The Underwriting Cycle is Alive, Well and Ready to Kill Your Company:
Are Actuaries to Blame?
Robert P. Hartwig, Ph.D., CPCU

The underwriting cycle is back with a vengeance and will have no mercy this time around. Pricing, reserving and underwriting blunders will prove far more lethal, far more quickly in today's lethargic investment environment, especially if potential investors flee following the recent spate of insurance industry scandals. Will actuaries share in the blame?

About Robert P. Hartwig
Robert Hartwig, the oft-quoted media spokesperson for the property/casualty insurance industry, is senior vice president and chief economist for the Insurance Information Institute. Hartwig previously served as director of economic research and senior economist with NCCI, as senior economist for Swiss Reinsurance Group, and senior statistician for the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Hartwig received his Ph.D. and Master of Science degrees in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has served as an instructor at the University of Illinois and at Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Hartwig also holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) credential.

Hartwig has written and co-written papers that have appeared in numerous publications, including the Journal of Health Economics, the Proceedings of the Casualty Actuarial Society, the John Liner Review (where he also serves on the editorial board), Dossiers et Etudes (Geneva Association), the Journal of Workers' Compensation, Global Reinsurance, Risk & Insurance, Insurance Day, and Compensation and Benefits Review. He is a regular contributor to National Underwriter and many other industry trade publications.

Hartwig also makes frequent presentations to industry associations, company management, industry executives, analysts and clients and speaks internationally on a wide range of insurance issues. He has testified before numerous regulatory and legislative bodies, including the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises.

Hartwig has been quoted frequently in leading publications such as The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and The Economist. Hartwig also appears regularly on television, including appearances on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, CNBC, Fox, PBS, and the BBC.