Gail A. Hall, FSA 1980, MAAA, CLU

President, ACTEX Publications, Inc., Winsted, CT

Brief description of the type of work you currently do:

I am responsible for all management and administrative aspects of the company, and also handle most of the new product development.

Primary Area of Practice:

Nontraditional

Other Areas of Practice / Interests:

Education, General Management, Product Development, Risk Management

Professional Background:

I spent the first 25 years of my career in the life insurance industry, working for large mutual life insurance companies. I have had experience in product development, sales support, and valuation. Since 2003 I have been with ACTEX Publications, and now have the unique opportunity to focus on my interest in actuarial education at all levels. I am a member of the Management and Personal Development, Education and Research, Product Development, and Risk Management Sections.

Volunteer Experience:

I spent many years on the Education and Examination Committee, serving as its General Chair in 1999. I then served a term on the Board of Governors from 1997 to 2000. My most recent volunteer experience was as a member of the Management and Personal Development Section Council.

Vision Statement:

There is no question that actuaries have the technical skills to achieve the SOA's Vision. Unfortunately, there are other professionals that believe that they can perform risk management just as well as or better than actuaries can. In some cases, they have simply done a better job of communicating and demonstrating their skills. For many years, I have known brilliant actuaries who wanted to make a bigger organizational impact, but who would get pigeon-holed into a purely technical role, either because they couldn't effectively communicate their capabilities or because they didn't understand the broader business context within which their work was done. Unless this situation changes, we as a profession will have little chance to expand our skill application into new areas of practice.

The Market and Market Development Plan will help to expand the opportunities for actuaries and the Board should continue to support it. But unless more individual actuaries develop the non-technical skills necessary to be offered these assignments, the plan will not succeed. The Board should explore opportunities to encourage more actuaries to address this need.