'98 Member Survey Report Released
Alfred O. Weller
The CAS Board has formally accepted the report of the Membership Survey Task Force. The 1998 Survey was the third quinquennial CAS membership survey. The survey reflected concerns of CAS leadership and members at large. Among its findings are:
Demographics—Primary insurers continue to be the major employer of casualty actuaries. The percentage employed by reinsurers has increased from 9 percent in the 1993 survey to 13 percent in the present survey. Casualty actuaries continue to be geographically concentrated in the United States east of the Mississippi, but to a lesser extent than five years ago. The number of retired members is expected to grow substantially over the next decade; a separate survey on services for retired members should be considered.
Administration—The Actuarial Review is the most widely read publication—chances are that you are reading it now. Although most respondents do not yet fully use the Web site, they would like to use the Web site to find papers, presentations, and other material.
Admissions—The most important actuarial skill is the integration of analytical techniques, methods, and models from different disciplines. Examination should place more emphasis on analyzing business situations and less emphasis on memorizing specific details.
Continuing Education—Dynamic financial analysis is the clear leader among topics, but in keeping with the diversity of actuarial activities, significant percentages of respondents are interested in other topics as well.
Programs—Respondents were happy with meeting frequency and ranked the annual/regular meeting as first in importance among CAS meetings.
Research—Respondents favor support of voluntary research. Many believe that specific topics should be funded. Older members and consultants voiced support for experience studies.
The CAS as an Organization—The most important benefits of membership are professional growth, identification with a competent group of professionals, and education. The application of casualty actuarial science to new, noninsurance areas is the most important long-range planning issue.
The Actuarial Profession—The major economic value of the actuarial profession is providing a systematic approach to the creation of a framework for writing insurance and, more generally, a logical framework for business risk. Leading emerging areas of practice are international insurance, finance, catastrophe modeling and securitization, and risk management and self-insurance.
The full report is available on the CAS Web Site. Those members without access to the Web site can request a paper copy from the CAS Office. Members who did not receive a copy of the complete survey report or wish to obtain additional copies should contact Todd Rogers at the CAS Office.
The Membership Task Force consists of Alfred O. Weller (Chairperson), Catherine Cresswell, David J. Oakden, Jerome A. Scheibl, Roger A. Schultz, David Skurnick, and Jeanne Lee Ying. The task force served under CAS Vice President Gary Dean, and was ably assisted by Todd Rogers of the CAS staff.
