Power Players Wield Calculators

Actuaries are the odds-makers of life. With computers, calculations and curiosity they place a financial value on risk and can run the numbers on everything from health insurance to pensions to hurricanes."We are kind of at the bottom of the geek chain. Unfortunately, the accountants try to make fun of us," said Steve Sperka, an actuary who is vice president of the Long-Term Care Department at Northwestern Mutual.

These days, actuaries are riding high. The profession got a boost recently when actuary was ranked as the No. 1 job in America. The study ranked 200 jobs by measuring environment, income, hiring outlook, physical demands and stress.

According to the Department of Labor, "Actuaries held about 19,700 jobs in 2008. About 55 percent of all actuaries were employed by insurance carriers. Approximately 16 percent work for management, scientific and technical consulting services. Others worked for insurance agents and brokers and in the management of companies and enterprises industry. A relatively small number of actuaries are employed by government agencies. Median annual wages of actuaries were $84,810 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between $62,020 and $119,110. The lowest 10 percent had wages less than $49,150, while the top 10 percent earned more than $160,780."

Actuary is not a job people fall into. Some hear about the profession from relatives. Others are pointed to the profession by mathematics teachers. In this job, you really need to like calculus. Being an actuary calls for strength in mathematics, agility in business problem solving and solid communication skills. A college degree is just one step on the actuary ladder.

Actuaries must also pass a series of exams to earn professional designations. They work in life insurance, health insurance, pensions and property and casualty. Two professional societies sponsor programs leading to full professional status in their specialty: the Society of Actuaries (SOA) and the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS). The SOA certifies actuaries in the fields of life insurance, health benefits systems, retirement systems, and finance and investment. The CAS gives a series of examinations in the property and casualty field, which includes automobile, homeowners, medical malpractice, workers compensation, and personal injury liability.

"If you have a life insurance plan, it's the actuaries who design the features of the plan and come up with the price," said Marjorie A. Rosenberg, chair of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Actuarial Science Department. "It's the actuaries that follow that insurance policy and payments so enough money is held in liability when you have a claim. That would be for life and health.

"The pension people help employers design pension plans so people have enough money at retirement." Rosenberg said there are about 200 students in her program, which is lodged in the business school. There are another 35 students in the UW-Milwaukee actuarial science program, which is housed in the mathematics department.

Eric Key, co-director of the actuarial science program at UWM, said he wasn't surprised that actuary rated highly among American jobs since the profession usually ranks in the top 10. "It's sort of self-selecting," he said. "This is not an easy thing to do, so the people who are likely to want to do it are inclined to like it in the first place."

Key said almost every student who graduates from the program manages to quickly nab a job. "You would think that whatever happens with health care reform, that will create work for actuaries," he said. "If there is any kind of radical change to how health care is delivered in the U.S., someone will have to tell you how much it will cost."

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bill Glauber, 1/18/10