Watson Wyatt Press Release
Towers Perrin Press Release
Wow did anyone saw this one coming?! I think there will be tough times ahead for actuarial grads.
Let the laid-offs begin!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Pixar Does it Again with Up
Up is absolutely a wonderful, wonderful movie. Its filled with believable and touching characters. The creativity, the nerdy references, the colours... just WOW! With a couple more movies like Up, Pixar will surely surpass even the likes of Miyazaki.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
KKKHHAAAAAN!!!!
Ricardo Montalban, 1920 - 2009
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/01/14/ricardo-montalban-1920-2009/
Without him there wouldn't have been Star Trek II, which is easily the best Trek movie--at the time of writing :).
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/01/14/ricardo-montalban-1920-2009/
Without him there wouldn't have been Star Trek II, which is easily the best Trek movie--at the time of writing :).
Friday, January 02, 2009
Monday, November 10, 2008
CIA
I'm currently reading Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. You know you are around actuaries when they go "WTF why would you want to read about that?! Get a life!"
It's, um, the other CIA people. The one with spies instead of actuaries?
Anyways it's a pretty interesting book. It really shows how incompetent the CIA is.
It's, um, the other CIA people. The one with spies instead of actuaries?
Anyways it's a pretty interesting book. It really shows how incompetent the CIA is.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Financial statements are useless!!!
Financial statements are suppose to be measuring the health of a company at a point in time. For an insurance company, this is difficult because of a funky liability called reserves. While it is based on sound mathematical and statistical principles, there is a certain level of subjectivity involved; that's why I have a job :).
Some might criticize the insurance business for this; even going as far as to say financial statements of life insurers are useless because all sorts of stuff can be "hidden" in the reserves. All they show is a stream of smoothed earnings.
When the market is doing well and the insurer doesn't realize gains by releasing capital or reserves, he's being prudent. When the market is down and the lose is being cushioned by releasing reserves, the insurer is making stuff up. Leave it to the actuary to have a long term outlook! I'm reminded of a CIA ad that compares actuaries to other professionals like stock brokers and investment analysts. See page 10 of this issue's Beyond Risk (PDF).
Some might criticize the insurance business for this; even going as far as to say financial statements of life insurers are useless because all sorts of stuff can be "hidden" in the reserves. All they show is a stream of smoothed earnings.
When the market is doing well and the insurer doesn't realize gains by releasing capital or reserves, he's being prudent. When the market is down and the lose is being cushioned by releasing reserves, the insurer is making stuff up. Leave it to the actuary to have a long term outlook! I'm reminded of a CIA ad that compares actuaries to other professionals like stock brokers and investment analysts. See page 10 of this issue's Beyond Risk (PDF).
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