PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT (Vote for up to three candidates) Chris Ryan Nicholas Carbo Michael Cusumano Mike Murray Christopher Hessenius Weiying Liu Chris Ryan, FSA, MAAA Director, Life Inforce Management Actuary Lincoln Financial Group Greensboro, NC Chris is a Director & Actuary in Life Solutions at Lincoln Financial Group in Greensboro, NC. He has a broad background in life products and is currently engaged in life inforce management where he holds responsibility over the indexed universal life hedging program, life interest rate setting, post-level term inforce retention, management of participating blocks, and various other project work on nonguaranteed elements of inforce life business. Prior to joining Lincoln in 2016, Chris held a number of roles at AIG in both life product development and life valuation. Chris is a member of the Product Development, Taxation, and Leadership & Development Sections. Participation in various volunteer events at public school donation drives, food banks, the Houston Area Women's Center, and math tutoring at public schools. Chris is interested in giving back to and serving the Society, the profession, and the industry. He is particularly interested in the disciplines of product development and inforce management and would like to advance their practice further by giving his time, energy, and knowledge in service to the Product Development Section.
Nicholas Carbo, FSA, MAAA Senior Consultant Oliver Wyman Hartford, CT I am a Senior Consultant at the Life Actuarial practice of Oliver Wyman located in the Hartford office. I have 13 years of experience in the life and annuity industry, with over 4 years of which working in the Product Development and pricing area. Now as a consultant, I advise and provide actuarial services to life insurers, reinsurers, and investment banks on various Product Development and annuity related topics. My experience in Product Development has covered the following: Pricing model development, Contract design and filings, Illustrations, Administration, Competitive intelligence, and Non-guaranteed element rate setting. Prior to joining Oliver Wyman, I led MassMutual s Annuity Product Management and Pricing area. Prior to that I held roles at Athene Annuity, Aviva USA, and Phoenix Life, with responsibilities including; financial modeling, experience studies, VA and index hedging, product monitoring and administration configuration. I am currently a friend of the Product Development Section Council. Presenter, Milliman Life Seminar, Income Annuity Market, May 2016 Presenter, SOA Annual Meeting, Annuity Product Trends & Issues, Oct. 2017 Presenter, Actuaries Club of Hartford & Springfield, Fixed Index and Hybrid Annuity Product Trends, Nov. 2017 Presenter, LIMRA Retirement Industry Conference, Annuity Product Trends & Issues, April 2018 Presenter, SOA Life and Annuity Symposium, The Science behind a Successful Retirement, May 2018 Presenter, SOA Annuity Seminar, Fixed Annuity and Fixed Index Annuity Product Trends, May 2018 Being part of the Product Development Section Council is a meaningful responsibility due to the wide range of current activity in this area. Companies are challenged to make critical business decisions as a result of evolving regulatory requirements and economic environment. The development of insurance products is one of the most popular and interesting aspects of the actuarial profession. I will leverage my professional experience and network to contribute to the Product Development Section sponsored functions. This will include articles, participation in industry meetings and forums, provide continuing education and networking opportunities, and sponsor and encourage research on behalf of the Product Development Section.
Michael Cusumano, FSA Vice President and Actuary RGA Reinsurance Chesterfield, MO Michael Cusumano is Vice President and Actuary in the Experience and Data Analytics team within RGA s U.S. Mortality Markets Division. He is currently responsible for actuarial analysis and experience studies for accelerated underwriting initiatives. Michael has historically been involved with both internal and external studies at RGA, including annual mortality and lapse studies on U.S. mortality business. He co-authored the 2014 SOA Post-Level Term Lapse and Mortality Report. Prior to his roles in experience analysis, Michael worked for several years in valuation, for both international and U.S. business at RGA. Michael received a B.S. in Actuarial Science from Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri. He assists RGA with promoting actuarial science and recruiting efforts at many local universities. Michael is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA). Presenter at multiple SOA meetings, covering topics such as Post- Level Term Experience, Policy Design & Policyholder Behavior, and Experience Study Common Formats Member of Product Development Section Member of Technology Section RGA Campus Recruiting Coordinator Formal mentor for actuarial students United Way campaign volunteer As my career has progressed, I have come to understand the importance of actuaries sharing their experiences and knowledge with the rest of their profession. This is most effectively done through carefully planned and coordinated efforts such as newsletters, webcasts, and industry meetings. I have often taken for granted the work of volunteers who make this possible, and I would like to be more involved in this effort to disseminate knowledge throughout the industry. Additionally, this is a very exciting time for product development, with emerging opportunities related to data, accelerated underwriting and improving consumer relationships. I am interested in progressing these topics while also continuing to improve understanding of the more traditional aspects of product development that have made the insurance industry successful to this point.
Mike Murray, FSA, FCIA Product Actuary Knights of Columbus New Haven, CT As Product Actuary at the Knights of Columbus, I am responsible for the pricing and product development of individual insurance products for our fraternal members in the United States and Canada. I am also involved with experience study analysis and have worked to implement principles based reserving in our pricing models. Prior to joining the Knights of Columbus, I held key roles at Canadian insurance companies, including the pricing of Foresters Canadian individual life portfolio, CALM Valuation at Manulife Financial, and numerous roles at Sun Life Financial including Pricing, Valuation, and Asset Liability Management. I earned my bachelor s degree in Mathematics with an Actuarial Science major from the University of Waterloo and am a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, and a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. I have recently joined as a Friend of the Product Development Section Council. I have been a volunteer on the CFE Strategic Decision Making exam committee since its inception and prior to that served as a volunteer on the Individual Life Insurance exam committee. I have personally benefited from the work done by this committee and would like to contribute my expertise. Principles based reserving and a new non-forfeiture basis in the U.S. and the implementation of IFRS17 in Canada bring new complexity to pricing and product development activities. I would like to join the committee to help provide education to the membership on these and other emerging issues.
Christopher Hessenius, FSA, CERA, MAAA Director & Actuary John Hancock Boston, MA Christopher Hessenius has extensive experience in life insurance product development and pricing. He is currently head of product development and pricing for John Hancock s direct to consumer (DTC) life insurance business. He leads a team that is responsible for all aspects for DTC product development from application to issue. He is particularly charged with bringing innovative solutions to market that will enable more individuals to purchase life insurance and reduce the protection gap in America. This includes application simplification, streamlining of underwriting, and methods to drive customer engagement post-issue. In addition, Christopher has led pricing initiatives for VUL and survivorship UL products. In his nearly nine years with John Hancock, he has also worked in many other areas including experience analysis, financial reporting, and variable annuity modeling. Christopher is a graduate of Providence College where he studied mathematics and quantitative economics. I have been heavily involved with on-campus actuarial recruiting for John Hancock for the past few years. Representing both my company and the profession at several local colleges and universities, I have worked with a number of candidates to help them begin their actuarial career. I feel that the insurance industry is at a key turning point. Our customers are expecting a better experience in both purchasing insurance and in owning an insurance product. Working with my current employer, John Hancock, we are trying to address some of these challenges. But, the entire industry has a long way to go to deliver easier, faster solutions for our customers. I would like to serve on the council to ensure that we, as actuaries, are preparing to meet the needs of the public as we develop products.
Weiying Liu, FSA, MAAA Director Actuary Prudential Financial Newark, NJ I am currently a Director, Actuary within Prudential s Individual Life Pricing and Reinsurance Solutions team with experience in pricing, analysis and modeling for various life product lines. I was also a member of the Product Prototype Lab, a cross-functional agile-scrum team that evaluates new product ideas, performs prototype analysis, and provides go/no-go recommendations. Prior to my current pricing role, I worked in Actuarial Audit covering various actuarial functions and business groups, including pricing, assumptions, valuation, forecasting, and capital restructure, for Prudential s Life, Annuities, Group, Long Term Care, and International groups. I also held roles in the Life Valuation and Life Financial Reporting areas. Member of the Product Development Section Taught calculus, probability, and linear algebra to a group of inmates for several years as part of the Bard Prison Initiative program that provides associate & bachelor s degree to people in prison Volunteered as a guest speaker on topics around working in the insurance industry in the U.S. for summer semester courses at Chang an University in China Volunteered at a family-owned farm in Maine for several months as part of the WWOOF organization Traveled through China as a journalist focusing on investigation and reporting of financial frauds of small to medium-sized businesses as part of a NPO Journalist Reservoir The world around us is constantly changing, including technological improvements such as Artificial Intelligence and wearable technology, analytical advancement such as increasing use of big data, and shifting demographics such as improved health and changing consumer values. These trends are exciting and present fantastic opportunities for the insurance industry. I would like to be actively involved in contributing to the section s and members development, sharing my knowledge, ideas and passion to help product development actuaries stay current with, actively engage in, and innovate through these trends.