Thomas Anichini, Chairperson Liwei (Larry) Zhao, Vice-Chairperson Thomas Egan, Secretary INVESTMENT SECTION INVESTMENT SECTION COUNCIL Martin Belanger Steven Chen Paul Donahue James M. Gannon Frank Grossman Deep Patel INSTRUCTIONS Please vote for up to three candidates. Ballots with four or more votes are invalid and will not be counted. The top three candidates will receive three year terms. The fourth candidate will receive a one year term. Only names of persons who have indicated they would serve, if elected, are listed on the ballot. The following applies to each section. Biographical information and answers to the question are as provided by the candidates. Biographies are limited to identification of employment, major fields of professional activity, service in the Society of Actuaries, and other relevant experience. Candidate names are listed on the ballot in the order in which biographies were received.
Warren Manners, FSA, MAAA, CFA Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP New York, NY Warren is a Director in the PwC Actuarial & Insurance Management Solutions (AIMS) assurance practice. Warren has over 17 years of experience in the life insurance industry with a focus primarily on wealth management in the retirement space. He is a subject matter expert in the variable and indexed annuity space with experience spanning a wide array of disciplines including product development, pricing, accounting, valuation, marketing and hedging of the long term embedded guarantees associated with these types of products. Warren has also been involved in a variety of transaction type engagements including buy side due diligence for a number of insurance M&A deals, development and evaluation of Purchase GAAP accounting statements, and a comprehensive review of a multinational insurers hedging processes and controls in support of a variable annuity product line. Warren has worked with many large domestic and international insurance and investment companies including ING, MetLife, Prudential, Ameriprise, Athene Annuity & Life Assurance, Aegon, Fidelity & Guaranty, Pacific Life, Mass Mutual, Sun Life, Societe Generale, C12 Capital Management. 2001 - Investment exam grading and exam writing committee (course 8V) Member of Investment Section, Joint Risk Management Section and Product Development Section 2012 - Presented at SOA Investment Symposium on The Impact of Low Interest Rates on Insurance Company Financial Statements 2010 - Authored article for Variable Annuities, Risk Books entitled Experiences and Lessons Learnt Does Hedging Work? I have had the pleasure and benefit of being a section council member for 17 years and I see this as an opportunity to give back to the profession in a meaningful way. Now more than ever, insurance companies have blurred the lines between pure insurance and pure investment products and helping industry constituents bridge the knowledge gap between those two nodes is imperative as aging boomers migrate from asset accumulation to income generation. I view the investment council as an opportunity to add to that conversation and provide some insights and innovations based on my experience in the retirement product space.
George Eknaian, FSA, CERA Senior Vice President, The Hartford Simsbury, CT Currently Senior Vice President in charge of investment strategy for The Hartford s Life Runoff businesses. Other responsibilities held at The Hartford since 2006 include Director of structured settlement product management, head of enterprise risk management for the Hartford Life global variable annuity business, with responsibility for hedging programs, equity risk limits and reporting and product review, and Chief Actuary of the Wealth Management division. From 2000 to 2006, George was Chief Actuary at Travelers Life and Annuity covering corporate actuarial functions and the institutional products and services business line. Corporate actuarial included product review, economic capital, overall asset liability management, and coordination of risk management activities with Citigroup. Institutional products and services included product, pricing, asset liability management and valuation for stable value, pension buyouts, and structured settlements. From 1987 to 2000, George was primarily responsible for business development, pricing, and valuation of institutional businesses for both Travelers and The Hartford. George received his FSA in 1987, and his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1995. He became a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst in 2009. Participated on research project team regarding changes in insurance company investment strategies due to the financial crisis of 2008-2009. American Academy of Actuaries volunteer for pension issues. Participated for several years as Treasurer and Chairperson of the Board of a private K-12 school sponsored by our church. I have spent 30 years in the insurance industry working on all aspects of investment oriented products. This work includes life insurance, annuities, and the institutional product space. My work as an actuary has been so beneficial to me in many ways beyond just the satisfaction of my intellectual curiosity and business knowledge development. I am at a stage in my career when I can focus on giving back to the profession for all that it has given me. I have been accomplishing this locally by having responsibility for the actuarial leadership development program at both Travelers Life and Annuity and at The Hartford. I believe that we are in unchartered waters with respect to the future of our industry and that, as actuaries, we have a unique opportunity to influence the next generation of the insurance business. Since much of my work experience has been in investment oriented products, and these products are essentially repackaging investments in an insurance chassis to help solve customers needs, I feel my work experience and interests best align with participation as an Investment Section Council member.
Mark Gilje, ASA, ACA, MAAA Senior Vice President, Director of Modeling Summit Strategies Group St. Louis, MO After teaching high school math and chemistry for four years, I started with the Wyatt Company in Minneapolis as an actuarial associate. I then spent three years with what is now Buck Consulting in Cleveland, focusing primarily on contract work with the PBGC. I moved to St. Louis to join a new company, Benefit Finance Partners, focused on nonqualified deferred compensation plans and using BOLI / COLI as a means of funding them. My roles ranged from NQDC plan design and administration to insurance product design and administration. I was exposed to stable-value investment vehicles inside of the life insurance products as well as risk management through an aggregate funding approach for the NQDC plans. In 2008, I joined Summit Strategies Group. I obtained my CFA charter in the fall of 2010. As the director of modeling, I oversee asset/liability studies for pension plans, both public and private, as well as foundation, endowment, and hospital asset spending studies. I have not served on any committee to date. I have been a member at various times of the following sections: Actuary of the Future, Investment, Pension and Product Development. I have been involved in various events with my children s schools in the past. More recently, I have been involved with Habitat for Humanity and Family Resource Center. I have also been very involved in church activities, through singing in choirs and helping to lead worship music. I have also been active in various church committees focusing primarily on worship and music. I believe actuaries need to play a significant role in the other side of the equation when it comes to asset/liability issues, whether in pension, insurance, banking or other. Furthermore, the long-term nature of actuarial work demands an educated investor. Actuaries can and should play an increasing role in the interplay of asset and liability. One need only look at the regulatory changes in pension plans and the liquidity crisis of 2008 to see that we are no longer in an era of set it and forget it. The increased scrutiny by the public and by elected officials has led to a world where investors are looking for leadership from experts. As a member of the Investment Section leadership team, I will work to further the goals of the section and the SOA as a whole. I will help explore the myriad issues that face institutional investors today, focusing on how the actuarial profession can and should assist. I will work with other team members as well as other sections to further the growth of section and SOA members in facing investment issues of the day. The issues of low interest rates, slowing down of emerging market growth and the general overall debt challenges that face many developed nations are affecting institutional investors today. What does this mean for discount rates? What does this mean for de-risking? Can investors afford to be long-term investors anymore then they are judged and regulated on a mark-to-market basis? My experience in education, pension practice, life insurance development and administration, asset / liability matching in NQDC plans and as an investment advisor to institutions will help me be a productive representative of the members of the section from the day I begin. I believe in the actuarial profession. I believe that actuaries are uniquely analytically-focused to provide assistance by not just determining the obligations of an entity, but also in how best to prepare that entity to meet those obligations in the future.
Angelika Feng, FSA, CERA, CFA Consulting Actuary, Milliman Philadelphia, PA I am a consulting actuary in Milliman s Philadelphia office. I specialize in life and health insurance mergers and acquisitions, asset and liability management, and financial reporting. My professional experience includes extensive work on various life, annuity, and long-term care business involving actuarial appraisals, asset adequacy analysis, risk and capital management, and ALM issues. Member of the Investment Section (2005 Present) Member of Private Placement Committee (2011 Present), currently assisting the committee in conducting the Private Placement Credit Risk Study. Member of various Project Oversight Group. Reviewed several Society of Actuaries research papers. Frequent speaker at Society of Actuaries meetings. I currently serve as Vice President of Philadelphia Actuaries Club. I want to make it a priority to embrace the education of the society regarding the actuarial profession. This would include: mentoring students in their formative years leading up to credentialed actuaries, additional name brand recognition of the actuarial designations among the general population and within the investment community, and empowering actuaries to move beyond their traditional roles should they desire to do so by utilizing their wide breadth of skills. Furthermore, I believe my professional experience would help the Investment Section focus on current key issues faced by insurers and risk managers and facilitate discussions around those issues, including the changing regulatory environment, current interest rate climate, and concerns in investment and risk management.
Mark M. Yu, FSA, CFA, FRM, MAAA ERM Professional General Re New England Asset Management Inc. Farmington, CT I am currently with General Re-New England Asset Management, Inc., which is a global investment advisor that specializes in offering capital and investment management services to the insurance industry. My focus is on the capital management and enterprise risk activities for life insurance companies. Prior to joining GR-NEAM, I was a senior risk manager within the Governance and Strategy team at AIG Enterprise Risk Management, and a Senior Vice President and Treasury Director within the Group Capital Management Division of Swiss Re. I have served various roles within re/insurance companies, including life reinsurance pricing and marketing, financial reporting, corporate actuarial, and annuity product management/development. Financial Reporting Section council: 2010 to present Actuary of the Future Section Chair/Vice Chair: 2009 to 2010 Cultivate Opportunities Team member: 2009 to 2010 Younger Actuarial Network continuation education director: 2006 to 2009 Advance Finance/Enterprise Risk Management Examination committee member: 2004 to 2008 Enterprise Risk Management sub-working group member: 2004 to 2006 American Academy of Actuaries RBC C1 Working Group April 2013 to present Life capital Adequacy Subcommittee: 2009 to present Risk Management and Solvency committee: 2009 to present I have been involved with SOA for the last few years and am finishing my term as a council member of the Financial Reporting section this year. I d like to continue my involvements with the SOA. Given my recent career focus in capital and risk management, the Investment Section is an ideal section for me to contribute. I believe I can bring relevant expertise and unique perspective to serve and lead the Investment Section.
Michael Kirchner, ASA, EA, CFA Senior Consultant, Towers Watson Cleveland, OH Pension actuary for almost 30 years. Have tried to embrace and promote economic measures of liabilities in conjunction with delivering cash funding and corporate accounting requirements. The clients I have worked with are single employer sponsors that range in company size from 50 employees to about 10,000, many of which are international. I have held various leadership positions for the Ohio retirement practice of Towers Watson. None at this time. Great opportunity to network with talented investment professionals and gain knowledge and understanding depth while contributing ideas that may influence our colleagues.