meeting where any such price talk occurs. DON T make public announcements or statements about your own or your firm s prices or fees, or those of competitors, at any SOA meeting or activity. DON T talk about what other entities or their members or employees plan to do in particular geographic or product markets or with particular customers. DON T speak or act on behalf of the SOA or any of its committees unless specifically authorized to do so. DO alert SOA staff or legal counsel about any concerns regarding proposed statements to be made by the association on behalf of a committee or section. DO consult with your own legal counsel or the SOA before raising any matter or making any statement that you think may involve competitively sensitive information. DO be alert to improper activities, and don t participate if you think something is improper. If you have specific questions, seek guidance from your own legal counsel or from the SOA s executive director or legal counsel SOA Presentation Disclaimer Presentations are intended for educational purposes only and do not replace independent professional judgment. Statements of fact and opinions expressed are those of the participants individually and, unless expressly stated to the contrary, are not the opinion or position of the Society of Actuaries, its cosponsors or its committees. The Society of Actuaries does not endorse or approve, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, accuracy or completeness of the information presented. Attendees should note that sessions are audio-recorded and may be published in various media, including print, audio and video formats without further notice.
THANK YOU! Thanks to the Actuaries Club of Hartford & Springfield for their support of Candidate Connect Thanks to our volunteers from the following companies: (*Exhibitors at the networking reception) ACTEX Publications* Aetna* Amon & Associates MassMutual Financial Group* Odyssey Advisors* Oliver Wyman Prudential* Risk & Regulatory Consulting* The Hartford* UnitedHealthcare* Voya Financial* Connect with us at facebook.com/soacandidatecommunity