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The Journal of the
Conference
of Consulting Actuaries
Volume XXI, Number 2
| Continuing
Education Offerings
Conference News
Other
Profession-wide News
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President’s Corner,
Ken Hohman
“When Actuaries Talk, the Public Should
Listen!”
 Some of you may be old enough to recall the E.F. Hutton marketing slogan of
the 70s and 80s, “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.” Some others of
you are young enough to be asking, “What was E.F. Hutton?” (Not that it’s
important, but Hutton was an investment brokerage firm that disintegrated
under an ethics cloud.) In any event, the ads were a sensation and often
parodied by those in all walks of life.
In this edition of The Consulting Actuary, A. Haeworth Robertson, the former
Chief Actuary of Social Security in the mid-1970’s, and recipient of the
2007 Wynn Kent Public Communication Award, reminds us that actuaries must
speak out on subjects where our actuarial skills uniquely qualify us to
offer an opinion that will benefit the public. Mr. Robertson has certainly
lived the advice he offers us – he has devoted the past 30 years to
advocating reform of the Social Security and Medicare programs. He has
authored three books, written more than 100 papers, and given countless
lectures on the subject. And now it is time for the rest of us to step up,
both individually and as a profession.
The American Academy of Actuaries is accepting the challenge on behalf of
the U.S. profession. The Academy has recently established a Public Interest
Committee that will issue advocacy positions which it feels are in the best
interest of the public. It is not surprising that the first position being
advocated by this committee deals with Social Security, noting the effect of
increasing life expectancy on the system and the need for the Social
Security retirement age to be adjusted accordingly. (See
North American Actuarial Council statement on the importance of longevity as a public policy issue).
Bill Bluhm, President of the Academy, echoes Mr. Robertson’s sentiments;
“The Academy has historically avoided taking positions on public policy
issues, preferring to be an unbiased advisor to policymakers. We no longer
feel we can morally always do so – the American public is being hurt because
of uninformed or weak public policy. We now believe our public service
requires us to take some positions." Steve Lehman, Immediate Past President
of the Academy, chairs the Public Interest Committee.
Will people listen when actuaries speak? We will not know for sure until we
take the first step and make our views known. One thing we do know is that
all actuaries will not agree on any position of the Academy. It is ok to
disagree with an advocacy position taken by the Academy; however, it will be
imperative for us to continue to support the Academy’s right (and need) to
advocate. We must have a unified voice for the U.S. profession, and the
Academy is that voice.
Speaking of memorable marketing slogans, over the last several months the
Society of Actuaries has garnered not one, but two, major awards for its
profession-wide branding slogan, “Actuaries – Risk is Opportunity.”
Congratulations to the SOA and their marketing department for this
recognition. All five of the U.S.-based actuarial organizations (Academy,
ASPPA, CAS, CCA and SOA) are working together to capitalize on this success.
Lastly, if you read further in this edition of the TCA, you will see that
the CCA and the Association of Consulting Actuaries in the UK have signed an
agreement that gives each of our members certain membership rights in the
other organization. If you ever have the opportunity to attend an ACA event
I would encourage you to do so. Like the CCA, their meetings are both
educational and fun, so take advantage of this new CCA membership perk.
Please let me or the Conference office know if you have any suggestions on
how we can improve the CCA and our service to consulting actuaries.
The
Consulting Actuary
Editor: Douglas C. Borton
Letters, comments
and contributions to The Consulting Actuary are welcome.
All contributions are the property of the Conference of
Consulting Actuaries. The Conference reserves the right to use
either excerpts from the contribution or the contribution in its
entirety.
These works reflect the views of the authors
and do not necessarily represent the position of the
Conference. Neither the Conference nor its officers, members or
staff assume responsibility or liability for the accuracy of
information contained herein, nor the appropriateness of its use
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independent judgment regarding the content and use of this
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©2008 Conference of Consulting Actuaries
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