- Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project.
My STEP project was my actuarial internship with Erie Insurance. I completed three actuarial projects over the course of my internship in three different areas of actuarial concentration: Dynamic Financial Analysis, Commercial Pricing, and Modeling. In addition to my independent projects, I also worked on two group projects with other interns both in the actuarial department and across the company.
- What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project? Write one or two paragraphs to describe the change or transformation that took place.
I think my understanding of the impact actuaries can have on a corporate environment has drastically changed. Prior to this internship, I feel that I had a good understanding of the role actuaries can have in insurance pricing, but I did not have a good scope of the opportunities for actuarial impact outside of pricing. By working on the DFA team I gained very valuable insight into how actuaries play a key role in enterprise risk management in both monitoring an organization’s risk tolerance and providing insight into optimal risk mitigation methodologies. My intern project on Live Event Reporting demonstrated how actuaries can use catastrophe modeling to anticipate the impact of a severe weather event on an exposure footprint.
- What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you? Write three or four paragraphs describing the key aspects of your experiences completing your STEP Signature Project that led to this change/transformation.
I think by completing the Live Event Reporting project I was able to experience first-hand how important conveying the information that populates out of an actuary’s analysis is. Over my project I was able to work with the Catastrophe Operations team to better understand how the information populated through the catastrophe modeling process is used to provide better service to customers living areas impacted by reported weather events. Not only does the information detail which individual policyholders are at risk, but it also provides important operational details such as which geographic regions will have the highest impact severity. This information can then be used to more efficiently mobilize resources to help policyholders when they need support the most.
Working with the Catastrophe Operations team was very transformational for me because it allowed me to think about my work within the actuarial department in a broader scope. Seeing the broader impact of my work and that it will help Erie Insurance aid to individuals who might be experience a devastating loss made me feel empowered and excited about the opportunities to make an impact from an actuarial department.
Furthermore, I spoke to my supervisor following my project presentation and he mentioned that my project was generating a lot of internal excitement due to the cost saving potential as well. The organization had looked for an external reported system for multiple years but could not find one that fit all their needs. By building the procedure and reporting system inside the organization as a part of my internship, my manager stated that I also saved the company a large amount of money that would have gone towards an external reporting system. Hearing that my work had the potential to help policyholders receive improved service and save the organization money made me extremely excited about future opportunities to continue to make a difference.
- Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life? Write one or two paragraphs discussing why this change or development matters and/or relates to your academic, personal, and/or professional goals and future plans.
Prior to my internship, I wasn’t sure that the actuarial career field would be a perfect fit for me, and I was hoping to learn about other opportunities inside the career field outside of the standard pricing positions. I certainly feel that this internship has given me great insight into other opportunities outside product pricing and changed my view of how actuarial work is used across a company. This internship has been very transformational for my understand of what an actuarial job entails and has made me very excited to enter this career field after graduation.
