David Ruiz:
Mary Pat, thanks for reaching out. My apologies for the slow response.
I noted in my Candidate Questionnaire that one of the most pressing international issues facing the SOA today is outsourcing and co-sourcing of actuarial work. This work often goes to actuaries who aren’t affiliated with the Society. In order to stay relevant in the international space, we need to make sure our education system doesn’t put us at a competitive disadvantage. I look at the University Education Credit system as a great step to ensure competitiveness. This program puts us on par with the Institute of Actuaries, which offers exemptions for preliminary exams to students in qualified classes in university settings. These exemptions make it easier for a student actuary to move through the credentialing process and get to ASA and FSA more quickly. This means that international students, when faced with the range of internationally-accepted professional bodies, will be more likely to choose the Society of Actuaries.
That said, I am concerned about the UEC program as it has been formulated when we think about barriers to entry for diverse talent. The UEC will only be available to students in Centers of Actuarial Excellence. If you look at the CAE list, it appears to me a very non-diverse set of universities. Of the 33 Centers of Actuarial Excellence, only the University of Connecticut is identified as a Hispanic Serving Institution by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. None of the CAE schools are considered Historically Black Colleges and Universities. We need to make it easier for Black and Latinx students to hear about and enter the Actuarial Profession. Opening the UEC program to a wider list of schools, based on educational content and quality of the specific courses rather than the CAE status of the school, would help address systemic inequity in our North American education system. As an elected board member, I would advocate for a more inclusive education system, while recognizing the benefits we get from our university accreditation program.
I am actually pretty excited about the direction the Education team is taking with the newly-announced micro-credentials and the changes to the early-career education system. Probably the most exciting changes are the introduction of the Advanced Topics in Predictive Analytics exam and the e-learning modules that will emphasize EQ/AQ topics. Understanding predictive analytics and how data science relates to the actuarial world is increasingly seen as “table stakes” for actuarial managers. We need the skills to manage and interpret data science work, and to help our senior business leaders get comfortable with the insights gleaned from advanced analytics. I don’t believe we need actuaries to become data scientists – but having a grounding in the techniques and capabilities of this adjacent profession will help us to be more relevant to company leadership.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to answer your questions, and I welcome any and all followups. Let me earn your vote!
David Ruiz (he/him)
VP, Head Finance Actuary
Life Insurance Division