Benin is a country in West Africa. The majority of its population lives on the small southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. Actuarial science programs were introduced in Benin during the academic year…

By Mary Pat Campbell Many years ago, I had “ownership” of a monster spreadsheet that had been used for preparing exhibits for an insurer’s Annual Statement. This spreadsheet had grown over the years, with each additional owner adding their own touch to try to make sure the results were correct.…

Guido Monteverde graduated with a M.Sc. in Actuarial Sciences from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) and with a Bachelor in Economics from the Universidad de Lima. Mr. Monteverde has extensive experience in the modeling of reserves, pricing, economic capital and reinsurance modeling. He is a…

Mercedes Carruido Tiapa is an actuary in Venezuela with 25 years of experience in the market in a wide range of practice and geographic areas. Mercedes has worked throughout the Caribbean, in Panamá and in Venezuela in banking, pensions, products and insurance. A pleasure trip to Barbados…

This month we have the pleasure of interviewing Servaas Houben, who spent a number of years as an actuary in Curacao. Servaas is an international actuary who started his actuarial career in the Netherlands, before moving to Dublin, London, Curacao and now back to the Netherlands. Besides his…

By Mary Pat Campbell Over a decade ago, I wrote my first article on spreadsheet errors. It was titled “To Err Is Human; To Correct, Divine”, and ran in the SOA’s technology section newsletter, detailing the commonality of spreadsheet errors – even among (or, I should say, especially among)…

Farid Flici Farid is an actuary, graduated in 2006 from the National School of Statistics and Applied Economics of Algiers. He holds a PhD in Statistics from the same institution. He joined the Center for Research in Applied Economics in the mid-2012. He created the “Actuarial Demography Team” at…

As I’ve moved through my two decades actuarial career, I’ve noticed that success or failure isn’t necessarily built only on the work or effort itself. Success isn’t necessarily and automatically based on who is the smartest, or who is the fastest, or who has the best skills or the most focused…

They say that if you're aiming for faster, cheaper, and better, you can only choose two. But the Agile principle of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) allows you to start out fast and cheap and then move toward the best version of better with the benefit of acquired insight and experience.

Miller Kingsley Miller is a Fellow of the Nigerian Actuarial Society and a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. He qualified as a fellow in 2013 in the Life Insurance track. He is also an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria. He has over a decade of professional work experience,…